diff --git a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
index ed3ec7b4dde..85ebe1c53b0 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
@@ -1376,6 +1376,17 @@ async def _read_request_body_deferring_parse_failure(
         parsed_body: Final = await _read_request_body(request=request)
     except ProxyException as parse_exception:
         return {}, parse_exception  # mutable-ok: request_data is a plain dict across the whole auth path
+    if not isinstance(parsed_body, dict):
+        # Provider pass-through endpoints may forward a JSON array or scalar.
+        # Auth only needs a mapping for its own checks; leave the raw body intact.
+        if request_dispatched_to_pass_through_endpoint(request) or request_dispatched_to_provider_pass_through(request):
+            return {}, None  # mutable-ok: request_data is a plain dict across the whole auth path
+        return {}, ProxyException(
+            message="JSON request body must be an object",
+            type="invalid_request_error",
+            param="request_body",
+            code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
+        )
     return populate_request_with_path_params(request_data=parsed_body, request=request), None
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_http_parsing_utils.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_http_parsing_utils.py
index 7929a0b21af..7cbcafd0753 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_http_parsing_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/common_utils/test_http_parsing_utils.py
@@ -46,6 +46,44 @@ def _starlette_request(body: bytes, content_type: str) -> Request:
     return Request(scope, receive)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("body", [b"[]", b"123", b'"str"', b"true", b"null"])
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_read_request_body_preserves_non_object_json_for_passthrough(body: bytes):
+    request = _starlette_request(body, "application/json")
+
+    assert await _read_request_body(request) == orjson.loads(body)
+    assert _safe_get_request_parsed_body(request) is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("body", [b"[]", b"123", b'"str"', b"true", b"null"])
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_auth_defers_non_object_json_rejection(body: bytes):
+    from litellm.proxy.auth.user_api_key_auth import _read_request_body_deferring_parse_failure
+
+    request = _starlette_request(body, "application/json")
+    parsed_body, error = await _read_request_body_deferring_parse_failure(request)
+
+    assert parsed_body == {}
+    assert isinstance(error, ProxyException)
+    assert error.code == "400"
+    assert "JSON request body must be an object" in error.message
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_auth_preserves_non_object_json_for_provider_passthrough():
+    from litellm.proxy.auth.user_api_key_auth import _read_request_body_deferring_parse_failure
+
+    request = _starlette_request(b'[{"prompt":"hi"}]', "application/json")
+    request.scope["path"] = "/vertex_ai/v1/projects/test:rawPredict"
+    request.scope["path_params"] = {"endpoint": "v1/projects/test:rawPredict"}
+
+    parsed_body, error = await _read_request_body_deferring_parse_failure(request)
+
+    assert parsed_body == {}
+    assert error is None
+    assert await request.body() == b'[{"prompt":"hi"}]'
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_read_raw_json_body_returns_the_bytes_the_parsed_body_came_from():
     body = b'{"model": "claude-sonnet-4-5", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}]}'