diff --git a/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.js b/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.js
index 01b523a9a5..56eb345b8f 100644
--- a/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.js
+++ b/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.js
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ const loadTools = async ({
       };
       continue;
     } else if (tool === ASK_USER_QUESTION_TOOL_NAME) {
-      requestedTools[tool] = () => createAskUserQuestionTool();
+      requestedTools[tool] = async () => createAskUserQuestionTool();
       continue;
     } else if (tool === SET_MEMORY_TOOL_NAME || tool === DELETE_MEMORY_TOOL_NAME) {
       requestedTools[tool] = () =>
diff --git a/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.test.js b/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.test.js
index 697649e3bd..a812443faa 100644
--- a/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.test.js
+++ b/api/app/clients/tools/util/handleTools.test.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ jest.mock('~/config', () => ({
 
 const { Calculator } = require('@librechat/agents');
 const { Constants } = require('librechat-data-provider');
+const { ASK_USER_QUESTION_TOOL_NAME } = require('@librechat/api');
 
 const { User } = require('~/db/models');
 const PluginService = require('~/server/services/PluginService');
@@ -304,6 +305,16 @@ describe('Tool Handlers', () => {
       delete process.env.SD_WEBUI_URL;
     });
 
+    it('loads the ask_user_question tool when not returning a map', async () => {
+      const { loadedTools } = await loadTools({
+        user: fakeUser._id,
+        tools: [ASK_USER_QUESTION_TOOL_NAME],
+        useSpecs: true,
+      });
+      expect(loadedTools).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(loadedTools[0].name).toBe(ASK_USER_QUESTION_TOOL_NAME);
+    });
+
     it('passes request body to chat MCP tool creation and skips stale cache for BODY-scoped servers', async () => {
       const serverName = 'body-scoped';
       const toolKey = `search${Constants.mcp_delimiter}${serverName}`;