diff --git a/src/services/api/providerConfig.ts b/src/services/api/providerConfig.ts
index 694607c78..5f1e9b867 100644
--- a/src/services/api/providerConfig.ts
+++ b/src/services/api/providerConfig.ts
@@ -374,7 +374,8 @@ function normalizePathWithV1(pathname: string): string {
   return `${trimmed}/v1`
 }
 
-function isLikelyOllamaEndpoint(baseUrl: string): boolean {
+export function isLikelyOllamaEndpoint(baseUrl: string | undefined): boolean {
+  if (!baseUrl) return false
   try {
     const parsed = new URL(baseUrl)
     const hostname = parsed.hostname.toLowerCase()
diff --git a/src/utils/providerValidation.test.ts b/src/utils/providerValidation.test.ts
index ba149d388..bcf22f49c 100644
--- a/src/utils/providerValidation.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils/providerValidation.test.ts
@@ -253,6 +253,41 @@ test('github validation is skipped when openai mode is also active', async () =>
   )
 })
 
+test('remote Ollama by hostname does not require OPENAI_API_KEY (#369)', async () => {
+  process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+  process.env.OPENAI_BASE_URL = 'http://my-ollama-server.example.com:11434/v1'
+  delete process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
+
+  await expect(getProviderValidationError(process.env)).resolves.toBeNull()
+})
+
+test('remote Ollama on default port without API key is allowed (#369)', async () => {
+  process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+  process.env.OPENAI_BASE_URL = 'http://203.0.113.5:11434/v1'
+  delete process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
+
+  await expect(getProviderValidationError(process.env)).resolves.toBeNull()
+})
+
+test('remote Ollama identified by "ollama" in hostname is allowed without key (#369)', async () => {
+  process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+  process.env.OPENAI_BASE_URL = 'https://ollama.corp.example.com/v1'
+  delete process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
+
+  await expect(getProviderValidationError(process.env)).resolves.toBeNull()
+})
+
+test('non-Ollama remote provider still requires OPENAI_API_KEY', async () => {
+  process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+  process.env.OPENAI_BASE_URL = 'https://api.openai.com/v1'
+  delete process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
+
+  const message = await getProviderValidationError(process.env)
+  expect(message).toContain(
+    'OPENAI_API_KEY is required when CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1 and OPENAI_BASE_URL is not local.',
+  )
+})
+
 test('startup provider validation allows interactive recovery', () => {
   expect(
     shouldExitForStartupProviderValidationError({
diff --git a/src/utils/providerValidation.ts b/src/utils/providerValidation.ts
index 831cfda83..5e2f43f3c 100644
--- a/src/utils/providerValidation.ts
+++ b/src/utils/providerValidation.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
 } from '../integrations/routeMetadata.js'
 import {
   getGithubEndpointType,
+  isLikelyOllamaEndpoint,
   isLocalProviderUrl,
   resolveCodexApiCredentials,
   resolveProviderRequest,
@@ -256,7 +257,8 @@ function getCredentialEnvValidationError(
   if (
     validation.allowLocalBaseUrlWithoutCredential &&
     request &&
-    isLocalProviderUrl(request.baseUrl)
+    (isLocalProviderUrl(request.baseUrl) ||
+      isLikelyOllamaEndpoint(request.baseUrl))
   ) {
     return null
   }
@@ -453,7 +455,8 @@ export async function getProviderValidationError(
           validationTarget.kind === 'vendor' &&
           validationTarget.descriptor.id === 'openai' &&
           !env.OPENAI_API_KEY &&
-          !isLocalProviderUrl(request.baseUrl)
+          !isLocalProviderUrl(request.baseUrl) &&
+          !isLikelyOllamaEndpoint(request.baseUrl)
         ) {
           return getOpenAIMissingKeyMessage()
         }
@@ -469,7 +472,11 @@ export async function getProviderValidationError(
     return genericRouteValidation.error
   }
 
-  if (!env.OPENAI_API_KEY && !isLocalProviderUrl(request.baseUrl)) {
+  if (
+    !env.OPENAI_API_KEY &&
+    !isLocalProviderUrl(request.baseUrl) &&
+    !isLikelyOllamaEndpoint(request.baseUrl)
+  ) {
     return getOpenAIMissingKeyMessage()
   }