diff --git a/litellm/main.py b/litellm/main.py
index 3b1b677209..4cba60fccf 100644
--- a/litellm/main.py
+++ b/litellm/main.py
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ def completion(
     presence_penalty: Optional[float] = None,
     frequency_penalty: Optional[float]=None,
     logit_bias: Optional[dict] = None,
-    user: str = "",
+    user: Optional[str] = None,
     # openai v1.0+ new params
     response_format: Optional[dict] = None,
     seed: Optional[int] = None,
diff --git a/litellm/utils.py b/litellm/utils.py
index c3ff1d7f08..bed6d1cda3 100644
--- a/litellm/utils.py
+++ b/litellm/utils.py
@@ -1888,7 +1888,7 @@ def get_optional_params(  # use the openai defaults
     presence_penalty=None,
     frequency_penalty=0,
     logit_bias=None,
-    user="",
+    user=None,
     model=None,
     custom_llm_provider="",
     response_format=None,
@@ -1915,7 +1915,7 @@ def get_optional_params(  # use the openai defaults
         "presence_penalty":None,
         "frequency_penalty":None,
         "logit_bias": None,
-        "user":"",
+        "user":None,
         "model":None,
         "custom_llm_provider":"",
         "response_format": None,