diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py b/.github/scripts/auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py
index 1b46aa17454..34e63308716 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py
@@ -69,6 +69,10 @@ def write_to_file(file_path: str, data: dict[str, object]) -> None:
 def transform_openrouter_data(data):
     transformed = {}
     for row in data:
+        if float(row["pricing"]["prompt"]) < 0 or float(row["pricing"]["completion"]) < 0:
+            print(f"Skipping openrouter/{row['id']}: the catalog lists no usable per-token price for it.")
+            continue
+
         # Add the fields 'max_tokens' and 'input_cost_per_token'
         obj = {
             "max_tokens": row["context_length"],
@@ -106,8 +110,10 @@ def transform_openrouter_data(data):
 def _vercel_entry(model: VercelModel) -> dict[str, object] | None:
     mode: Final = VERCEL_TYPE_TO_MODE[model.type]
     pricing: Final = model.pricing if model.pricing is not None else VercelPricing()
-    if pricing.input is None or (mode == "chat" and pricing.output is None):
-        print(f"Skipping vercel_ai_gateway/{model.id}: the catalog lists no per-token price for it.")
+    input_price_unusable: Final = pricing.input is None or pricing.input < 0
+    output_price_unusable: Final = mode == "chat" and (pricing.output is None or pricing.output < 0)
+    if input_price_unusable or output_price_unusable:
+        print(f"Skipping vercel_ai_gateway/{model.id}: the catalog lists no usable per-token price for it.")
         return None
     candidate: Final = {
         "max_tokens": model.max_tokens,
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/test_auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py b/tests/test_litellm/test_auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py
index b97f6954b91..f98edb8b836 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/test_auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/test_auto_update_price_and_context_window_file.py
@@ -40,11 +40,31 @@ VIDEO_ROW = {
     "pricing": {"video_duration_pricing": [{"resolution": "720p", "price_per_second": "0.4"}]},
 }
 IMAGE_ROW = {"id": "openai/gpt-image-1", "type": "image"}
+NEGATIVE_PRICE_LANGUAGE_ROW = {
+    "id": "openrouter/auto",
+    "type": "language",
+    "context_window": 2000000,
+    "max_tokens": 2000000,
+    "pricing": {"input": "-1", "output": "-1"},
+}
+OPENROUTER_ROW = {
+    "id": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5",
+    "context_length": 1000000,
+    "pricing": {"prompt": "0.000003", "completion": "0.000015", "image": "0"},
+    "top_provider": {"max_completion_tokens": 64000},
+    "architecture": {"modality": "text+image->text"},
+}
+OPENROUTER_VARIABLE_PRICE_ROW = {
+    "id": "openrouter/auto",
+    "context_length": 2000000,
+    "pricing": {"prompt": "-1", "completion": "-1"},
+    "top_provider": {"max_completion_tokens": None},
+}
 
 
 def test_vercel_rows_without_per_token_pricing_are_skipped_instead_of_crashing() -> None:
     result = price_sync.transform_vercel_ai_gateway_data(
-        [LANGUAGE_ROW, EMBEDDING_ROW, UNPRICED_LANGUAGE_ROW, VIDEO_ROW, IMAGE_ROW]
+        [LANGUAGE_ROW, EMBEDDING_ROW, UNPRICED_LANGUAGE_ROW, VIDEO_ROW, IMAGE_ROW, NEGATIVE_PRICE_LANGUAGE_ROW]
     )
 
     assert result == {
@@ -71,6 +91,21 @@ def test_vercel_rows_without_per_token_pricing_are_skipped_instead_of_crashing()
     }
 
 
+def test_openrouter_variable_priced_rows_are_skipped_so_the_schema_gate_stays_green() -> None:
+    result = price_sync.transform_openrouter_data([OPENROUTER_ROW, OPENROUTER_VARIABLE_PRICE_ROW])
+
+    assert result == {
+        "openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5": {
+            "max_tokens": 1000000,
+            "max_output_tokens": 64000,
+            "input_cost_per_token": 3e-06,
+            "output_cost_per_token": 1.5e-05,
+            "litellm_provider": "openrouter",
+            "mode": "chat",
+        }
+    }
+
+
 def test_write_to_file_matches_the_checked_in_cost_map_format(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     target = tmp_path / "model_prices_and_context_window.json"