diff --git a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/common_utils.py b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/common_utils.py
index b5bad6b858..2361939d81 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/common_utils.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/common_utils.py
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ def _get_vertex_url(
 ) -> Tuple[str, str]:
     url: Optional[str] = None
     endpoint: Optional[str] = None
-    if litellm.VertexGeminiConfig._is_model_gemini_gemini_spec_model(model):
-        model = litellm.VertexGeminiConfig._get_model_name_from_gemini_spec_model(model)
+
+    model = litellm.VertexGeminiConfig.get_model_for_vertex_ai_url(model=model)
     if mode == "chat":
         ### SET RUNTIME ENDPOINT ###
         endpoint = "generateContent"
diff --git a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/gemini/vertex_and_google_ai_studio_gemini.py b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/gemini/vertex_and_google_ai_studio_gemini.py
index 0e48c690ba..8aecfffd86 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/gemini/vertex_and_google_ai_studio_gemini.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/vertex_ai/gemini/vertex_and_google_ai_studio_gemini.py
@@ -419,6 +419,25 @@ class VertexGeminiConfig(VertexAIBaseConfig, BaseConfig):
             "europe-west9",
         ]
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_model_for_vertex_ai_url(model: str) -> str:
+        """
+        Returns the model name to use in the request to Vertex AI
+
+        Handles 2 cases:
+        1. User passed `model="vertex_ai/gemini/ft-uuid"`, we need to return `ft-uuid` for the request to Vertex AI
+        2. User passed `model="vertex_ai/gemini-2.0-flash-001"`, we need to return `gemini-2.0-flash-001` for the request to Vertex AI
+
+        Args:
+            model (str): The model name to use in the request to Vertex AI
+
+        Returns:
+            str: The model name to use in the request to Vertex AI
+        """
+        if VertexGeminiConfig._is_model_gemini_gemini_spec_model(model):
+            return VertexGeminiConfig._get_model_name_from_gemini_spec_model(model)
+        return model
+
     @staticmethod
     def _is_model_gemini_gemini_spec_model(model: Optional[str]) -> bool:
         """
diff --git a/tests/local_testing/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py b/tests/local_testing/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py
index 5d99ecb5cd..83c99d766b 100644
--- a/tests/local_testing/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py
+++ b/tests/local_testing/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py
@@ -3395,6 +3395,14 @@ def test_gemini_fine_tuned_model_request_consistency():
         first_request_body = mock_post_1.call_args.kwargs["json"]
         print("first_request_body", first_request_body)
 
+        # Validate correct `model` is added to the request to Vertex AI
+        print("final URL=", mock_post_1.call_args.kwargs["url"])
+        # Validate the request url
+        assert (
+            "publishers/google/models/ft-uuid:generateContent"
+            in mock_post_1.call_args.kwargs["url"]
+        )
+
     # Second request
     with patch.object(client, "post", new=MagicMock()) as mock_post_2:
         try: