diff --git a/gpt4all-chat/CHANGELOG.md b/gpt4all-chat/CHANGELOG.md
index 3a455d10..6478ea72 100644
--- a/gpt4all-chat/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/gpt4all-chat/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/).
 - Fix API server ignoring assistant messages in history after v3.5.0 ([#3256](https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/pull/3256))
 - Fix API server replying with incorrect token counts and stop reason after v3.5.0 ([#3256](https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/pull/3256))
 - Fix API server remembering previous, unrelated conversations after v3.5.0 ([#3256](https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/pull/3256))
+- Fix mishandling of default chat template and system message of cloned models in v3.5.0 ([#3262](https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/pull/3262))
 
 ## [3.5.1] - 2024-12-10
 
diff --git a/gpt4all-chat/src/modellist.cpp b/gpt4all-chat/src/modellist.cpp
index d24ef859..1f2c4e35 100644
--- a/gpt4all-chat/src/modellist.cpp
+++ b/gpt4all-chat/src/modellist.cpp
@@ -1141,18 +1141,20 @@ bool ModelList::isUniqueName(const QString &name) const
 
 QString ModelList::clone(const ModelInfo &model)
 {
+    auto *mySettings = MySettings::globalInstance();
+
     const QString id = Network::globalInstance()->generateUniqueId();
     addModel(id);
 
-    QString chatTemplate, systemMessage;
+    QString tmplSetting, sysmsgSetting;
     if (auto tmpl = model.chatTemplate().asModern()) {
-        chatTemplate = *tmpl;
+        tmplSetting = *tmpl;
     } else {
         qWarning("ModelList Warning: attempted to clone model with legacy chat template");
         return {};
     }
     if (auto msg = model.systemMessage().asModern()) {
-        systemMessage = *msg;
+        sysmsgSetting = *msg;
     } else {
         qWarning("ModelList Warning: attempted to clone model with legacy system message");
         return {};
@@ -1177,12 +1179,22 @@ QString ModelList::clone(const ModelInfo &model)
         { ModelList::GpuLayersRole, model.gpuLayers() },
         { ModelList::RepeatPenaltyRole, model.repeatPenalty() },
         { ModelList::RepeatPenaltyTokensRole, model.repeatPenaltyTokens() },
-        { ModelList::ChatTemplateRole,  chatTemplate  },
-        { ModelList::SystemMessageRole, systemMessage },
+        { ModelList::SystemMessageRole, model.m_systemMessage },
         { ModelList::ChatNamePromptRole, model.chatNamePrompt() },
         { ModelList::SuggestedFollowUpPromptRole, model.suggestedFollowUpPrompt() },
     };
+    if (auto tmpl = model.m_chatTemplate)
+        data.emplace_back(ModelList::ChatTemplateRole, *tmpl); // copy default chat template, if known
     updateData(id, data);
+
+    // Ensure setting overrides are copied in case the base model overrides change.
+    // This is necessary because setting these roles on ModelInfo above does not write to settings.
+    auto cloneInfo = modelInfo(id);
+    if (mySettings->isModelChatTemplateSet (model))
+        mySettings->setModelChatTemplate (cloneInfo, tmplSetting  );
+    if (mySettings->isModelSystemMessageSet(model))
+        mySettings->setModelSystemMessage(cloneInfo, sysmsgSetting);
+
     return id;
 }