diff --git a/gguf-py/scripts/gguf-template.py b/gguf-py/scripts/gguf-template.py
index dff9023ca..1f5408965 100644
--- a/gguf-py/scripts/gguf-template.py
+++ b/gguf-py/scripts/gguf-template.py
@@ -59,21 +59,32 @@ def display_chat_template(chat_template: str, format_template: bool = False):
     if format_template:
         # Render the formatted template using Jinja2 with a context that includes 'bos_token' and 'eos_token'
         env = jinja2.Environment(
-            loader=jinja2.BaseLoader(),
-            trim_blocks=True,
-            lstrip_blocks=True,
+            loader=jinja2.BaseLoader(), trim_blocks=True, lstrip_blocks=True
         )
-        logger.info(chat_template)
         template = env.from_string(chat_template)
-        formatted_template = template.render(
-            messages=[
-                {"role": "system", "content": "I am a helpful assistant."},
-                {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"},
-                {"role": "assistant", "content": "Hello! How may I assist you today?"},
-            ],
-            bos_token="[BOS]",
-            eos_token="[EOS]",
-        )
+
+        messages = [
+            {"role": "system", "content": "I am a helpful assistant."},
+            {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"},
+            {"role": "assistant", "content": "Hello! How may I assist you today?"},
+        ]
+        bos_token = "<s>"
+        eos_token = "</s>"
+
+        try:
+            formatted_template = template.render(
+                messages=messages,
+                bos_token=bos_token,
+                eos_token=eos_token,
+            )
+        except jinja2.exceptions.UndefinedError:
+            # system message is incompatible with set format
+            formatted_template = template.render(
+                messages=messages[1:],
+                bos_token=bos_token,
+                eos_token=eos_token,
+            )
+
         print(formatted_template)
     else:
         # Display the raw template