diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/config.py b/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/config.py
index 2a77f9edb..9e98d4003 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/config.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/config.py
@@ -7,16 +7,18 @@
 import os
 from typing import Any
 
-from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, SecretStr
+from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field, SecretStr
 
 from llama_stack.providers.utils.inference.model_registry import RemoteInferenceProviderConfig
 from llama_stack.schema_utils import json_schema_type
 
 
 class WatsonXProviderDataValidator(BaseModel):
-    url: str
-    api_key: str
-    project_id: str
+    model_config = ConfigDict(
+        from_attributes=True,
+        extra="forbid",
+    )
+    watsonx_api_key: str | None
 
 
 @json_schema_type
diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/watsonx.py b/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/watsonx.py
index e7f96405a..d04472936 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/watsonx.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/remote/inference/watsonx/watsonx.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class WatsonXInferenceAdapter(LiteLLMOpenAIMixin):
         LiteLLMOpenAIMixin.__init__(
             self,
             litellm_provider_name="watsonx",
-            api_key_from_config=config.api_key.get_secret_value(),
+            api_key_from_config=config.api_key.get_secret_value() if config.api_key else None,
             provider_data_api_key_field="watsonx_api_key",
         )
         self.available_models = None
diff --git a/tests/unit/providers/inference/test_inference_client_caching.py b/tests/unit/providers/inference/test_inference_client_caching.py
index eb9444e34..55a6793c2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/providers/inference/test_inference_client_caching.py
+++ b/tests/unit/providers/inference/test_inference_client_caching.py
@@ -30,11 +30,6 @@ from llama_stack.providers.remote.inference.watsonx.watsonx import WatsonXInfere
             GroqInferenceAdapter,
             "llama_stack.providers.remote.inference.groq.config.GroqProviderDataValidator",
         ),
-        (
-            WatsonXConfig,
-            WatsonXInferenceAdapter,
-            "llama_stack.providers.remote.inference.watsonx.config.WatsonXProviderDataValidator",
-        ),
         (
             OpenAIConfig,
             OpenAIInferenceAdapter,
@@ -65,3 +60,29 @@ def test_openai_provider_data_used(config_cls, adapter_cls, provider_data_valida
             {"x-llamastack-provider-data": json.dumps({inference_adapter.provider_data_api_key_field: api_key})}
         ):
             assert inference_adapter.client.api_key == api_key
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "config_cls,adapter_cls,provider_data_validator",
+    [
+        (
+            WatsonXConfig,
+            WatsonXInferenceAdapter,
+            "llama_stack.providers.remote.inference.watsonx.config.WatsonXProviderDataValidator",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_litellm_provider_data_used(config_cls, adapter_cls, provider_data_validator: str):
+    """Validate data for LiteLLM-based providers.  Similar to test_openai_provider_data_used, but without the
+    assumption that there is an OpenAI-compatible client object."""
+
+    inference_adapter = adapter_cls(config=config_cls())
+
+    inference_adapter.__provider_spec__ = MagicMock()
+    inference_adapter.__provider_spec__.provider_data_validator = provider_data_validator
+
+    for api_key in ["test1", "test2"]:
+        with request_provider_data_context(
+            {"x-llamastack-provider-data": json.dumps({inference_adapter.provider_data_api_key_field: api_key})}
+        ):
+            assert inference_adapter.get_api_key() == api_key