diff --git a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts
index 2838bee293..bb359968ab 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import axios from 'axios';
-import { Time, EModelEndpoint, defaultModels } from 'librechat-data-provider';
+import { Time, EModelEndpoint, defaultModels, AuthType } from 'librechat-data-provider';
 import {
   fetchModels,
   splitAndTrim,
@@ -212,6 +212,51 @@ describe('getOpenAIModels', () => {
     expect(models).toContain('gpt-4');
   });
 
+  it('returns default models when OpenAI API key is user provided', async () => {
+    mockedAxios.get.mockResolvedValue({ data: { data: [{ id: 'should-not-appear' }] } });
+    process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY = AuthType.USER_PROVIDED;
+
+    const models = await getOpenAIModels({ user: 'user456' });
+
+    expect(mockedAxios.get).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(models).not.toContain('should-not-appear');
+    expect(models).toContain('gpt-4');
+  });
+
+  it('fetches models when OpenAI API key is provided through options', async () => {
+    mockedAxios.get.mockResolvedValue({ data: { data: [{ id: 'gpt-runtime-key' }] } });
+    process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY = AuthType.USER_PROVIDED;
+
+    const models = await getOpenAIModels({ user: 'user456', openAIApiKey: 'sk-runtime' });
+
+    expect(mockedAxios.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('https://api.openai.com/v1/models'),
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        headers: expect.objectContaining({
+          Authorization: 'Bearer sk-runtime',
+        }),
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(models).toEqual(['gpt-runtime-key']);
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to environment OpenAI API key when options key is empty', async () => {
+    mockedAxios.get.mockResolvedValue({ data: { data: [{ id: 'gpt-env-key' }] } });
+    process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY = 'sk-env';
+
+    const models = await getOpenAIModels({ user: 'user456', openAIApiKey: '' });
+
+    expect(mockedAxios.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('https://api.openai.com/v1/models'),
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        headers: expect.objectContaining({
+          Authorization: 'Bearer sk-env',
+        }),
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(models).toEqual(['gpt-env-key']);
+  });
+
   it('returns `AZURE_OPENAI_MODELS` with `azure` flag (and fetch fails)', async () => {
     process.env.AZURE_OPENAI_MODELS = 'azure-model,azure-model-2';
     const models = await getOpenAIModels({ azure: true });
diff --git a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts
index fd296e59ec..aac168ad7a 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts
@@ -224,12 +224,14 @@ export interface GetOpenAIModelsOptions {
   assistants?: boolean;
   /** OpenAI API key (if not using environment variable) */
   openAIApiKey?: string;
-  /** Whether user provides their own API key */
-  userProvidedOpenAI?: boolean;
   /** Skip MODEL_QUERIES cache (e.g., for user-provided keys) */
   skipCache?: boolean;
 }
 
+function resolveOpenAIApiKey(opts: GetOpenAIModelsOptions): string | undefined {
+  return opts.openAIApiKey || process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
+}
+
 /**
  * Fetches models from OpenAI or Azure based on the provided options.
  * @param opts - Options for fetching models
@@ -241,7 +243,7 @@ export async function fetchOpenAIModels(
   _models: string[] = [],
 ): Promise<string[]> {
   let models = _models.slice() ?? [];
-  const apiKey = opts.openAIApiKey ?? process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
+  const apiKey = resolveOpenAIApiKey(opts);
   const openaiBaseURL = 'https://api.openai.com/v1';
   let baseURL = openaiBaseURL;
   let reverseProxyUrl = process.env.OPENAI_REVERSE_PROXY;
@@ -310,7 +312,7 @@ export async function getOpenAIModels(opts: GetOpenAIModelsOptions = {}): Promis
     return splitAndTrim(process.env[key]);
   }
 
-  if (opts.userProvidedOpenAI) {
+  if (isUserProvided(resolveOpenAIApiKey(opts))) {
     return models;
   }