diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/discoverable_endpoints.py b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/discoverable_endpoints.py
index eeadeb290f3..ef42fef312d 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/discoverable_endpoints.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/discoverable_endpoints.py
@@ -865,7 +865,6 @@ async def exchange_token_with_server(
             )
         raise
     token_response = response.json()
-    access_token = token_response["access_token"]
 
     # Validate token response against server-configured rules before any storage.
     # This rejects tokens from wrong Slack workspaces, Atlassian orgs, etc.
@@ -912,7 +911,7 @@ async def exchange_token_with_server(
         return await _mint_bridge_delegate_token_response(request, mcp_server, token_response)
 
     result = {
-        "access_token": access_token,
+        "access_token": token_response["access_token"],
         "token_type": token_response.get("token_type", "Bearer"),
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_discoverable_endpoints.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_discoverable_endpoints.py
index e69d94d9615..5826d1f28b6 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_discoverable_endpoints.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_discoverable_endpoints.py
@@ -4449,6 +4449,23 @@ async def test_oauth_delegate_bridge_token_exchange_fails_closed_without_litellm
     assert exc.value.detail["error"] == "invalid_request"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_oauth_delegate_bridge_token_exchange_missing_access_token_is_502_not_keyerror():
+    """When the upstream token response has no access_token, a dcr_bridge oauth_delegate exchange
+    returns a clean 502 rather than raising a KeyError. The eager access_token extraction used to run
+    before the bridge branch, so a missing token raised KeyError and _bridge_grant_from_token_response's
+    nil guard (which maps to 502) was dead code; the extraction now lives on the non-bridge path only."""
+    from litellm.types.mcp import MCPAuth
+
+    server = _bridge_server(auth_type=MCPAuth.oauth_delegate)
+    upstream = {"token_type": "Bearer", "expires_in": 3600}
+
+    with pytest.raises(HTTPException) as exc:
+        await _exchange_for_bridge_server(server, upstream, key_hash="hashed-litellm-key-77")
+
+    assert exc.value.status_code == 502
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_true_passthrough_bridge_token_exchange_returns_raw_upstream_token():
     """Only oauth_delegate mints. A true_passthrough dcr_bridge server relays the raw upstream token