diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_types.py b/litellm/proxy/_types.py
index 522e85632d..95294f4838 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_types.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_types.py
@@ -2747,13 +2747,16 @@ class UserAPIKeyAuth(
         1. Regular API keys from LiteLLM DB
         2. JWT tokens used for connecting to LiteLLM API
         """
-        if api_key.startswith("sk-"):
-            return hash_token(api_key)
+        normalized = api_key
+        if normalized[:7].lower() == "bearer ":
+            normalized = normalized[7:]
+        if normalized.startswith("sk-"):
+            return hash_token(normalized)
         from litellm.proxy.auth.handle_jwt import JWTHandler
 
-        if JWTHandler.is_jwt(token=api_key):
-            return f"hashed-jwt-{hash_token(token=api_key)}"
-        return api_key
+        if JWTHandler.is_jwt(token=normalized):
+            return f"hashed-jwt-{hash_token(token=normalized)}"
+        return normalized
 
     @classmethod
     def get_litellm_internal_health_check_user_api_key_auth(cls) -> "UserAPIKeyAuth":
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/auth/test_user_api_key_auth_mcp.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/auth/test_user_api_key_auth_mcp.py
index a7d9ce64f8..b3508e1312 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/auth/test_user_api_key_auth_mcp.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/auth/test_user_api_key_auth_mcp.py
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ class TestMCPRequestHandler:
             # Test case 2: Authorization header present (fallback)
             (
                 [(b"authorization", b"Bearer test-auth-token")],
-                "Bearer test-auth-token",
+                "test-auth-token",
                 None,
                 {},
             ),
@@ -674,7 +674,9 @@ class TestMCPOAuth2AuthFlow:
             ) = await MCPRequestHandler.process_mcp_request(scope)
 
             # Should succeed with the LiteLLM key from Authorization header
-            assert auth_result.api_key == "Bearer sk-litellm-valid-key"
+            from litellm.proxy.utils import hash_token
+
+            assert auth_result.api_key == hash_token("sk-litellm-valid-key")
             mock_auth.assert_called_once()
 
     async def test_non_auth_http_exception_still_raises(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_proxy_types.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_proxy_types.py
index 0fa8679899..dbb952968e 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_proxy_types.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_proxy_types.py
@@ -69,3 +69,21 @@ def test_internal_jobs_user_has_proxy_admin_role():
     assert system_user.user_id == "system"
     assert system_user.team_id == "system"
     assert system_user.team_alias == "system"
+
+
+def test_user_api_key_auth_hashes_authorization_header_form_of_key():
+    from litellm.proxy._types import UserAPIKeyAuth
+
+    raw_key = "sk-AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz0123456789"
+    baseline = UserAPIKeyAuth(api_key=raw_key)
+
+    for header_form in (
+        f"Bearer {raw_key}",
+        f"bearer {raw_key}",
+        f"BEARER {raw_key}",
+        f"BeArEr {raw_key}",
+    ):
+        from_header = UserAPIKeyAuth(api_key=header_form)
+        assert from_header.api_key == baseline.api_key
+        assert from_header.token == baseline.token
+        assert not from_header.api_key.lower().startswith("bearer")