diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/advanced_settings.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/advanced_settings.tsx
index b5fc8bda755..25377bddd5b 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/advanced_settings.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/advanced_settings.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import TextArea from "antd/es/input/TextArea";
 import { InfoCircleOutlined } from "@ant-design/icons";
 import { Team } from "../key_team_helpers/key_list";
 import CacheControlSettings from "./cache_control_settings";
-import { ROUTING_STRATEGY_OPTIONS } from "./routing_strategy_options";
+import { formItemValidateJSONObject, ROUTING_STRATEGY_OPTIONS } from "./routing_strategy_options";
 import VectorStoreSelector from "../vector_store_management/VectorStoreSelector";
 import { Tag } from "../tag_management/types";
 import { formItemValidateJSON } from "../../utils/textUtils";
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ const AdvancedSettings: React.FC<AdvancedSettingsProps> = ({
               label="Routing Strategy Args"
               name="routing_strategy_args"
               className="mb-4"
-              rules={[{ validator: formItemValidateJSON }]}
+              rules={[{ validator: formItemValidateJSONObject }]}
               help="Optional JSON args for the selected strategy, e.g. latency window TTL."
             >
               <TextArea rows={2} placeholder='{"ttl": 3600}' />
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/routing_strategy_options.test.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/routing_strategy_options.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8daa61410b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/routing_strategy_options.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { formItemValidateJSONObject, hasRoutingStrategyArgs, routingStrategyLabel } from "./routing_strategy_options";
+
+describe("formItemValidateJSONObject", () => {
+  it("accepts empty input and JSON objects", async () => {
+    await expect(formItemValidateJSONObject(undefined, "")).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    await expect(formItemValidateJSONObject(undefined, '{"ttl": 3600}')).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    await expect(formItemValidateJSONObject(undefined, "{}")).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects JSON that is not an object", async () => {
+    await expect(formItemValidateJSONObject(undefined, "[1, 2]")).rejects.toMatch(/JSON object/);
+    await expect(formItemValidateJSONObject(undefined, "3600")).rejects.toMatch(/JSON object/);
+    await expect(formItemValidateJSONObject(undefined, "null")).rejects.toMatch(/JSON object/);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects invalid JSON", async () => {
+    await expect(formItemValidateJSONObject(undefined, "{ttl:")).rejects.toMatch(/valid JSON/);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("hasRoutingStrategyArgs", () => {
+  it("treats empty and missing objects as unset", () => {
+    expect(hasRoutingStrategyArgs(undefined)).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasRoutingStrategyArgs(null)).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasRoutingStrategyArgs({})).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasRoutingStrategyArgs({ ttl: 3600 })).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("routingStrategyLabel", () => {
+  it("labels known strategies and defaults the rest", () => {
+    expect(routingStrategyLabel("cost-based-routing")).toContain("Cost-Based");
+    expect(routingStrategyLabel(undefined)).toBe("Inherit router default");
+    expect(routingStrategyLabel("")).toBe("Inherit router default");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/routing_strategy_options.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/routing_strategy_options.ts
index a4d614124c0..b5480aee759 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/routing_strategy_options.ts
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/add_model/routing_strategy_options.ts
@@ -11,3 +11,20 @@ export const routingStrategyLabel = (value: string | undefined | null): string =
   const match = ROUTING_STRATEGY_OPTIONS.find((o) => o.value === value);
   return match ? match.label : "Inherit router default";
 };
+
+export const hasRoutingStrategyArgs = (args: object | undefined | null): boolean => Object.keys(args ?? {}).length > 0;
+
+export const formItemValidateJSONObject = (_: unknown, value: string) => {
+  if (!value) {
+    return Promise.resolve();
+  }
+  try {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(value);
+    if (parsed === null || Array.isArray(parsed) || typeof parsed !== "object") {
+      return Promise.reject('Must be a JSON object, e.g. {"ttl": 3600}');
+    }
+    return Promise.resolve();
+  } catch (error) {
+    return Promise.reject("Please enter valid JSON");
+  }
+};
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/model_info_view.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/model_info_view.tsx
index e20b64260aa..153a69c8d1a 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/model_info_view.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/model_info_view.tsx
@@ -18,7 +18,12 @@ import {
   Button as TremorButton,
 } from "@tremor/react";
 import { Button, Form, Input, Modal, Select, Tooltip } from "antd";
-import { ROUTING_STRATEGY_OPTIONS, routingStrategyLabel } from "./add_model/routing_strategy_options";
+import {
+  formItemValidateJSONObject,
+  hasRoutingStrategyArgs,
+  ROUTING_STRATEGY_OPTIONS,
+  routingStrategyLabel,
+} from "./add_model/routing_strategy_options";
 import VectorStoreSelector from "./vector_store_management/VectorStoreSelector";
 import { CheckIcon, CopyIcon } from "lucide-react";
 import { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from "react";
@@ -819,7 +824,7 @@ export default function ModelInfoView({
                     tags: Array.isArray(localModelData.litellm_params?.tags) ? localModelData.litellm_params.tags : [],
                     health_check_model: isWildcardModel ? localModelData.model_info?.health_check_model : null,
                     routing_strategy: localModelData.model_info?.routing_strategy || "",
-                    routing_strategy_args: localModelData.model_info?.routing_strategy_args
+                    routing_strategy_args: hasRoutingStrategyArgs(localModelData.model_info?.routing_strategy_args)
                       ? JSON.stringify(localModelData.model_info.routing_strategy_args)
                       : "",
                     litellm_credential_name: localModelData.litellm_params?.litellm_credential_name || "",
@@ -1115,13 +1120,13 @@ export default function ModelInfoView({
                           <Form.Item
                             name="routing_strategy_args"
                             className="mb-0"
-                            rules={[{ validator: formItemValidateJSON }]}
+                            rules={[{ validator: formItemValidateJSONObject }]}
                           >
                             <Input placeholder='{"ttl": 3600}' />
                           </Form.Item>
                         ) : (
                           <div className="mt-1 p-2 bg-gray-50 rounded-sm">
-                            {localModelData.model_info?.routing_strategy_args
+                            {hasRoutingStrategyArgs(localModelData.model_info?.routing_strategy_args)
                               ? JSON.stringify(localModelData.model_info.routing_strategy_args)
                               : "Not Set"}
                           </div>