diff --git a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
index e22d8058c0b..d81083c5d8b 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
@@ -1184,7 +1184,7 @@ async def user_api_key_auth_websocket(websocket: WebSocket) -> UserAPIKeyAuth:
 
 
 async def user_api_key_auth_live_websocket(websocket: WebSocket) -> UserAPIKeyAuth:
-    return await user_api_key_auth_websocket_for_model(websocket, model=None)
+    return await user_api_key_auth_websocket_for_model(websocket, model="")
 
 
 def _has_required_baggage_tag_mapping() -> bool: