From d8e8dcef53ff32bb0f967949bbd4375c6b648af4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: mateo-berri <277851410+mateo-berri@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:22:11 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(fallback): compare a restated config-file rule against
 its resolved env value

---
 .../fallback_management_endpoints.py                |  2 +-
 .../proxy/test_fallback_management_endpoints.py     | 13 +++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/fallback_management_endpoints.py b/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/fallback_management_endpoints.py
index fe8532185d9..ec8ee5ca213 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/fallback_management_endpoints.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/fallback_management_endpoints.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def _editable_rules(
     file_settings: Final = proxy_config.router_settings
     if not file_settings.owned_by_config(fallback_key):
         return _STORED_FALLBACKS.validate_python(stored_settings.get(fallback_key) or [])
-    file_rules: Final = file_settings.config_value(fallback_key)
+    file_rules: Final = file_settings.get(fallback_key)
     return _STORED_FALLBACKS.validate_python(file_rules if isinstance(file_rules, list) else [])
 
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/proxy/test_fallback_management_endpoints.py b/tests/unit/proxy/test_fallback_management_endpoints.py
index 5661487cf14..4a0e8cb7a9a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/proxy/test_fallback_management_endpoints.py
+++ b/tests/unit/proxy/test_fallback_management_endpoints.py
@@ -566,6 +566,19 @@ class TestFallbackWritesHonourTheConfigFile:
         assert stored.row is None
         assert router.fallbacks == [CONFIG_RULE, CONFIG_WINDOW_RULE]
 
+    async def test_a_create_that_restates_a_config_rule_next_to_an_env_reference_writes_nothing(
+        self, router: Router, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        monkeypatch.setenv("LITELLM_TEST_FALLBACK_MODEL", "team-fallback")
+        env_rule: Final = {"team-primary": "os.environ/LITELLM_TEST_FALLBACK_MODEL"}
+        stored: Final = _StoredRouterSettings(None, config_file={"fallbacks": [CONFIG_RULE, env_rule]})
+        request: Final = FallbackCreateRequest(model="gpt-5.4-mini", fallback_models=["team-fallback"])
+
+        response: Final = await self._create(request, router, stored)
+
+        assert response.fallback_models == ["team-fallback"]
+        assert stored.row is None
+
     async def test_a_create_that_restates_the_config_rule_is_accepted(
         self, router: Router, stored: _StoredRouterSettings
     ) -> None: