diff --git a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
index b6366e41d5d..205e6176750 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
@@ -1115,9 +1115,7 @@ async def _user_api_key_auth_builder(  # noqa: PLR0915
             is_master_key_valid = False
 
         ## VALIDATE MASTER KEY ##
-        try:
-            assert isinstance(master_key, str)
-        except Exception:
+        if not isinstance(master_key, str):
             raise HTTPException(
                 status_code=500,
                 detail={
@@ -1183,11 +1181,15 @@ async def _user_api_key_auth_builder(  # noqa: PLR0915
                     if len(api_key) > 8
                     else "****"
                 )
-                assert api_key.startswith(
-                    "sk-"
-                ), "LiteLLM Virtual Key expected. Received={}, expected to start with 'sk-'.".format(
-                    _masked_key
-                )  # prevent token hashes from being used
+                if not api_key.startswith("sk-"):
+                    raise HTTPException(
+                        status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED,
+                        detail=(
+                            "LiteLLM Virtual Key expected. Received={}, expected to start with 'sk-'.".format(
+                                _masked_key
+                            )
+                        ),
+                    )  # prevent token hashes from being used
             else:
                 verbose_logger.warning(
                     "litellm.proxy.proxy_server.user_api_key_auth(): Warning - Key is not a string. Got type={}".format(