diff --git a/litellm/proxy/auth/route_checks.py b/litellm/proxy/auth/route_checks.py
index 2ab76a7a101..fcb6ffdae84 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/auth/route_checks.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/auth/route_checks.py
@@ -284,7 +284,16 @@ class RouteChecks:
                 jwt_team_allowed_routes=RouteChecks._jwt_team_allowed_routes(valid_token=valid_token),
             )
         elif RouteChecks.is_llm_api_route(route=route):
-            pass
+            # View-only admins must not spend provider budget on inference.
+            # _check_proxy_admin_viewer_access already 403s LLM routes, but that
+            # branch sits below this early pass — so call it here first (#43478).
+            if _user_role == LitellmUserRoles.PROXY_ADMIN_VIEW_ONLY.value:
+                RouteChecks._check_proxy_admin_viewer_access(
+                    route=route,
+                    _user_role=_user_role,
+                    request_data=request_data,
+                    request=request,
+                )
         elif RouteChecks.is_info_route(route=route):
             # check if user allowed to call an info route
             if route == "/key/info":
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/auth/test_route_checks.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/auth/test_route_checks.py
index d55316ca429..590a6a47863 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/auth/test_route_checks.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/auth/test_route_checks.py
@@ -206,6 +206,51 @@ def test_proxy_admin_viewer_config_update_route_rejected():
     assert "role= proxy_admin_viewer" in str(exc_info.value.detail)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "inference_route",
+    [
+        "/v1/chat/completions",
+        "/chat/completions",
+        "/v1/embeddings",
+        "/v1/responses",
+        "/v1/images/generations",
+    ],
+)
+def test_proxy_admin_viewer_inference_routes_rejected(inference_route):
+    """proxy_admin_viewer must not call cost-incurring LLM routes (#43478).
+
+    `non_proxy_admin_allowed_routes_check` used to early-return on
+    `is_llm_api_route`, so `_check_proxy_admin_viewer_access` never ran for
+    /v1/chat/completions and friends — a view-only key could spend budget.
+    """
+    user_obj = LiteLLM_UserTable(
+        user_id="viewer_user",
+        user_email="viewer@example.com",
+        user_role=LitellmUserRoles.PROXY_ADMIN_VIEW_ONLY.value,
+    )
+    valid_token = UserAPIKeyAuth(
+        user_id="viewer_user",
+        user_role=LitellmUserRoles.PROXY_ADMIN_VIEW_ONLY.value,
+    )
+    request = MagicMock(spec=Request)
+    request.query_params = {}
+    request.method = "POST"
+
+    with pytest.raises(HTTPException) as exc_info:
+        RouteChecks.non_proxy_admin_allowed_routes_check(
+            user_obj=user_obj,
+            _user_role=LitellmUserRoles.PROXY_ADMIN_VIEW_ONLY.value,
+            route=inference_route,
+            request=request,
+            valid_token=valid_token,
+            request_data={},
+        )
+
+    assert exc_info.value.status_code == 403
+    assert "OpenAI routes" in str(exc_info.value.detail) or "not allowed" in str(exc_info.value.detail)
+    assert "proxy_admin_viewer" in str(exc_info.value.detail)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "blocked_route",
     [