diff --git a/src/api/providers/__tests__/requesty.spec.ts b/src/api/providers/__tests__/requesty.spec.ts
index df799426a72..bca440de1eb 100644
--- a/src/api/providers/__tests__/requesty.spec.ts
+++ b/src/api/providers/__tests__/requesty.spec.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import { Anthropic } from "@anthropic-ai/sdk"
 import OpenAI from "openai"
+import { t } from "i18next"
 
 import { TOOL_PROTOCOL } from "@roo-code/types"
 
@@ -378,6 +379,125 @@ describe("RequestyHandler", () => {
 				})
 			})
 		})
+
+		describe("reasoning-only response handling", () => {
+			it("should emit placeholder text when model returns only reasoning content", async () => {
+				const handler = new RequestyHandler(mockOptions)
+
+				// Mock stream that only returns reasoning content without actual text or tool calls
+				const mockStreamWithOnlyReasoning = {
+					async *[Symbol.asyncIterator]() {
+						yield {
+							id: "test-id",
+							choices: [
+								{
+									delta: {
+										reasoning_content: "I am thinking about how to respond...",
+									},
+								},
+							],
+						}
+						yield {
+							id: "test-id",
+							choices: [
+								{
+									delta: {
+										reasoning_content:
+											"The user wants me to use a tool, but I'll format it wrong: <tool_call><function=get_weather>",
+									},
+								},
+							],
+						}
+						yield {
+							id: "test-id",
+							choices: [{ delta: {} }],
+							usage: { prompt_tokens: 10, completion_tokens: 20 },
+						}
+					},
+				}
+				mockCreate.mockResolvedValue(mockStreamWithOnlyReasoning)
+
+				const systemPrompt = "test system prompt"
+				const messages: Anthropic.Messages.MessageParam[] = [{ role: "user" as const, content: "test message" }]
+
+				const chunks = []
+				for await (const chunk of handler.createMessage(systemPrompt, messages)) {
+					chunks.push(chunk)
+				}
+
+				// Expect two reasoning chunks, one fallback text chunk, and one usage chunk
+				expect(chunks).toHaveLength(4)
+				expect(chunks[0]).toEqual({ type: "reasoning", text: "I am thinking about how to respond..." })
+				expect(chunks[1]).toEqual({
+					type: "reasoning",
+					text: "The user wants me to use a tool, but I'll format it wrong: <tool_call><function=get_weather>",
+				})
+				// The fallback text to prevent empty response error
+				expect(chunks[2]).toEqual({
+					type: "text",
+					text: t("common:errors.gemini.thinking_complete_no_output"),
+				})
+				expect(chunks[3]).toMatchObject({
+					type: "usage",
+					inputTokens: 10,
+					outputTokens: 20,
+				})
+			})
+
+			it("should not emit placeholder when model returns actual content", async () => {
+				const handler = new RequestyHandler(mockOptions)
+
+				// Mock stream that returns both reasoning and text content
+				const mockStreamWithContent = {
+					async *[Symbol.asyncIterator]() {
+						yield {
+							id: "test-id",
+							choices: [
+								{
+									delta: {
+										reasoning_content: "Thinking...",
+									},
+								},
+							],
+						}
+						yield {
+							id: "test-id",
+							choices: [
+								{
+									delta: {
+										content: "Here is my actual response",
+									},
+								},
+							],
+						}
+						yield {
+							id: "test-id",
+							choices: [{ delta: {} }],
+							usage: { prompt_tokens: 10, completion_tokens: 20 },
+						}
+					},
+				}
+				mockCreate.mockResolvedValue(mockStreamWithContent)
+
+				const systemPrompt = "test system prompt"
+				const messages: Anthropic.Messages.MessageParam[] = [{ role: "user" as const, content: "test message" }]
+
+				const chunks = []
+				for await (const chunk of handler.createMessage(systemPrompt, messages)) {
+					chunks.push(chunk)
+				}
+
+				// Expect one reasoning chunk, one text chunk, and one usage chunk (no fallback)
+				expect(chunks).toHaveLength(3)
+				expect(chunks[0]).toEqual({ type: "reasoning", text: "Thinking..." })
+				expect(chunks[1]).toEqual({ type: "text", text: "Here is my actual response" })
+				expect(chunks[2]).toMatchObject({
+					type: "usage",
+					inputTokens: 10,
+					outputTokens: 20,
+				})
+			})
+		})
 	})
 
 	describe("completePrompt", () => {
diff --git a/src/api/providers/requesty.ts b/src/api/providers/requesty.ts
index b84a36bcc16..b28f64d1d70 100644
--- a/src/api/providers/requesty.ts
+++ b/src/api/providers/requesty.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Anthropic } from "@anthropic-ai/sdk"
 import OpenAI from "openai"
+import { t } from "i18next"
 
 import { type ModelInfo, requestyDefaultModelId, requestyDefaultModelInfo, TOOL_PROTOCOL } from "@roo-code/types"
 
@@ -166,19 +167,26 @@ export class RequestyHandler extends BaseProvider implements SingleCompletionHan
 		}
 		let lastUsage: any = undefined
 
+		// Track whether we've received actual content vs just reasoning
+		let hasContent = false
+		let hasReasoning = false
+
 		for await (const chunk of stream) {
 			const delta = chunk.choices[0]?.delta
 
 			if (delta?.content) {
+				hasContent = true
 				yield { type: "text", text: delta.content }
 			}
 
 			if (delta && "reasoning_content" in delta && delta.reasoning_content) {
+				hasReasoning = true
 				yield { type: "reasoning", text: (delta.reasoning_content as string | undefined) || "" }
 			}
 
 			// Handle native tool calls
 			if (delta && "tool_calls" in delta && Array.isArray(delta.tool_calls)) {
+				hasContent = true
 				for (const toolCall of delta.tool_calls) {
 					yield {
 						type: "tool_call_partial",
@@ -195,6 +203,14 @@ export class RequestyHandler extends BaseProvider implements SingleCompletionHan
 			}
 		}
 
+		// If model produced reasoning but no actual content (text or tool calls),
+		// emit a placeholder to prevent "empty assistant response" errors.
+		// This can happen when models output malformed tool call syntax in their
+		// reasoning/thinking content (e.g., <tool_call><function=...> tags).
+		if (hasReasoning && !hasContent) {
+			yield { type: "text", text: t("common:errors.gemini.thinking_complete_no_output") }
+		}
+
 		if (lastUsage) {
 			yield this.processUsageMetrics(lastUsage, info)
 		}