diff --git a/litellm/utils.py b/litellm/utils.py
index 31bafd61f..12818a1fd 100644
--- a/litellm/utils.py
+++ b/litellm/utils.py
@@ -4002,6 +4002,7 @@ def get_llm_provider(
         if (
             model.split("/", 1)[0] in litellm.provider_list
             and model.split("/", 1)[0] not in litellm.model_list
+            and len(model.split("/")) > 1 # handle edge case where user passes in `litellm --model mistral` https://github.com/BerriAI/litellm/issues/1351
         ):
             custom_llm_provider = model.split("/", 1)[0]
             model = model.split("/", 1)[1]