diff --git a/litellm/llms/azure/completion/handler.py b/litellm/llms/azure/completion/handler.py
index 49f157495e..05d5e2f6c6 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/azure/completion/handler.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/azure/completion/handler.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class AzureTextCompletion(BaseAzureLLM):
 
             ### CHECK IF CLOUDFLARE AI GATEWAY ###
             ### if so - set the model as part of the base url
-            if "gateway.ai.cloudflare.com" in api_base:
+            if api_base is not None and "gateway.ai.cloudflare.com" in api_base:
                 ## build base url - assume api base includes resource name
                 client = self._init_azure_client_for_cloudflare_ai_gateway(
                     api_key=api_key,
diff --git a/litellm/main.py b/litellm/main.py
index 71d5509448..47f5cf1155 100644
--- a/litellm/main.py
+++ b/litellm/main.py
@@ -1537,6 +1537,11 @@ def completion(  # type: ignore # noqa: PLR0915
 
             api_base = api_base or litellm.api_base or get_secret_str("AZURE_API_BASE")
 
+            if api_base is None:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "api_base is required for Azure OpenAI LLM provider. Either set it dynamically or set the AZURE_API_BASE environment variable."
+                )
+
             api_version = (
                 api_version
                 or litellm.api_version