diff --git a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/vertex_llm_base.py b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/vertex_llm_base.py
index 21b5ff8512..f8ceb7ea93 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/vertex_llm_base.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/vertex_llm_base.py
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ import asyncio
 import json
 import os
 import threading
-import weakref
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Dict, Literal, MutableMapping, Optional, Tuple
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Dict, Literal, Optional, Tuple
 
 import litellm
 from litellm._logging import verbose_logger
@@ -52,12 +51,10 @@ class VertexBase:
         self.async_handler: Optional[AsyncHTTPHandler] = None
         # Per-credential-key asyncio.Lock for single-flight async refresh.
         # Prevents thundering herd when token expires under high concurrency.
-        # Uses a WeakValueDictionary so a lock is auto-pruned once no coroutine
-        # holds it any more — keeps the dict bounded in high-cardinality
-        # deployments without breaking single-flight while a refresh is active.
-        self._async_refresh_locks: MutableMapping[tuple, asyncio.Lock] = (
-            weakref.WeakValueDictionary()
-        )
+        # Uses a regular dict (not WeakValueDictionary) so the lock identity is
+        # stable across concurrent callers — a weak reference can be GC'd
+        # between two coroutines arriving at the lock, breaking single-flight.
+        self._async_refresh_locks: Dict[tuple, asyncio.Lock] = {}
         # Tracks in-flight background refresh tasks to avoid duplicate refreshes.
         self._background_refresh_tasks: Dict[tuple, asyncio.Task] = {}
         # Protects the sync get_access_token refresh path.
@@ -975,13 +972,21 @@ class VertexBase:
 
                         # Clean up the entry automatically when the task finishes so
                         # that long-running proxies with many credential keys do not
-                        # accumulate stale references.
+                        # accumulate stale references. Guard with an identity check
+                        # so a stale callback can't remove a newer task that already
+                        # replaced this one in the dict (done_callbacks are scheduled
+                        # via call_soon, so another coroutine may have stored a fresh
+                        # task for the same key before this callback fires).
                         def _drop_background_refresh_task(
                             _fut: asyncio.Future[Any],
                         ) -> None:
-                            self._background_refresh_tasks.pop(
-                                credential_cache_key, None
-                            )
+                            if (
+                                self._background_refresh_tasks.get(credential_cache_key)
+                                is _fut
+                            ):
+                                self._background_refresh_tasks.pop(
+                                    credential_cache_key, None
+                                )
 
                         task.add_done_callback(_drop_background_refresh_task)
                         self._background_refresh_tasks[credential_cache_key] = task