diff --git a/litellm/llms/vertex_httpx.py b/litellm/llms/vertex_httpx.py
index a6dcd3daa..940016ecb 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/vertex_httpx.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/vertex_httpx.py
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@ class VertexGeminiConfig:
         model: str,
         non_default_params: dict,
         optional_params: dict,
+        drop_params: bool,
     ):
         for param, value in non_default_params.items():
             if param == "temperature":
@@ -375,8 +376,13 @@ class VertexGeminiConfig:
                     optional_params["stop_sequences"] = value
             if param == "max_tokens":
                 optional_params["max_output_tokens"] = value
-            if param == "response_format" and value["type"] == "json_object":  # type: ignore
-                optional_params["response_mime_type"] = "application/json"
+            if param == "response_format" and isinstance(value, dict):  # type: ignore
+                if value["type"] == "json_object":
+                    optional_params["response_mime_type"] = "application/json"
+                elif value["type"] == "text":
+                    optional_params["response_mime_type"] = "text/plain"
+                if "response_schema" in value:
+                    optional_params["response_schema"] = value["response_schema"]
             if param == "frequency_penalty":
                 optional_params["frequency_penalty"] = value
             if param == "presence_penalty":
diff --git a/litellm/tests/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py b/litellm/tests/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py
index 6de3e11b8..e6f2634f4 100644
--- a/litellm/tests/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py
+++ b/litellm/tests/test_amazing_vertex_completion.py
@@ -880,6 +880,51 @@ Using this JSON schema:
         mock_call.assert_called_once()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("provider", ["vertex_ai_beta"])  # "vertex_ai",
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_gemini_pro_json_schema_httpx(provider):
+    load_vertex_ai_credentials()
+    litellm.set_verbose = True
+    messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "List 5 cookie recipes"}]
+    from litellm.llms.custom_httpx.http_handler import HTTPHandler
+
+    response_schema = {
+        "type": "array",
+        "items": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+                "recipe_name": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                },
+            },
+            "required": ["recipe_name"],
+        },
+    }
+
+    client = HTTPHandler()
+
+    with patch.object(client, "post", new=MagicMock()) as mock_call:
+        try:
+            response = completion(
+                model="vertex_ai_beta/gemini-1.5-pro-001",
+                messages=messages,
+                response_format={
+                    "type": "json_object",
+                    "response_schema": response_schema,
+                },
+                client=client,
+            )
+        except Exception as e:
+            pass
+
+        mock_call.assert_called_once()
+        print(mock_call.call_args.kwargs)
+        print(mock_call.call_args.kwargs["json"]["generationConfig"])
+        assert (
+            "response_schema" in mock_call.call_args.kwargs["json"]["generationConfig"]
+        )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("provider", ["vertex_ai_beta"])  # "vertex_ai",
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_gemini_pro_httpx_custom_api_base(provider):
diff --git a/litellm/utils.py b/litellm/utils.py
index fef4976ca..dc2bcb25a 100644
--- a/litellm/utils.py
+++ b/litellm/utils.py
@@ -2756,6 +2756,11 @@ def get_optional_params(
             non_default_params=non_default_params,
             optional_params=optional_params,
             model=model,
+            drop_params=(
+                drop_params
+                if drop_params is not None and isinstance(drop_params, bool)
+                else False
+            ),
         )
     elif (
         custom_llm_provider == "vertex_ai" and model in litellm.vertex_anthropic_models