diff --git a/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai.py b/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai.py
index 0b0e5c63db5..28f0d830f12 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class lakeraAI_Moderation(CustomGuardrail):
         self.async_handler = get_async_httpx_client(
             llm_provider=httpxSpecialProvider.GuardrailCallback
         )
-        self.lakera_api_key = api_key or os.environ.get("LAKERA_API_KEY")
+        self.lakera_api_key = api_key or os.environ.get("LAKERA_API_KEY") or ""
         self.moderation_check = moderation_check
         self.category_thresholds = category_thresholds
         self.api_base = (
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai_v2.py b/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai_v2.py
index 0483e257e79..738827b7ada 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai_v2.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/lakera_ai_v2.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class LakeraAIGuardrail(CustomGuardrail):
         self.async_handler = get_async_httpx_client(
             llm_provider=httpxSpecialProvider.GuardrailCallback
         )
-        self.lakera_api_key = api_key or os.environ.get("LAKERA_API_KEY")
+        self.lakera_api_key = api_key or os.environ.get("LAKERA_API_KEY") or ""
         self.project_id = project_id
         self.api_base = (
             api_base or get_secret_str("LAKERA_API_BASE") or "https://api.lakera.ai"