diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/inline/scoring/braintrust/braintrust.py b/llama_stack/providers/inline/scoring/braintrust/braintrust.py
index 1f266a236..8b22a8930 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/inline/scoring/braintrust/braintrust.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/inline/scoring/braintrust/braintrust.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ class BraintrustScoringImpl(
 
     async def set_api_key(self) -> None:
         # api key is in the request headers
-        if self.config.openai_api_key is None or not self.config.openai_api_key:
+        if not self.config.openai_api_key:
             provider_data = self.get_request_provider_data()
             if provider_data is None or not provider_data.openai_api_key:
                 raise ValueError(