diff --git a/common/chat.cpp b/common/chat.cpp
index 938872e82ee1d..b9357db989bb1 100644
--- a/common/chat.cpp
+++ b/common/chat.cpp
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ std::vector<common_chat_msg> common_chat_msgs_parse_oaicompat(const json & messa
             msg.role = message.at("role");
 
             auto has_content = message.contains("content");
+            auto has_reasoning_content = message.contains("reasoning_content");
             auto has_tool_calls = message.contains("tool_calls");
             if (has_content) {
                 const auto & content = message.at("content");
@@ -249,8 +250,8 @@ std::vector<common_chat_msg> common_chat_msgs_parse_oaicompat(const json & messa
                     msg.tool_calls.push_back(tc);
                 }
             }
-            if (!has_content && !has_tool_calls) {
-                throw std::runtime_error("Expected 'content' or 'tool_calls' (ref: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues/8367 & https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues/12279)");
+            if (!has_content && !has_tool_calls && !has_reasoning_content) {
+                throw std::runtime_error("Expected 'content', 'reasoning_content' or 'tool_calls' (ref: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues/8367 & https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues/12279)");
             }
             if (message.contains("reasoning_content")) {
                 msg.reasoning_content = message.at("reasoning_content");
diff --git a/tools/server/tests/unit/test_chat_completion.py b/tools/server/tests/unit/test_chat_completion.py
index 392e0efecdbbd..8c7b6ef9f835a 100644
--- a/tools/server/tests/unit/test_chat_completion.py
+++ b/tools/server/tests/unit/test_chat_completion.py
@@ -476,3 +476,16 @@ def make_cmpl_request():
     assert last_progress["total"] > 0
     assert last_progress["processed"] == last_progress["total"]
     assert total_batch_count == batch_count
+
+
+def test_standalone_reasoning_content_is_accepted():
+    global server
+    server.start()
+    res = server.make_request("POST", "/chat/completions", data={
+        "max_tokens": 8,
+        "messages": [
+            {"role": "user", "content": "How much is 102 + 7?"},
+            {"role": "assistant", "reasoning_content": "Calculate."},
+        ]
+    })
+    assert res.status_code == 200
diff --git a/tools/server/utils.hpp b/tools/server/utils.hpp
index 2bce2f4a47af9..a56095d331b7e 100644
--- a/tools/server/utils.hpp
+++ b/tools/server/utils.hpp
@@ -595,8 +595,8 @@ static json oaicompat_chat_params_parse(
             throw std::runtime_error("All non-assistant messages must contain 'content'");
         }
         if (role == "assistant") {
-            if (!msg.contains("content") && !msg.contains("tool_calls")) {
-                throw std::runtime_error("Assistant message must contain either 'content' or 'tool_calls'!");
+            if (!msg.contains("content") && !msg.contains("tool_calls") && !msg.contains("reasoning_content")) {
+                throw std::runtime_error("Assistant message must contain either 'content' or 'tool_calls' or 'reasoning_content'!");
             }
             if (!msg.contains("content")) {
                 continue; // avoid errors with no content