diff --git a/common/common.cpp b/common/common.cpp
index 5f5302074..d1e305103 100644
--- a/common/common.cpp
+++ b/common/common.cpp
@@ -1869,10 +1869,18 @@ std::string common_chat_format_example(const common_chat_template & tmpl, bool u
     return common_chat_apply_template(tmpl, msgs, true, use_jinja);
 }
 
+#define CHATML_TEMPLATE_SRC \
+    "{%- for message in messages -%}\n" \
+    "  {{- '<|im_start|>' + message.role + '\n' + message.content + '<|im_end|>\n' -}}\n" \
+    "{%- endfor -%}\n" \
+    "{%- if add_generation_prompt -%}\n" \
+    "  {{- '<|im_start|>assistant\n' -}}\n" \
+    "{%- endif -%})"
+
 common_chat_templates common_chat_templates_from_model(const struct llama_model * model, const std::string & chat_template_override)
 {
-    std::string default_template_src = chat_template_override;
-    std::string template_tool_use_src = chat_template_override;
+    std::string default_template_src = chat_template_override == "chatml" ? CHATML_TEMPLATE_SRC : chat_template_override;
+    std::string template_tool_use_src = chat_template_override == "chatml" ? CHATML_TEMPLATE_SRC : "";
     bool has_explicit_template = !chat_template_override.empty();
     if (chat_template_override.empty()) {
         auto str = llama_model_chat_template(model, /* name */ nullptr);