diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.test.tsx
index e30604419fe..91201b51663 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.test.tsx
@@ -1094,6 +1094,25 @@ describe("ComplexityRouterConfig tier editing", () => {
     expect(screen.queryByRole("button", { name: "Edit tiers" })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
+  it("surfaces the caller's orphaned-rule verdict while editing, so Done is not a silent exit", () => {
+    renderEditor(customValue, { keywordRulesError: "Keyword rule(s) 1 route to a tier this router no longer has" });
+    expect(
+      screen.getByText("Keyword rule(s) 1 route to a tier this router no longer has", { exact: false }),
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the orphaned-rule verdict out of the collapsed view, where the submit tooltip owns it", () => {
+    renderWithProviders(
+      <ComplexityRouterConfig
+        {...baseProps}
+        value={customValue}
+        onEditingTiersChange={vi.fn()}
+        keywordRulesError="Keyword rule(s) 1 route to a tier this router no longer has"
+      />,
+    );
+    expect(screen.queryByText("route to a tier this router no longer has", { exact: false })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
   it("renders the four built-in tiers before any edit, unchanged", () => {
     renderWithProviders(<ComplexityRouterConfig {...baseProps} onEditingTiersChange={vi.fn()} />);
     expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Edit tiers" })).toBeInTheDocument();
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.tsx
index 8dc4898f1ed..153afa0b586 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/ComplexityRouterConfig.tsx
@@ -197,10 +197,11 @@ const TierSetToolbar: React.FC<{
   isCustomSet: boolean;
   rowCount: number;
   rowsError: string | null;
+  keywordRulesError: string | null | undefined;
   onEditingChange: ((editing: boolean) => void) | undefined;
   onAdd: () => void;
   onRestore: () => void;
-}> = ({ editing, isCustomSet, rowCount, rowsError, onEditingChange, onAdd, onRestore }) => (
+}> = ({ editing, isCustomSet, rowCount, rowsError, keywordRulesError, onEditingChange, onAdd, onRestore }) => (
   <>
     <div className="mt-4 flex flex-wrap items-center gap-2">
       {editing ? (
@@ -234,6 +235,11 @@ const TierSetToolbar: React.FC<{
         and an edited set requires the LLM classification method
       </span>
     )}
+    {editing && keywordRulesError && (
+      <span className="block mt-1 text-xs text-destructive">
+        {keywordRulesError}. Edit the rules under Advanced: Keyword/Semantic Matching, or bring the tier back
+      </span>
+    )}
   </>
 );
 
@@ -419,6 +425,8 @@ interface ComplexityRouterConfigProps {
   // rules or semantic matching, so it renders this component without them.
   keywordTierRules?: KeywordTierRule[];
   onKeywordTierRulesChange?: (rules: KeywordTierRule[]) => void;
+  /** getKeywordTierRulesError's verdict, owned by the caller: importing it here would be an import cycle. */
+  keywordRulesError?: string | null;
   semanticMatchingEnabled?: boolean;
   onSemanticMatchingEnabledChange?: (enabled: boolean) => void;
   embeddingModel?: string;
@@ -569,6 +577,7 @@ const ComplexityRouterConfig: React.FC<ComplexityRouterConfigProps> = ({
   onCustomTechnicalKeywordsChange,
   keywordTierRules = [],
   onKeywordTierRulesChange,
+  keywordRulesError,
   semanticMatchingEnabled = false,
   onSemanticMatchingEnabledChange,
   embeddingModel,
@@ -739,6 +748,7 @@ const ComplexityRouterConfig: React.FC<ComplexityRouterConfigProps> = ({
             isCustomSet={Boolean(customTierSet)}
             rowCount={tierRows.length}
             rowsError={tierRowsError}
+            keywordRulesError={keywordRulesError}
             onEditingChange={onEditingTiersChange}
             onAdd={addCustomTier}
             onRestore={exitToBuiltInTiers}
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.test.tsx
index 79fa2dab4f8..01cb41bcb95 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.test.tsx
@@ -283,6 +283,25 @@ describe("AddAutoRouterTab", () => {
     expect(screen.queryByText("At least one keyword is required")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
+  it("shows the orphaned-rule reason in the tier editor when a rule's tier is removed", async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    vi.mocked(getMissingTiersError).mockReturnValue(null);
+
+    renderWithProviders(<Harness />);
+
+    await user.type(screen.getByPlaceholderText(/smart_router/i), "orphan-rule-router");
+    expandDetailedConfiguration();
+    await user.click(screen.getByText("Advanced: Keyword/Semantic Matching"));
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /add keyword rule/i }));
+    await addKeyword(user, screen.getByText("Keywords 1").closest("div") as HTMLElement, "invoice");
+
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Edit tiers" }));
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Remove the COMPLEX tier" }));
+
+    expect(await screen.findByText(/route to a tier this router no longer has/)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /add auto router/i })).toBeDisabled();
+  });
+
   it("marks only the offending keyword row, leaving a filled one alone", async () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup();
     vi.mocked(getMissingTiersError).mockReturnValue(null);
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.tsx
index 0249b21762a..4e5e5e8d460 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/add_auto_router_tab.tsx
@@ -581,6 +581,10 @@ const AddAutoRouterTab: React.FC<AddAutoRouterTabProps> = ({
                       onCustomTechnicalKeywordsChange={setCustomTechnicalKeywords}
                       keywordTierRules={keywordTierRules}
                       onKeywordTierRulesChange={setKeywordTierRules}
+                      keywordRulesError={getKeywordTierRulesError(
+                        keywordTierRules,
+                        activeTierRows(complexityRouterConfig),
+                      )}
                       semanticMatchingEnabled={semanticMatchingEnabled}
                       onSemanticMatchingEnabledChange={setSemanticMatchingEnabled}
                       embeddingModel={embeddingModel}
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/edit_auto_router/edit_auto_router_modal.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/edit_auto_router/edit_auto_router_modal.tsx
index 184a4795b12..425d5d51f06 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/edit_auto_router/edit_auto_router_modal.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/edit_auto_router/edit_auto_router_modal.tsx
@@ -687,6 +687,10 @@ const EditAutoRouterModal: React.FC<EditAutoRouterModalProps> = ({
                     onCustomTechnicalKeywordsChange={setCustomTechnicalKeywords}
                     keywordTierRules={keywordTierRules}
                     onKeywordTierRulesChange={setKeywordTierRules}
+                    keywordRulesError={getKeywordTierRulesError(
+                      keywordTierRules,
+                      activeTierRows(complexityRouterConfig),
+                    )}
                     semanticMatchingEnabled={semanticMatchingEnabled}
                     onSemanticMatchingEnabledChange={setSemanticMatchingEnabled}
                     embeddingModel={embeddingModel}