diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.test.ts
index a8d5337cff..fc9c5b3368 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.test.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,17 @@ describe('modelConfigUtils', () => {
       expect(getAuthTypeFromEnv()).toBe(AuthType.USE_OPENAI);
     });
 
+    it('should return USE_OPENAI when the model is given via QWEN_MODEL', () => {
+      // QWEN_MODEL is a valid USE_OPENAI model var (see AUTH_ENV_MODEL_VARS),
+      // so a config that sets it instead of OPENAI_MODEL must still resolve.
+      process.env['OPENAI_API_KEY'] = 'test-key';
+      process.env['QWEN_MODEL'] = 'qwen3-coder-plus';
+      process.env['OPENAI_BASE_URL'] =
+        'https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1';
+
+      expect(getAuthTypeFromEnv()).toBe(AuthType.USE_OPENAI);
+    });
+
     it('should return undefined when OpenAI env vars are incomplete', () => {
       process.env['OPENAI_API_KEY'] = 'test-key';
       process.env['OPENAI_MODEL'] = 'gpt-4';
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.ts
index 3f6b52903e..4ca1bbd4f7 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/modelConfigUtils.ts
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ export function getAuthTypeFromEnv(): AuthType | undefined {
 
   if (
     process.env['OPENAI_API_KEY'] &&
-    process.env['OPENAI_MODEL'] &&
+    (process.env['OPENAI_MODEL'] || process.env['QWEN_MODEL']) &&
     process.env['OPENAI_BASE_URL']
   ) {
     return AuthType.USE_OPENAI;