diff --git a/routstr/upstream/pricing_resolver.py b/routstr/upstream/pricing_resolver.py
index 3064ba57..ef7e544c 100644
--- a/routstr/upstream/pricing_resolver.py
+++ b/routstr/upstream/pricing_resolver.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ it into the base provider unchanged.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import math
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 
 
@@ -66,19 +65,23 @@ def estimate_context_length(model_id: str) -> int:
 
 
 def _as_float(value: object) -> float | None:
-    """OpenRouter reports prices as strings; coerce, ``None`` if not a real number.
+    """OpenRouter reports prices as strings; coerce, ``None`` if not a real rate.
 
-    Non-finite values are rejected as unparseable: ``float("Infinity")`` and
-    ``float("NaN")`` parse happily from a feed string, and ``json.loads``
-    accepts the bare literals and overflows ``1e999`` to ``inf``. An oversized
-    integer raises ``OverflowError`` rather than ``ValueError``, so that is
-    caught too.
+    Every caller reads a *price* out of a feed, so this asks the shared
+    billable-rate question rather than merely parsing: ``float("Infinity")`` and
+    ``float("NaN")`` parse happily from a feed string, ``json.loads`` accepts the
+    bare literals and overflows ``1e999`` to ``inf``, and a negative parses
+    cleanly into a rate that credits the caller. An oversized integer raises
+    ``OverflowError`` rather than ``ValueError``, so that is caught too.
     """
+    # Lazy, like the litellm lookup below: the resolver stays import-light.
+    from ..payment.models import is_usable_rate
+
     try:
         parsed = float(value)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
     except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
         return None
-    return parsed if math.isfinite(parsed) else None
+    return parsed if is_usable_rate(parsed) else None
 
 
 def _as_int(value: object) -> int | None:
@@ -89,7 +92,7 @@ def _as_int(value: object) -> int | None:
 def _from_litellm(model_id: str) -> ResolvedPricing | None:
     # Lazy import so the resolver stays import-light and shares the exact
     # lookup semantics used by cache-rate backfill.
-    from ..payment.models import litellm_cost_entry
+    from ..payment.models import is_usable_rate, litellm_cost_entry
 
     info = litellm_cost_entry(model_id)
     if info is None:
@@ -103,12 +106,13 @@ def _from_litellm(model_id: str) -> ResolvedPricing | None:
     # moderation/rerank tiers do this) — treating 0/0 as resolved would serve
     # the model for free. Reject it (and any negative) so the caller falls
     # through, mirroring async_fetch_openrouter_models' _has_valid_pricing.
-    # A non-finite entry is junk, not a price: `inf` would bill an infinite
-    # amount and `NaN` poisons every total it enters (and defeats the `< 0` and
-    # `== 0` guards below, since both comparisons are False for `NaN`).
-    if not math.isfinite(prompt) or not math.isfinite(completion):
+    # A malformed entry is junk, not a price: `inf` would bill an infinite
+    # amount, `NaN` poisons every total it enters, and a negative credits the
+    # caller. `NaN` also defeats the both-zero guard below on its own, since
+    # every comparison against it is False.
+    if not is_usable_rate(prompt) or not is_usable_rate(completion):
         return None
-    if prompt < 0 or completion < 0 or (prompt == 0 and completion == 0):
+    if prompt == 0 and completion == 0:
         return None
 
     input_modalities = ["text"]
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_upstream_generic.py b/tests/unit/test_upstream_generic.py
index bf5316a1..04470a76 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_upstream_generic.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_upstream_generic.py
@@ -629,3 +629,41 @@ async def test_non_finite_openrouter_cache_rate_is_dropped_not_carried() -> None
     assert model.enabled is True
     assert model.pricing.prompt == pytest.approx(1e-06)
     assert model.pricing.input_cache_read == 0.0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_negative_openrouter_cache_rate_is_dropped_not_carried() -> None:
+    """A negative rate is as unusable as a non-finite one, and arrives the same way.
+
+    The coercion that reads a feed price rejected ``NaN``/``inf`` but returned a
+    negative unchanged, and the catalog import filter that would have caught one
+    inspects only prompt and completion. So a negative cache rate was the single
+    malformed value that still reached a stored price — where it prices cached
+    input tokens at a credit rather than a charge.
+    """
+    payload = {
+        "data": [
+            {"id": "or-negcache-xyz", "object": "model", "owned_by": "mystery"},
+        ]
+    }
+    feed = [
+        {
+            "id": "or-negcache-xyz",
+            "pricing": {
+                "prompt": "0.000001",
+                "completion": "0.000002",
+                "input_cache_read": "-0.0000005",
+            },
+            "context_length": 8192,
+        }
+    ]
+
+    with _patch_models_endpoint(payload):
+        or_feed = AsyncMock(return_value=feed)
+        with patch("routstr.payment.models.async_fetch_openrouter_models", or_feed):
+            models = await GenericUpstreamProvider(base_url="http://x").fetch_models()
+
+    model = _model_by_id(models, "or-negcache-xyz")
+    assert model.enabled is True
+    assert model.pricing.prompt == pytest.approx(1e-06)
+    assert model.pricing.input_cache_read == 0.0