diff --git a/litellm/integrations/otel/model/config.py b/litellm/integrations/otel/model/config.py
index 4ba1357a3d8..528ac76256f 100644
--- a/litellm/integrations/otel/model/config.py
+++ b/litellm/integrations/otel/model/config.py
@@ -377,7 +377,8 @@ def validate_otel_v2_excluded_services_env(settings: object) -> None:
     init errors, so a bogus value would otherwise degrade to the legacy callback
     silently. Splitting and normalizing here raises the same ``ValueError`` the
     field raises. An explicit ``callback_settings.otel.excluded_services`` wins
-    over the env var, so a bad env value is inert then and must not block boot.
+    over the env var, so the caller skips this check only when no V2 preset
+    callback that would still parse the env is configured.
     """
     if not is_otel_v2_enabled():
         return
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/common_utils/callback_utils.py b/litellm/proxy/common_utils/callback_utils.py
index 88b5f556977..50b0b0faa64 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/common_utils/callback_utils.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/common_utils/callback_utils.py
@@ -180,8 +180,14 @@ def initialize_callbacks_on_proxy(
                 validate_otel_v2_callback_settings(callback_specific_params.get("otel"))
 
             from litellm.integrations.otel.model.config import validate_otel_v2_excluded_services_env
+            from litellm.integrations.otel.presets import PRESET_BY_CALLBACK
 
-            validate_otel_v2_excluded_services_env(callback_specific_params.get("otel") if "otel" in value else None)
+            preset_present: Final = any(
+                isinstance(entry, str) and entry != "otel" and entry in PRESET_BY_CALLBACK for entry in value
+            )
+            validate_otel_v2_excluded_services_env(
+                callback_specific_params.get("otel") if "otel" in value and not preset_present else None
+            )
 
             # check if callback is a custom logger compatible callback
             if isinstance(callback, str):
diff --git a/tests/integration/observability/test_otel_excluded_services.py b/tests/integration/observability/test_otel_excluded_services.py
index a6646cb4242..0473a99a7ef 100644
--- a/tests/integration/observability/test_otel_excluded_services.py
+++ b/tests/integration/observability/test_otel_excluded_services.py
@@ -296,12 +296,7 @@ def test_valid_config_excluded_services_tolerates_bogus_env(
     langfuse_vars: dict[str, JsonValue],
     tmp_path: Path,
 ) -> None:
-    def with_langfuse_otel(config: dict) -> None:
-        config["litellm_settings"]["callbacks"] = ["otel", "langfuse_otel"]
-
-    config: Final = _config_with(
-        tmp_path, otel_audit_config, otel={"excluded_services": ["postgres"]}, extra=with_langfuse_otel
-    )
+    config: Final = _config_with(tmp_path, otel_audit_config, otel={"excluded_services": ["postgres"]})
     with owned_proxy(
         gateway, tmp_path, {"LITELLM_OTEL_V2": "1", "LITELLM_OTEL_EXCLUDED_SERVICES": "auth"}, config=config, workers=2
     ) as candidate:
@@ -318,6 +313,28 @@ def test_valid_config_excluded_services_tolerates_bogus_env(
         )
 
 
+def test_bogus_excluded_services_env_fails_proxy_start_with_preset_alongside_otel(
+    gateway: Gateway, otel_audit_config: AuditConfigWriter, tmp_path: Path
+) -> None:
+    def with_langfuse_otel(config: dict) -> None:
+        config["litellm_settings"]["callbacks"] = ["otel", "langfuse_otel"]
+
+    config: Final = _config_with(
+        tmp_path, otel_audit_config, otel={"excluded_services": ["postgres"]}, extra=with_langfuse_otel
+    )
+    log_dir: Final = Path(os.environ.get("INTEGRATION_RESULTS_DIR", str(tmp_path)))
+    before: Final = frozenset(log_dir.glob("owned-proxy-*.log"))
+    with pytest.raises(AssertionError, match="readiness"):
+        with owned_proxy_process(
+            gateway, tmp_path, {"LITELLM_OTEL_V2": "1", "LITELLM_OTEL_EXCLUDED_SERVICES": "auth"}, config=config, workers=2
+        ):
+            pass
+    logs: Final = [path.read_text() for path in frozenset(log_dir.glob("owned-proxy-*.log")) - before]
+    assert logs, "no owned proxy log written"
+    text: Final = "\n".join(logs)
+    assert "'auth' is not a datastore service" in text, text[-3000:]
+
+
 def test_bogus_excluded_services_env_fails_proxy_start_without_otel_callback(
     gateway: Gateway, otel_audit_config: AuditConfigWriter, tmp_path: Path
 ) -> None: