diff --git a/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml b/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml
index 617b09a8075..db668536625 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ on:
         description: "Unique name for the coverage artifact (must be unique per run)"
         required: true
         type: string
+      legacy-mcp-peer:
+        description: "Install the isolated SDK1 peer for MCP compatibility tests"
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -130,6 +135,14 @@ jobs:
           .github/scripts/uv_sync_with_retries.sh --frozen --group ci --group proxy-dev --extra google --extra proxy --extra semantic-router --extra saml
           uv run --no-sync python -c 'import os, sys; print(sys.version); assert f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}" == os.environ["UV_PYTHON"]'
 
+      - name: Install the unchanged SDK1 peer
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip' && inputs.legacy-mcp-peer
+        timeout-minutes: 3
+        run: |
+          uv venv --python "${UV_PYTHON}" .venv-mcp-peer
+          uv pip install --python .venv-mcp-peer 'mcp==1.28.1' 'langchain-mcp-adapters==0.2.1'
+          echo "MCP_TEST_PEER_PYTHON=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/.venv-mcp-peer/bin/python" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
       - name: Cache Prisma binaries
         if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         timeout-minutes: 3
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml b/.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 9d6b0194df9..00000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,70 +0,0 @@
-name: LiteLLM MCP Tests (folder - tests/mcp_tests)
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-    branches:
-      - main
-      - litellm_internal_staging
-      - litellm_oss_staging
-      - "litellm_**"
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-  pull-requests: read
-
-concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.number || github.sha }}
-  cancel-in-progress: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
-
-jobs:
-  test:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 25
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955 # v4.3.0
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: Detect relevant changes
-        id: changes
-        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-changes
-
-      - name: Thank You Message
-        run: |
-          echo "### 🙏 Thank you for contributing to LiteLLM!" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-          echo "Your PR is being tested now. We appreciate your help in making LiteLLM better!" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-
-      - name: Set up Python
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.12"
-
-      - name: Set up uv
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-uv-with-retries
-        with:
-          version: "0.10.9"
-
-      - name: Cache the Rust build
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
-        uses: ./.github/actions/cache-cargo-build
-
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
-        run: |
-          uv lock --check
-          .github/scripts/uv_sync_with_retries.sh --frozen --group proxy-dev --extra proxy --extra semantic-router
-
-      - name: Install the unchanged SDK1 peer
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
-        run: |
-          uv venv --python 3.12 .venv-mcp-peer
-          uv pip install --python .venv-mcp-peer 'mcp==1.28.1' 'langchain-mcp-adapters==0.2.1'
-          echo "MCP_TEST_PEER_PYTHON=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/.venv-mcp-peer/bin/python" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-
-      - name: Run MCP tests
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
-        run: |
-          uv run --no-sync pytest tests/mcp_tests -x -vv -n 4 --cov=./litellm --cov=./enterprise/litellm_enterprise --cov-report=xml --durations=5
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-unit.yml b/.github/workflows/test-unit.yml
index a32b5ebb2a8..55c342caf00 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-unit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-unit.yml
@@ -49,6 +49,14 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         include:
+          - shard: mcp-integration
+            artifact-name: mcp-integration
+            test-path: "tests/mcp_tests"
+            workers: 2
+            reruns: 0
+            timeout-minutes: 20
+            job-timeout-minutes: 65
+
           - shard: core-utils
             artifact-name: core-utils
             test-path: "tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils"
@@ -254,3 +262,4 @@ jobs:
       timeout-minutes: ${{ matrix.timeout-minutes }}
       job-timeout-minutes: ${{ matrix.job-timeout-minutes }}
       artifact-name: ${{ matrix.artifact-name }}
+      legacy-mcp-peer: ${{ matrix.shard == 'mcp-integration' }}
diff --git a/litellm/experimental_mcp_client/Readme.md b/litellm/experimental_mcp_client/Readme.md
index 14e37dda6de..0c7b0aa76b9 100644
--- a/litellm/experimental_mcp_client/Readme.md
+++ b/litellm/experimental_mcp_client/Readme.md
@@ -12,4 +12,6 @@ Code sharing the gateway's Python environment must support SDK2. Its Python API
 
 Upgrade SDK1-dependent libraries before installing them alongside `litellm[mcp]` or `litellm[proxy]`, or keep those clients in a separate environment and connect over the network. For example, `langchain-mcp-adapters==0.2.1` uses SDK1 Python APIs and is tested as a separate legacy client, not as a shared SDK2 dependency
 
+The shared unit-test workflow runs the MCP integration suite once, with SDK2 in the gateway environment and an isolated SDK1 peer. Keep the SDK1 list/call compatibility test while SDK1 clients are supported; remove it when that support is explicitly retired and the client migration is documented
+
 See the official [SDK migration guide](https://py.sdk.modelcontextprotocol.io/migration/) for Python API changes