diff --git a/litellm/llms/base_llm/chat/transformation.py b/litellm/llms/base_llm/chat/transformation.py
index bec25916c4b..ebd6a89a498 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/base_llm/chat/transformation.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/base_llm/chat/transformation.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ class BaseConfig(ABC):
 
     def is_thinking_enabled(self, non_default_params: dict) -> bool:
         return (
-            non_default_params.get("thinking", {}).get("type") == "enabled"
+            (non_default_params.get("thinking") or {}).get("type") == "enabled"
             or non_default_params.get("reasoning_effort") is not None
         )
 
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/test_thinking_enabled.py b/tests/test_litellm/test_thinking_enabled.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8ba406c395a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/test_thinking_enabled.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+"""
+Unit tests for is_thinking_enabled method in BaseConfig.
+
+Tests the fix for issue #28576: handle None thinking param without crashing.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+from litellm.llms.base_llm.chat.transformation import BaseConfig
+
+
+class TestIsThinkingEnabled:
+    """Test is_thinking_enabled handles various thinking parameter values."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture
+    def transformer(self):
+        """Create a BaseConfig instance for testing."""
+        # BaseConfig is abstract, so we create a minimal concrete subclass
+        class ConcreteConfig(BaseConfig):
+            def __init__(self):
+                pass
+
+            def get_complete_url(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                return ""
+
+            def validate_environment(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                return {}
+
+            def transform_request(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                return {}, {}
+
+            def transform_response(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                return None
+
+            def get_supported_openai_params(self, model: str):
+                return []
+
+            def map_openai_params(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                return {}
+
+            def get_error_class(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                from litellm.llms.base_llm.chat.transformation import BaseLLMException
+                return BaseLLMException(500, "test error")
+
+        return ConcreteConfig()
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "non_default_params,expected",
+        [
+            # thinking=None should not crash, returns False
+            ({"thinking": None}, False),
+            # thinking={'type': 'enabled'} returns True
+            ({"thinking": {"type": "enabled"}}, True),
+            # thinking key missing returns False
+            ({}, False),
+            # thinking={} returns False
+            ({"thinking": {}}, False),
+            # thinking with different type returns False
+            ({"thinking": {"type": "disabled"}}, False),
+            # reasoning_effort present returns True
+            ({"reasoning_effort": "medium"}, True),
+            # both thinking enabled and reasoning_effort returns True
+            ({"thinking": {"type": "enabled"}, "reasoning_effort": "high"}, True),
+            # falsy thinking values should not crash
+            ({"thinking": False}, False),
+            ({"thinking": 0}, False),
+            ({"thinking": ""}, False),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_is_thinking_enabled(self, transformer, non_default_params, expected):
+        """Test is_thinking_enabled with various parameter combinations."""
+        result = transformer.is_thinking_enabled(non_default_params)
+        assert result == expected, (
+            f"Expected {expected} for params {non_default_params}, got {result}"
+        )