diff --git a/src/i18n/messages/en.json b/src/i18n/messages/en.json
index ec091011e9..ff778753c6 100644
--- a/src/i18n/messages/en.json
+++ b/src/i18n/messages/en.json
@@ -5692,8 +5692,8 @@
     "aggregatorsGateways": "Aggregators Gateways",
     "enterpriseCloud": "Enterprise & Cloud",
     "apiFormatLabel": "Api Format Label",
-    "apiKeyOptionalHint": "Api Key Optional Hint",
-    "apiKeyOptionalLabel": "Api Key Optional Label",
+    "apiKeyOptionalHint": "Leave empty if your local setup or provider does not require authentication.",
+    "apiKeyOptionalLabel": "API Key (optional)",
     "apiRegionChina": "Api Region China",
     "apiRegionHint": "Api Region Hint",
     "apiRegionInternational": "Api Region International",
diff --git a/src/shared/constants/providers.ts b/src/shared/constants/providers.ts
index 23f9c53b39..6b4fd86a50 100644
--- a/src/shared/constants/providers.ts
+++ b/src/shared/constants/providers.ts
@@ -237,7 +237,6 @@ export function isSelfHostedChatProvider(providerId: unknown): boolean {
 const EXPLICIT_OPTIONAL_APIKEY_PROVIDER_IDS = new Set([
   "searxng-search",
   "firecrawl",
-  "pollinations",
   "copilot-web",
   "hackclub",
   "g4f-groq",
diff --git a/tests/unit/pollinations-api-key-required-11096.test.ts b/tests/unit/pollinations-api-key-required-11096.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8b69fb8331
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/pollinations-api-key-required-11096.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { providerAllowsOptionalApiKey } from "../../src/shared/constants/providers.js";
+
+test("pollinations provider requires an API key and does not allow optional API key", () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    providerAllowsOptionalApiKey("pollinations"),
+    false,
+    "pollinations must require an API key because anonymous completions are no longer supported"
+  );
+});
diff --git a/tests/unit/provider-route-schemas.test.ts b/tests/unit/provider-route-schemas.test.ts
index ca61c4f28d..30b5d4bd8c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/provider-route-schemas.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/provider-route-schemas.test.ts
@@ -5,17 +5,19 @@ const { createProviderSchema, providersBatchTestSchema } =
   await import("../../src/shared/validation/schemas.ts");
 const { providerAllowsOptionalApiKey } = await import("../../src/shared/constants/providers.ts");
 
-test("Pollinations is treated as a keyless-capable provider", () => {
-  assert.equal(providerAllowsOptionalApiKey("pollinations"), true);
+// #11117: Pollinations no longer serves anonymous requests (401 without a key),
+// so it left EXPLICIT_OPTIONAL_APIKEY_PROVIDER_IDS — key is now required.
+test("Pollinations requires an API key", () => {
+  assert.equal(providerAllowsOptionalApiKey("pollinations"), false);
 });
 
-test("createProviderSchema allows Pollinations without apiKey", () => {
+test("createProviderSchema rejects Pollinations without apiKey", () => {
   const result = createProviderSchema.safeParse({
     provider: "pollinations",
     name: "Pollinations",
   });
 
-  assert.equal(result.success, true);
+  assert.equal(result.success, false);
 });
 
 test("providersBatchTestSchema accepts cloud-agent batch mode", () => {