diff --git a/src/backend/.env.sample b/src/backend/.env.sample
index 6179939f0..64102ab7b 100644
--- a/src/backend/.env.sample
+++ b/src/backend/.env.sample
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ COSMOSDB_DATABASE=autogen
 COSMOSDB_CONTAINER=memory
 
 AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT=
+AZURE_OPENAI_MODEL_NAME=gpt-4o
 AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME=gpt-4o
 AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION=2024-08-01-preview
 APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_INSTRUMENTATION_KEY=
diff --git a/src/backend/config.py b/src/backend/config.py
index 35b712273..217c01207 100644
--- a/src/backend/config.py
+++ b/src/backend/config.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ class Config:
     COSMOSDB_CONTAINER = GetRequiredConfig("COSMOSDB_CONTAINER")
 
     AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME = GetRequiredConfig("AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME")
+    AZURE_OPENAI_MODEL_NAME = GetOptionalConfig("AZURE_OPENAI_MODEL_NAME", default=AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME)
     AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION = GetRequiredConfig("AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION")
     AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT = GetRequiredConfig("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT")
     AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY = GetOptionalConfig("AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY")
@@ -89,7 +90,8 @@ def GetAzureOpenAIChatCompletionClient(model_capabilities):
         if Config.AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY == "":
             # Use DefaultAzureCredential for auth
             Config.__aoai_chatCompletionClient = AzureOpenAIChatCompletionClient(
-                model=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME,
+                model=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_MODEL_NAME,
+                azure_deployment=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME,
                 api_version=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION,
                 azure_endpoint=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT,
                 azure_ad_token_provider=Config.GetTokenProvider(
@@ -101,7 +103,8 @@ def GetAzureOpenAIChatCompletionClient(model_capabilities):
         else:
             # Fallback behavior to use API key
             Config.__aoai_chatCompletionClient = AzureOpenAIChatCompletionClient(
-                model=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME,
+                model=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_MODEL_NAME,
+                azure_deployment=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME,
                 api_version=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION,
                 azure_endpoint=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT,
                 api_key=Config.AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY,