diff --git a/litellm/utils.py b/litellm/utils.py
index 9e6dd2491c1..5216f79882e 100644
--- a/litellm/utils.py
+++ b/litellm/utils.py
@@ -1143,7 +1143,7 @@ def function_setup(  # noqa: PLR0915
         litellm_params: Dict[str, Any] = {"api_base": ""}
         if "metadata" in kwargs:
             litellm_params["metadata"] = kwargs["metadata"]
-        if "litellm_metadata" in kwargs:
+        if "litellm_metadata" in kwargs and isinstance(kwargs["litellm_metadata"], dict):
             litellm_params["litellm_metadata"] = kwargs["litellm_metadata"]
             # For endpoints like /v1/messages that use "litellm_metadata" instead
             # of "metadata" (to avoid conflicting with provider API metadata fields),