diff --git a/api/types.go b/api/types.go
index 2217f02e..43f642c3 100644
--- a/api/types.go
+++ b/api/types.go
@@ -59,13 +59,13 @@ type ChatRequest struct {
 type Message struct {
 	Role    string      `json:"role"` // one of ["system", "user", "assistant"]
 	Content string      `json:"content"`
-	Images  []ImageData `json:"images, omitempty"`
+	Images  []ImageData `json:"images,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type ChatResponse struct {
 	Model     string    `json:"model"`
 	CreatedAt time.Time `json:"created_at"`
-	Message   *Message  `json:"message,omitempty"`
+	Message   Message   `json:"message"`
 
 	Done bool `json:"done"`
 
diff --git a/server/routes.go b/server/routes.go
index 002f5f21..b9bd5447 100644
--- a/server/routes.go
+++ b/server/routes.go
@@ -1013,7 +1013,7 @@ func ChatHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 
 	// an empty request loads the model
 	if len(req.Messages) == 0 {
-		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, api.ChatResponse{CreatedAt: time.Now().UTC(), Model: req.Model, Done: true})
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, api.ChatResponse{CreatedAt: time.Now().UTC(), Model: req.Model, Done: true, Message: api.Message{Role: "assistant"}})
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -1038,6 +1038,7 @@ func ChatHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 			resp := api.ChatResponse{
 				Model:     req.Model,
 				CreatedAt: time.Now().UTC(),
+				Message:   api.Message{Role: "assistant", Content: r.Content},
 				Done:      r.Done,
 				Metrics: api.Metrics{
 					PromptEvalCount:    r.PromptEvalCount,
@@ -1050,8 +1051,6 @@ func ChatHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 			if r.Done {
 				resp.TotalDuration = time.Since(checkpointStart)
 				resp.LoadDuration = checkpointLoaded.Sub(checkpointStart)
-			} else {
-				resp.Message = &api.Message{Role: "assistant", Content: r.Content}
 			}
 
 			ch <- resp
@@ -1075,10 +1074,7 @@ func ChatHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 		for resp := range ch {
 			switch r := resp.(type) {
 			case api.ChatResponse:
-				if r.Message != nil {
-					sb.WriteString(r.Message.Content)
-				}
-
+				sb.WriteString(r.Message.Content)
 				final = r
 			case gin.H:
 				if errorMsg, ok := r["error"].(string); ok {
@@ -1094,7 +1090,7 @@ func ChatHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		final.Message = &api.Message{Role: "assistant", Content: sb.String()}
+		final.Message = api.Message{Role: "assistant", Content: sb.String()}
 		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, final)
 		return
 	}