diff --git a/litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/savings.py b/litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/savings.py
index 950fcca2039..620a21d40f6 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/savings.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/savings.py
@@ -212,11 +212,15 @@ def _baseline_cache_rate_keys(baseline_info: ModelInfo | None) -> tuple[bool, bo
     Gemini entry for cache writes, would carry the whole prompt for nothing and turn a
     profitable route into a reported loss. Such a model pays its plain input rate for
     those tokens, so the buckets it cannot price become ordinary input below.
+
+    Absence is the test, not truthiness: an explicit rate of `0.0` is a real price,
+    and treating it as missing charges free cache reads at the full input rate.
     """
     if baseline_info is None:
         return True, True
-    return bool(baseline_info.get("cache_read_input_token_cost")), bool(
-        baseline_info.get("cache_creation_input_token_cost")
+    return (
+        baseline_info.get("cache_read_input_token_cost") is not None,
+        baseline_info.get("cache_creation_input_token_cost") is not None,
     )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/test_savings.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/test_savings.py
index e466edab131..760caded635 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/test_savings.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/spend_tracking/test_savings.py
@@ -1570,3 +1570,20 @@ def test_marks_gateway_injection_credits_only_the_deployment_that_was_injected()
     assert marks_gateway_injection({"litellm_gateway_injected_cache": ""}, None) is True
     assert marks_gateway_injection({"litellm_call_id": "c1"}, "dep-a") is False
     assert marks_gateway_injection({"litellm_gateway_injected_cache": True}, "dep-a") is False
+
+
+def test_explicit_zero_cache_rate_is_a_price_not_an_absence():
+    from litellm.proxy.spend_tracking.savings import _baseline_cache_rate_keys
+
+    free = {
+        "cache_read_input_token_cost": 0.0,
+        "cache_creation_input_token_cost": 0.0,
+    }
+    priced = {
+        "cache_read_input_token_cost": 1e-07,
+        "cache_creation_input_token_cost": 2e-07,
+    }
+
+    assert _baseline_cache_rate_keys(free) == (True, True)
+    assert _baseline_cache_rate_keys(priced) == (True, True)
+    assert _baseline_cache_rate_keys({}) == (False, False)