diff --git a/model_servers/llamacpp_python/Makefile b/model_servers/llamacpp_python/Makefile
index b232f3320..d83228153 100644
--- a/model_servers/llamacpp_python/Makefile
+++ b/model_servers/llamacpp_python/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 APP := llamacpp_python
 PORT ?= 8001
-CHAT_FORMAT ?= llama-2
+CHAT_FORMAT ?=
 
 include ../common/Makefile.common
 
diff --git a/model_servers/llamacpp_python/base/Containerfile b/model_servers/llamacpp_python/base/Containerfile
index 2b58c9660..c650191d1 100644
--- a/model_servers/llamacpp_python/base/Containerfile
+++ b/model_servers/llamacpp_python/base/Containerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/python-311:1-62.1716478620
-ENV CHAT_FORMAT=llama-2
+ENV CHAT_FORMAT=
 WORKDIR /locallm
 COPY src .
 USER root
diff --git a/model_servers/llamacpp_python/src/run.sh b/model_servers/llamacpp_python/src/run.sh
index fa38d4476..28ccf0df2 100644
--- a/model_servers/llamacpp_python/src/run.sh
+++ b/model_servers/llamacpp_python/src/run.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ if [ ${MODEL_PATH} ]; then
         --port ${PORT:=8001} \
         --n_gpu_layers ${GPU_LAYERS:=0} \
         --clip_model_path ${CLIP_MODEL_PATH:=None} \
-        --chat_format ${CHAT_FORMAT:="llama-2"} \
+        --chat_format ${CHAT_FORMAT:=None} \
         --interrupt_requests ${INTERRUPT_REQUESTS:=False}
     exit 0
 fi