diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/anthropic/completion.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/anthropic/completion.py
index 28122d4dbc..f814a93d92 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/anthropic/completion.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/anthropic/completion.py
@@ -256,6 +256,8 @@ def _get_client_params(self, include_http_client: bool = True) -> dict[str, Any]
             self.api_key = os.getenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY")
             if self.api_key is None:
                 raise ValueError("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is required")
+        if isinstance(self.api_key, str):
+            self.api_key = self.api_key.strip()
 
         client_params = {
             "api_key": self.api_key,
diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/azure/completion.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/azure/completion.py
index d357939bb6..48603d18ed 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/azure/completion.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/azure/completion.py
@@ -118,7 +118,11 @@ def _normalize_azure_fields(cls, data: Any) -> Any:
                 "Interceptors are currently supported for OpenAI and Anthropic providers only."
             )
 
-        data["api_key"] = data.get("api_key") or os.getenv("AZURE_API_KEY")
+        api_key = data.get("api_key") or os.getenv("AZURE_API_KEY")
+        if isinstance(api_key, str):
+            api_key = api_key.strip()
+        data["api_key"] = api_key
+
         data["endpoint"] = (
             data.get("endpoint")
             or os.getenv("AZURE_ENDPOINT")
@@ -268,6 +272,8 @@ def _make_client_kwargs(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
         # module import before deployment env vars were injected).
         if not self.api_key:
             self.api_key = os.getenv("AZURE_API_KEY")
+        if isinstance(self.api_key, str):
+            self.api_key = self.api_key.strip()
         if not self.endpoint:
             endpoint = (
                 os.getenv("AZURE_ENDPOINT")
diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/gemini/completion.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/gemini/completion.py
index 8914b6b266..c07bb1193d 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/gemini/completion.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/gemini/completion.py
@@ -79,11 +79,15 @@ def _normalize_gemini_fields(cls, data: Any) -> Any:
             seqs = [seqs]
         data["stop"] = seqs
 
-        data["api_key"] = (
+        api_key = (
             data.get("api_key")
             or os.getenv("GOOGLE_API_KEY")
             or os.getenv("GEMINI_API_KEY")
         )
+        if isinstance(api_key, str):
+            api_key = api_key.strip()
+        data["api_key"] = api_key
+
         data["project"] = data.get("project") or os.getenv("GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT")
         data["location"] = (
             data.get("location") or os.getenv("GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION") or "us-central1"
@@ -133,6 +137,8 @@ def _get_sync_client(self) -> Any:
                 self.api_key = os.getenv("GOOGLE_API_KEY") or os.getenv(
                     "GEMINI_API_KEY"
                 )
+            if isinstance(self.api_key, str):
+                self.api_key = self.api_key.strip()
             if not self.project:
                 self.project = os.getenv("GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT")
             self._client = self._initialize_client(self.use_vertexai)
diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai/completion.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai/completion.py
index 0adcd82d6a..86de963d47 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai/completion.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai/completion.py
@@ -246,7 +246,10 @@ def _normalize_openai_fields(cls, data: Any) -> Any:
             return data
         if not data.get("provider"):
             data["provider"] = "openai"
-        data["api_key"] = data.get("api_key") or os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
+        api_key = data.get("api_key") or os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
+        if isinstance(api_key, str):
+            api_key = api_key.strip()
+        data["api_key"] = api_key
         if "api_base" not in data:
             data["api_base"] = None
         model = data.get("model", "gpt-4o")
@@ -363,6 +366,8 @@ def _get_client_params(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
             self.api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
             if self.api_key is None:
                 raise ValueError("OPENAI_API_KEY is required")
+        if isinstance(self.api_key, str):
+            self.api_key = self.api_key.strip()
 
         base_params = {
             "api_key": self.api_key,
diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai_compatible/completion.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai_compatible/completion.py
index da4cfd03db..d88ad3c429 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai_compatible/completion.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/llms/providers/openai_compatible/completion.py
@@ -184,11 +184,11 @@ def _resolve_api_key(
             ValueError: If API key is required but not found.
         """
         if api_key:
-            return api_key
+            return api_key.strip()
 
         env_key = os.getenv(config.api_key_env)
         if env_key:
-            return env_key
+            return env_key.strip()
 
         if config.api_key_required:
             raise ValueError(