diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_types.py b/litellm/proxy/_types.py
index e408abb3c1b..930de5a5b16 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_types.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_types.py
@@ -3208,6 +3208,7 @@ class ProxyException(Exception):
         provider_specific_fields: Optional[dict] = None,
     ):
         self.message = str(message)
+        super().__init__(self.message)
         self.type = type
         self.param = param
         self.openai_code = openai_code or code
@@ -3232,6 +3233,9 @@ class ProxyException(Exception):
         elif RouterErrors.no_deployments_with_tag_routing.value in self.message:
             self.code = "401"
 
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        return self.message
+
     def to_dict(self) -> dict:
         """Converts the ProxyException instance to a dictionary."""
         error_dict: Dict[str, Optional[Union[str, Dict]]] = {
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_proxy_exception_str.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_proxy_exception_str.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c03314a307b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_proxy_exception_str.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+"""
+Tests for ProxyException string representation.
+
+Verifies that str(ProxyException(...)) returns the exception message
+instead of an empty string. See https://github.com/BerriAI/litellm/issues/22644
+"""
+
+from litellm.proxy._types import ProxyException
+
+
+class TestProxyExceptionStr:
+    """Tests for ProxyException.__str__() behavior."""
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_str_returns_message(self):
+        """str(ProxyException(...)) should return the message, not empty string."""
+        exc = ProxyException(
+            message="auth failed",
+            type="bad_request_error",
+            param="key_alias",
+            code=400,
+        )
+        assert str(exc) == "auth failed"
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_str_empty_message(self):
+        """str() should work correctly with an empty message."""
+        exc = ProxyException(
+            message="",
+            type="bad_request_error",
+            param="key_alias",
+            code=400,
+        )
+        assert str(exc) == ""
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_str_unicode(self):
+        """str() should handle unicode messages correctly."""
+        msg = "Error: \u2018invalid key\u2019 \u2014 please retry \U0001f512"
+        exc = ProxyException(
+            message=msg,
+            type="bad_request_error",
+            param="key_alias",
+            code=400,
+        )
+        assert str(exc) == msg
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_repr(self):
+        """repr() should include the message text."""
+        exc = ProxyException(
+            message="something broke",
+            type="internal_error",
+            param=None,
+            code=500,
+        )
+        assert "something broke" in repr(exc)
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_to_dict_unchanged(self):
+        """to_dict() output format must remain exactly the same after the fix."""
+        exc = ProxyException(
+            message="model not found",
+            type="invalid_request_error",
+            param="model",
+            code=404,
+        )
+        result = exc.to_dict()
+        assert result == {
+            "message": "model not found",
+            "type": "invalid_request_error",
+            "param": "model",
+            "code": "404",
+        }
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_to_dict_with_provider_fields(self):
+        """to_dict() should include provider_specific_fields when present."""
+        exc = ProxyException(
+            message="rate limited",
+            type="rate_limit_error",
+            param=None,
+            code=429,
+            provider_specific_fields={"retry_after": 30},
+        )
+        result = exc.to_dict()
+        assert result["provider_specific_fields"] == {"retry_after": 30}
+        assert result["message"] == "rate limited"
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_chaining(self):
+        """raise ProxyException from ValueError should preserve __cause__."""
+        inner = ValueError("inner error")
+        try:
+            try:
+                raise inner
+            except ValueError:
+                raise ProxyException(
+                    message="outer error",
+                    type="bad_request_error",
+                    param="test",
+                    code=400,
+                ) from inner
+        except ProxyException as exc:
+            assert str(exc) == "outer error"
+            assert exc.__cause__ is inner
+
+    def test_proxy_exception_catch_and_stringify(self):
+        """Simulates the real-world pattern: try/except that formats str(e) into a log."""
+        log_output = ""
+        try:
+            raise ProxyException(
+                message="key expired",
+                type="authentication_error",
+                param="api_key",
+                code=401,
+            )
+        except ProxyException as exc:
+            log_output = "Error - {}".format(str(exc))
+
+        assert log_output == "Error - key expired"