diff --git a/common/chat.cpp b/common/chat.cpp
index aba26e97a10..50d818dfbd4 100644
--- a/common/chat.cpp
+++ b/common/chat.cpp
@@ -2780,6 +2780,15 @@ static void system_message_not_supported(json & messages) {
     }
 }
 
+static void requires_non_null_content(json & messages) {
+    GGML_ASSERT(messages.is_array());
+    for (auto & message : messages) {
+        if (message.contains("tool_calls") && !message.contains("content")) {
+            message["content"] = "";
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 static void func_args_not_string(json & messages) {
     GGML_ASSERT(messages.is_array());
     for (auto & message : messages) {
@@ -2885,6 +2894,13 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_templates_apply_jinja(
         workaround::system_message_not_supported(params.messages);
     }
 
+    if (tmpl.original_caps().supports_tool_calls) {
+        // some templates will require the content field in tool call messages
+        // to still be non-null, this puts an empty string everywhere where the 
+        // content field is null
+        workaround::requires_non_null_content(params.messages);
+    }
+
     params.extra_context = json::object();
     for (auto el : inputs.chat_template_kwargs) {
         params.extra_context[el.first] = json::parse(el.second);
diff --git a/common/jinja/caps.cpp b/common/jinja/caps.cpp
index f27490f1fb7..6b6c095be6e 100644
--- a/common/jinja/caps.cpp
+++ b/common/jinja/caps.cpp
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ caps caps_get(jinja::program & prog) {
                     {"content", "Assistant message"},
                     {"tool_calls", json::array({
                         {
-                            {"id", "call1"},
+                            {"id", "call00001"},
                             {"type", "function"},
                             {"function", {
                                 {"name", "tool1"},
@@ -170,10 +170,10 @@ caps caps_get(jinja::program & prog) {
                             }}
                         },
                         {
-                            {"id", "call2"},
+                            {"id", "call00002"},
                             {"type", "function"},
                             {"function", {
-                                {"name", "tool2"},
+                                {"name", "tool1"},
                                 {"arguments", {
                                     {"arg", "value"}
                                 }}
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ caps caps_get(jinja::program & prog) {
                     {"name", "tool"},
                     {"type", "function"},
                     {"function", {
-                        {"name", "tool"},
+                        {"name", "tool1"},
                         {"description", "Tool description"},
                         {"parameters", {
                             {"type", "object"},
diff --git a/tests/test-jinja.cpp b/tests/test-jinja.cpp
index 54d3a0923bd..314a31d7d01 100644
--- a/tests/test-jinja.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-jinja.cpp
@@ -949,6 +949,19 @@ static void test_tests(testing & t) {
         {{"x", {{"a", 1}}}},
         "yes"
     );
+
+    test_template(t, "something in undefined",
+        "{% if x in y %}yes{% else %}no{% endif %}",
+        {{"x", 1}},
+        "no"
+    );
+
+    test_template(t, "null is undefined",
+        "{% if null is not defined %}yes{% else %}no{% endif %}",
+        json::object(),
+        "yes"
+    );
+
 }
 
 static void test_string_methods(testing & t) {