diff --git a/common/chat.cpp b/common/chat.cpp
index 065506a4d1..d2ff3eab9c 100644
--- a/common/chat.cpp
+++ b/common/chat.cpp
@@ -2547,8 +2547,6 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_solar_open(const common_chat_t
         }
     }
 
-    auto enable_thinking = prompt.rfind("<|think|><|end|>") == std::string::npos;
-
     data.prompt = prompt;
     data.format = COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_PEG_NATIVE;
     data.preserved_tokens = {
@@ -2570,6 +2568,9 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_solar_open(const common_chat_t
         auto lit_end = p.atomic(p.literal("<|end|>"));
         auto parser_until_end = p.until("<|end|>");
 
+        // prefix <- "<|begin|>assistant"?
+        auto parser_prefix = p.optional(lit_assistant_begin);
+
         // reasoning <- "<|think|>" (!"<|end|>" .)*
         auto parser_reasoning = p.rule("reasoning", lit_think + p.reasoning(parser_until_end));
 
@@ -2581,8 +2582,7 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_solar_open(const common_chat_t
         // wrapped            <- "<|end|><|begin|>assistant" item-choice
         auto wrap_choice = [&](const std::vector<common_peg_parser> & items) {
             auto choice = p.choice(items);
-            auto first = enable_thinking ? choice : lit_assistant_begin + choice;
-            return first + p.zero_or_more(lit_end + lit_assistant_begin + choice);
+            return choice + p.zero_or_more(lit_end + lit_assistant_begin + choice);
         };
 
         // wrap_seq(items) <- item[0] "<|end|><|begin|>assistant" item[1] ...
@@ -2590,7 +2590,7 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_solar_open(const common_chat_t
             auto seq = p.sequence();
             for (auto i = 0u; i < items.size(); i++) {
                 if (i == 0) {
-                    seq += enable_thinking ? items[i] : lit_assistant_begin + items[i];
+                    seq += items[i];
                     continue;
                 }
                 seq += lit_end + lit_assistant_begin + items[i];
@@ -2601,7 +2601,7 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_solar_open(const common_chat_t
         // Response format parser
         if (inputs.json_schema.is_object() && !inputs.json_schema.empty()) {
             auto parser_response_format = lit_content + p.content(p.schema(p.json(), "response-format", inputs.json_schema));
-            return p.choice({
+            return parser_prefix + p.choice({
                 wrap_seq({parser_reasoning, parser_response_format}),
                 wrap_seq({parser_response_format})
             });
@@ -2648,19 +2648,20 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_solar_open(const common_chat_t
 
             if (min_calls == 1) {
                 // If required, then try any combination of the reasoning, content, and tool call
-                p.choice({
+                return parser_prefix + p.choice({
                     wrap_seq({parser_reasoning, parser_content, parser_tool_calls}),
+                    wrap_seq({parser_reasoning, parser_tool_calls}),
                     wrap_seq({parser_content, parser_tool_calls}),
                     wrap_seq({parser_tool_calls})
                 });
             }
 
-            return wrap_choice({parser_reasoning, parser_content, parser_tool_calls});
+            return parser_prefix + wrap_choice({parser_reasoning, parser_content, parser_tool_calls});
         }
 
         // Content only parser
         include_grammar = false;
-        return wrap_choice({parser_reasoning, parser_content});
+        return parser_prefix + wrap_choice({parser_reasoning, parser_content});
     });
 
     data.parser = parser.save();