diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index c8d9419c93..2d5c6511a9 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -1062,7 +1062,6 @@ jobs:
             pip install jinja2
             pip install "tokenizers==0.20.0"
             pip install "uvloop==0.21.0"
-            pip install "mcp==1.5.0"
             pip install jsonschema
       - run:
           name: Run tests
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
index 02a9303be5..4ad3580a7e 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
@@ -3,108 +3,118 @@ LiteLLM MCP Server Routes
 """
 
 import asyncio
+import logging
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Union
 
 from anyio import BrokenResourceError
 from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Request
 from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse
-from mcp.server import NotificationOptions, Server
-from mcp.server.models import InitializationOptions
-from mcp.types import EmbeddedResource as MCPEmbeddedResource
-from mcp.types import ImageContent as MCPImageContent
-from mcp.types import TextContent as MCPTextContent
-from mcp.types import Tool as MCPTool
 from pydantic import ValidationError
 
 from litellm._logging import verbose_logger
-from litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.tool_registry import (
-    global_mcp_tool_registry,
-)
 
-from .sse_transport import SseServerTransport
+# Check if MCP is available
+# "mcp" requires python 3.10 or higher, but several litellm users use python 3.8
+# We're making this conditional import to avoid breaking users who use python 3.8.
+try:
+    import mcp
 
-########################################################
-############ Initialize the MCP Server #################
-########################################################
-router = APIRouter(
-    prefix="/mcp",
-    tags=["mcp"],
-)
-server: Server = Server("litellm-mcp-server")
-sse: SseServerTransport = SseServerTransport("/mcp/sse/messages")
-
-########################################################
-############### MCP Server Routes #######################
-########################################################
+    MCP_AVAILABLE = True
+except ImportError as e:
+    verbose_logger.debug(f"MCP module not found: {e}")
+    MCP_AVAILABLE = False
 
 
-@server.list_tools()
-async def list_tools() -> list[MCPTool]:
-    """
-    List all available tools
-    """
-    tools = []
-    for tool in global_mcp_tool_registry.list_tools():
-        tools.append(
-            MCPTool(
-                name=tool.name,
-                description=tool.description,
-                inputSchema=tool.input_schema,
+if MCP_AVAILABLE:
+    from mcp.server import NotificationOptions, Server
+    from mcp.server.models import InitializationOptions
+    from mcp.types import EmbeddedResource as MCPEmbeddedResource
+    from mcp.types import ImageContent as MCPImageContent
+    from mcp.types import TextContent as MCPTextContent
+    from mcp.types import Tool as MCPTool
+
+    from .sse_transport import SseServerTransport
+    from .tool_registry import global_mcp_tool_registry
+
+    ########################################################
+    ############ Initialize the MCP Server #################
+    ########################################################
+    router = APIRouter(
+        prefix="/mcp",
+        tags=["mcp"],
+    )
+    server: Server = Server("litellm-mcp-server")
+    sse: SseServerTransport = SseServerTransport("/mcp/sse/messages")
+
+    ########################################################
+    ############### MCP Server Routes #######################
+    ########################################################
+
+    @server.list_tools()
+    async def list_tools() -> list[MCPTool]:
+        """
+        List all available tools
+        """
+        tools = []
+        for tool in global_mcp_tool_registry.list_tools():
+            tools.append(
+                MCPTool(
+                    name=tool.name,
+                    description=tool.description,
+                    inputSchema=tool.input_schema,
+                )
             )
-        )
 
-    return tools
+        return tools
 
+    @server.call_tool()
+    async def handle_call_tool(
+        name: str, arguments: Dict[str, Any] | None
+    ) -> List[Union[MCPTextContent, MCPImageContent, MCPEmbeddedResource]]:
+        """
+        Call a specific tool with the provided arguments
+        """
+        tool = global_mcp_tool_registry.get_tool(name)
+        if not tool:
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=f"Tool '{name}' not found")
+        if arguments is None:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=400, detail="Request arguments are required"
+            )
 
-@server.call_tool()
-async def handle_call_tool(
-    name: str, arguments: Dict[str, Any] | None
-) -> List[Union[MCPTextContent, MCPImageContent, MCPEmbeddedResource]]:
-    """
-    Call a specific tool with the provided arguments
-    """
-    tool = global_mcp_tool_registry.get_tool(name)
-    if not tool:
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=f"Tool '{name}' not found")
-    if arguments is None:
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Request arguments are required")
-
-    try:
-        result = tool.handler(**arguments)
-        return [MCPTextContent(text=str(result), type="text")]
-    except Exception as e:
-        return [MCPTextContent(text=f"Error: {str(e)}", type="text")]
-
-
-@router.get("/", response_class=StreamingResponse)
-async def handle_sse(request: Request):
-    verbose_logger.info("new incoming SSE connection established")
-    async with sse.connect_sse(request) as streams:
         try:
-            await server.run(streams[0], streams[1], options)
-        except BrokenResourceError:
-            pass
-        except asyncio.CancelledError:
-            pass
-        except ValidationError:
-            pass
-        except Exception:
-            raise
-    await request.close()
+            result = tool.handler(**arguments)
+            return [MCPTextContent(text=str(result), type="text")]
+        except Exception as e:
+            return [MCPTextContent(text=f"Error: {str(e)}", type="text")]
 
+    @router.get("/", response_class=StreamingResponse)
+    async def handle_sse(request: Request):
+        verbose_logger.info("new incoming SSE connection established")
+        async with sse.connect_sse(request) as streams:
+            try:
+                await server.run(streams[0], streams[1], options)
+            except BrokenResourceError:
+                pass
+            except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                pass
+            except ValidationError:
+                pass
+            except Exception:
+                raise
+        await request.close()
 
-@router.post("/sse/messages")
-async def handle_messages(request: Request):
-    verbose_logger.info("incoming SSE message received")
-    await sse.handle_post_message(request.scope, request.receive, request._send)
-    await request.close()
+    @router.post("/sse/messages")
+    async def handle_messages(request: Request):
+        verbose_logger.info("incoming SSE message received")
+        await sse.handle_post_message(request.scope, request.receive, request._send)
+        await request.close()
 
-
-options = InitializationOptions(
-    server_name="litellm-mcp-server",
-    server_version="0.1.0",
-    capabilities=server.get_capabilities(
-        notification_options=NotificationOptions(),
-        experimental_capabilities={},
-    ),
-)
+    options = InitializationOptions(
+        server_name="litellm-mcp-server",
+        server_version="0.1.0",
+        capabilities=server.get_capabilities(
+            notification_options=NotificationOptions(),
+            experimental_capabilities={},
+        ),
+    )