diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils/test_get_model_cost_map.py b/tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils/test_get_model_cost_map.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6d32cda59e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/litellm_core_utils/test_get_model_cost_map.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+"""
+Tests for litellm/litellm_core_utils/get_model_cost_map.py
+
+Covers the incident where a bad commit to model_prices_and_context_window.json
+on GitHub caused live deployments to fail. Two failure modes:
+
+1. Trailing comma made JSON unparseable (caught by existing except block)
+2. Valid JSON but structurally broken - missing model entries (caught by new validation)
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+import litellm.litellm_core_utils.get_model_cost_map as mod
+from litellm.litellm_core_utils.get_model_cost_map import (
+    validate_model_cost_map,
+)
+
+
+class TestValidateModelCostMap:
+    """Unit tests for validate_model_cost_map()"""
+
+    def test_rejects_empty_dict(self):
+        assert validate_model_cost_map({}) is False
+
+    def test_rejects_non_dict(self):
+        assert validate_model_cost_map("not a dict") is False  # type: ignore
+
+    def test_rejects_too_few_entries(self):
+        small_map = {"sample_spec": {}, "model-1": {}, "model-2": {}}
+        assert validate_model_cost_map(small_map) is False
+
+    def test_accepts_valid_map(self):
+        valid_map = {"sample_spec": {}}
+        valid_map.update({f"model-{i}": {} for i in range(200)})
+        assert validate_model_cost_map(valid_map) is True
+
+
+class TestGetModelCostMapFallback:
+    """
+    Tests that get_model_cost_map() falls back to the local backup
+    when the remote response is bad.
+
+    Note: litellm.__init__ sets LITELLM_LOCAL_MODEL_COST_MAP=True at import
+    time, so we must clear it and use patch.object on the module's httpx
+    reference to properly mock the remote fetch path.
+    """
+
+    def _mock_get_model_cost_map(self, mock_response):
+        """Helper: call get_model_cost_map with a mocked httpx.get."""
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=False), \
+             patch.object(mod, "httpx") as mock_httpx:
+            os.environ.pop("LITELLM_LOCAL_MODEL_COST_MAP", None)
+            mock_httpx.get.return_value = mock_response
+            return mod.get_model_cost_map(url="https://example.com/fake.json")
+
+    def test_trailing_comma_invalid_json(self):
+        """
+        Exact reproduction of incident commit 5cec5c3bef:
+        A trailing comma made the entire JSON unparseable.
+        httpx.Response.json() raises JSONDecodeError -> fallback should work.
+        """
+        bad_response = MagicMock()
+        bad_response.raise_for_status.return_value = None
+        bad_response.json.side_effect = json.JSONDecodeError(
+            "Expecting property name enclosed in double quotes",
+            '{"supports_native_streaming": true,}',
+            35,
+        )
+
+        result = self._mock_get_model_cost_map(bad_response)
+
+        # Fallback to local backup — should have real models
+        assert "gpt-4" in result
+        assert len(result) > 100
+
+    def test_valid_json_but_missing_models(self):
+        """
+        Upstream JSON is valid but structurally broken
+        (missing model entries). response.json() succeeds
+        but validation catches it.
+        """
+        bad_response = MagicMock()
+        bad_response.raise_for_status.return_value = None
+        bad_response.json.return_value = {"only_one_bad_entry": {"broken": True}}
+
+        result = self._mock_get_model_cost_map(bad_response)
+
+        # Validation rejects it -> fallback to local backup
+        assert "gpt-4" in result
+        assert len(result) > 100
+
+    def test_valid_json_wrapped_in_extra_dict(self):
+        """
+        Upstream returns models wrapped in an unexpected extra dict layer.
+        e.g., {"data": {"gpt-4": {...}, ...}} instead of {"gpt-4": {...}, ...}
+        """
+        bad_response = MagicMock()
+        bad_response.raise_for_status.return_value = None
+        bad_response.json.return_value = {
+            "data": {f"model-{i}": {} for i in range(200)}
+        }
+
+        result = self._mock_get_model_cost_map(bad_response)
+
+        # Missing sample_spec + only 1 top-level key -> validation rejects
+        assert "gpt-4" in result
+        assert len(result) > 100