diff --git a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai_anthropic.py b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai_anthropic.py
index 34709e0c56..9bce746dd6 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai_anthropic.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai_anthropic.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ class VertexAIAnthropicConfig:
 
 
 """
-- Run client init
+- Run client init 
 - Support async completion, streaming
 """
 
@@ -236,19 +236,17 @@ def completion(
         if client is None:
             if vertex_credentials is not None and isinstance(vertex_credentials, str):
                 import google.oauth2.service_account
+
+                json_obj = json.loads(vertex_credentials)
+
                 creds = (
                     google.oauth2.service_account.Credentials.from_service_account_info(
-                        json.loads(vertex_credentials),
+                        json_obj,
                         scopes=["https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform"],
                     )
                 )
                 ### CHECK IF ACCESS
                 access_token = refresh_auth(credentials=creds)
-            else:
-                import google.auth
-                creds, _ = google.auth.default()
-                ### CHECK IF ACCESS
-                access_token = refresh_auth(credentials=creds)
 
             vertex_ai_client = AnthropicVertex(
                 project_id=vertex_project,