diff --git a/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_utils.py b/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_utils.py
index 3372145e66c..7c15fd1f33c 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_utils.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_utils.py
@@ -2036,6 +2036,16 @@ def get_model_from_request(
         if vertex_match:
             model = vertex_match.group(1)
 
+    # If still not found, read the Watsonx body key. Watsonx generation and
+    # chat requests carry the model under "model_id" (the native Watsonx ML
+    # API shape, and the key litellm's own Watsonx client writes), so without
+    # this branch the model resolves to None and the key's model allowlist is
+    # never checked on /watsonx routes.
+    if model is None and route.lower().startswith("/watsonx"):
+        watsonx_model: Final = request_data.get("model_id")
+        if isinstance(watsonx_model, str) and watsonx_model:
+            model = watsonx_model
+
     if route.lower().startswith("/bedrock"):
         bedrock_model: Final = _model_from_bedrock_route(route)
         return model if bedrock_model is None else bedrock_model