diff --git a/modules/sdk-api/src/bitgoAPI.ts b/modules/sdk-api/src/bitgoAPI.ts
index e3d3d750d94..9bb9be45ea6 100644
--- a/modules/sdk-api/src/bitgoAPI.ts
+++ b/modules/sdk-api/src/bitgoAPI.ts
@@ -1882,7 +1882,9 @@ export class BitGoAPI implements BitGoBase {
     if (!ecdhKeychainPub) {
       const result = await this.get(this.url('/user/settings')).result();
       if (!result.settings.ecdhKeychain) {
-        return new Error('ecdh keychain not found for user');
+        throw new Error(
+          'Your account is missing the sharing key needed for this action. Please contact support@bitgo.com so it can be set up.'
+        );
       }
       ecdhKeychainPub = result.settings.ecdhKeychain;
     }
diff --git a/modules/sdk-api/test/unit/bitgoAPI.ts b/modules/sdk-api/test/unit/bitgoAPI.ts
index 4f9dbed15f6..6caa60494f2 100644
--- a/modules/sdk-api/test/unit/bitgoAPI.ts
+++ b/modules/sdk-api/test/unit/bitgoAPI.ts
@@ -1562,3 +1562,24 @@ describe('wallets() v1 facade', function () {
     wallets.resendShareInvite.should.be.a.Function();
   });
 });
+
+describe('getECDHKeychain', function () {
+  const ROOT = 'https://app.example.local';
+
+  afterEach(function () {
+    nock.cleanAll();
+  });
+
+  it('rejects when the user has no ecdhKeychain in settings', async function () {
+    const bitgo = new BitGoAPI({ env: 'custom', customRootURI: ROOT });
+    nock(ROOT)
+      .get('/api/v1/user/settings')
+      .reply(200, { settings: { ecdhKeychain: null } });
+
+    await bitgo
+      .getECDHKeychain()
+      .should.be.rejectedWith(
+        'Your account is missing the sharing key needed for this action. Please contact support@bitgo.com so it can be set up.'
+      );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/modules/sdk-core/src/bitgo/wallet/wallets.ts b/modules/sdk-core/src/bitgo/wallet/wallets.ts
index 329d1405fb2..618c3f1daaf 100644
--- a/modules/sdk-core/src/bitgo/wallet/wallets.ts
+++ b/modules/sdk-core/src/bitgo/wallet/wallets.ts
@@ -1358,15 +1358,18 @@ export class Wallets implements IWallets {
       throw new Error('No valid wallet shares found to accept');
     }
 
-    const sharingKeychain = await this.bitgo.getECDHKeychain();
-    if (_.isUndefined(sharingKeychain.encryptedXprv)) {
-      throw new Error('encryptedXprv was not found on sharing keychain');
-    }
+    let sharingKeychainPrv: string | undefined;
+    if (walletShares.some((walletShare) => !walletShare.userMultiKeyRotationRequired && walletShare.keychain)) {
+      const sharingKeychain = await this.bitgo.getECDHKeychain();
+      if (_.isUndefined(sharingKeychain.encryptedXprv)) {
+        throw new Error('encryptedXprv was not found on sharing keychain');
+      }
 
-    sharingKeychain.prv = await this.bitgo.decrypt({
-      password: params.userLoginPassword,
-      input: sharingKeychain.encryptedXprv,
-    });
+      sharingKeychainPrv = await this.bitgo.decrypt({
+        password: params.userLoginPassword,
+        input: sharingKeychain.encryptedXprv,
+      });
+    }
     const newWalletPassphrase = params.newWalletPassphrase || params.userLoginPassword;
     const webauthnInfo = params.webauthnInfo;
 
@@ -1409,8 +1412,12 @@ export class Wallets implements IWallets {
       if (!walletShare.keychain) {
         return [];
       }
+      assert(
+        sharingKeychainPrv,
+        'Unable to accept this wallet share because your sharing key could not be loaded. Please try again, or contact support@bitgo.com if the problem continues.'
+      );
       const secret = getSharedSecret(
-        bip32.fromBase58(sharingKeychain.prv).derivePath(sanitizeLegacyPath(walletShare.keychain.path)),
+        bip32.fromBase58(sharingKeychainPrv).derivePath(sanitizeLegacyPath(walletShare.keychain.path)),
         Buffer.from(walletShare.keychain.fromPubKey, 'hex')
       ).toString('hex');
 
diff --git a/modules/sdk-core/test/unit/bitgo/wallet/walletsEncryptionVersion.ts b/modules/sdk-core/test/unit/bitgo/wallet/walletsEncryptionVersion.ts
index cf08425c7b8..7519cc2f70f 100644
--- a/modules/sdk-core/test/unit/bitgo/wallet/walletsEncryptionVersion.ts
+++ b/modules/sdk-core/test/unit/bitgo/wallet/walletsEncryptionVersion.ts
@@ -145,6 +145,50 @@ describe('Wallets - encryptionVersion threading', function () {
       assert.strictEqual(call.args[1], undefined);
     });
 
+    it('accepts a UMKR-only batch without fetching the ECDH keychain', async function () {
+      mockBitGo.getECDHKeychain.resolves(new Error('missing'));
+
+      await wallets.bulkAcceptShare({
+        walletShareIds: ['share-id'],
+        userLoginPassword: 'login-password',
+      });
+
+      assert.strictEqual(mockBitGo.getECDHKeychain.called, false);
+      assert.strictEqual(mockBitGo.put.called, true);
+    });
+
+    it('still requires the ECDH keychain when the batch also holds a share with a keychain', async function () {
+      mockBitGo.get.returns({
+        result: sinon.stub().resolves({
+          incoming: [
+            ...walletSharesList.incoming,
+            {
+              id: 'keychain-share-id',
+              keychain: {
+                pub: 'pub',
+                toPubKey: 'toPubKey',
+                fromPubKey: 'fromPubKey',
+                encryptedPrv: 'prv',
+                path: 'm/0',
+              },
+              permissions: ['spend'],
+            },
+          ],
+          outgoing: [],
+        }),
+      });
+      mockBitGo.getECDHKeychain.resolves({});
+
+      await assert.rejects(
+        wallets.bulkAcceptShare({
+          walletShareIds: ['share-id', 'keychain-share-id'],
+          userLoginPassword: 'login-password',
+        }),
+        { message: 'encryptedXprv was not found on sharing keychain' }
+      );
+      assert.strictEqual(mockBitGo.getECDHKeychain.calledOnce, true);
+    });
+
     it('processes shares in batches of 16 to avoid WASM memory exhaustion', async function () {
       // 20 shares → 2 batches (16 + 4), verifying the batch boundary is crossed
       const manyShares = Array.from({ length: 20 }, (_, i) => ({