diff --git a/gpt4all-backend/include/gpt4all-backend/llmodel_c.h b/gpt4all-backend/include/gpt4all-backend/llmodel_c.h
index 271475ba..3f7b0851 100644
--- a/gpt4all-backend/include/gpt4all-backend/llmodel_c.h
+++ b/gpt4all-backend/include/gpt4all-backend/llmodel_c.h
@@ -312,6 +312,8 @@ int32_t llmodel_count_prompt_tokens(llmodel_model model, const char *prompt, con
 
 void llmodel_model_foreach_special_token(llmodel_model model, llmodel_special_token_callback callback);
 
+const char *llmodel_model_chat_template(const char *model_path, const char **error);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/gpt4all-backend/src/llmodel_c.cpp b/gpt4all-backend/src/llmodel_c.cpp
index a8c5554d..cb44da71 100644
--- a/gpt4all-backend/src/llmodel_c.cpp
+++ b/gpt4all-backend/src/llmodel_c.cpp
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@ llmodel_model llmodel_model_create(const char *model_path)
     return fres;
 }
 
-static void llmodel_set_error(const char **errptr, const char *message)
+static void llmodel_set_error(const char **errptr, std::string message)
 {
     thread_local static std::string last_error_message;
     if (errptr) {
-        last_error_message = message;
+        last_error_message = std::move(message);
         *errptr = last_error_message.c_str();
     }
 }
@@ -318,3 +318,15 @@ void llmodel_model_foreach_special_token(llmodel_model model, llmodel_special_to
     for (auto &[name, token] : wrapper->llModel->specialTokens())
         callback(name.c_str(), token.c_str());
 }
+
+const char *llmodel_model_chat_template(const char *model_path, const char **error)
+{
+    static std::string s_chatTemplate;
+    auto res = LLModel::Implementation::chatTemplate(model_path);
+    if (res) {
+        s_chatTemplate = *res;
+        return s_chatTemplate.c_str();
+    }
+    llmodel_set_error(error, std::move(res.error()));
+    return nullptr;
+}
diff --git a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py
index 616ce80a..c59f1dc5 100644
--- a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py
+++ b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py
@@ -227,6 +227,9 @@ llmodel.llmodel_count_prompt_tokens.restype = ctypes.c_int32
 llmodel.llmodel_model_foreach_special_token.argtypes = [ctypes.c_void_p, SpecialTokenCallback]
 llmodel.llmodel_model_foreach_special_token.restype = None
 
+llmodel.llmodel_model_chat_template.argtypes = [ctypes.c_char_p, ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_char_p)]
+llmodel.llmodel_model_chat_template.restype = ctypes.c_char_p
+
 ResponseCallbackType = Callable[[int, str], bool]
 RawResponseCallbackType = Callable[[int, bytes], bool]
 EmbCancelCallbackType: TypeAlias = 'Callable[[list[int], str], bool]'
@@ -290,10 +293,7 @@ class LLModel:
 
             raise RuntimeError(f"Unable to instantiate model: {errmsg}")
         self.model: ctypes.c_void_p | None = model
-        self.special_tokens_map: dict[str, str] = {}
-        llmodel.llmodel_model_foreach_special_token(
-            self.model, lambda n, t: self.special_tokens_map.__setitem__(n.decode(), t.decode()),
-        )
+        self._special_tokens_map: dict[str, str] | None = None
 
     def __del__(self, llmodel=llmodel):
         if hasattr(self, 'model'):
@@ -320,6 +320,26 @@ class LLModel:
         dev = llmodel.llmodel_model_gpu_device_name(self.model)
         return None if dev is None else dev.decode()
 
+    @property
+    def builtin_chat_template(self) -> str:
+        err = ctypes.c_char_p()
+        tmpl = llmodel.llmodel_model_chat_template(self.model_path, ctypes.byref(err))
+        if tmpl is not None:
+            return tmpl.decode()
+        s = err.value
+        raise ValueError('Failed to get chat template', 'null' if s is None else s.decode())
+
+    @property
+    def special_tokens_map(self) -> dict[str, str]:
+        if self.model is None:
+            self._raise_closed()
+        if self._special_tokens_map is None:
+            tokens: dict[str, str] = {}
+            cb = SpecialTokenCallback(lambda n, t: tokens.__setitem__(n.decode(), t.decode()))
+            llmodel.llmodel_model_foreach_special_token(self.model, cb)
+            self._special_tokens_map = tokens
+        return self._special_tokens_map
+
     def count_prompt_tokens(self, prompt: str) -> int:
         if self.model is None:
             self._raise_closed()
diff --git a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
index 84b236c9..390eb410 100644
--- a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
+++ b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
@@ -62,8 +62,9 @@ class MessageType(TypedDict):
 
 
 class ChatSession(NamedTuple):
-    template: jinja2.Template
-    history: list[MessageType]
+    template:        jinja2.Template
+    template_source: str
+    history:         list[MessageType]
 
 
 class Embed4All:
@@ -193,6 +194,16 @@ class GPT4All:
     Python class that handles instantiation, downloading, generation and chat with GPT4All models.
     """
 
+    RE_LEGACY_SYSPROMPT = re.compile(
+        r"(?:^|\s)(?:### *System\b|S(?:ystem|YSTEM):)|<\|(?:im_(?:start|end)|(?:start|end)_header_id|eot_id|SYSTEM_TOKEN)\|>|<<SYS>>",
+        re.MULTILINE,
+    )
+
+    RE_JINJA_LIKE = re.compile(
+        r"\{%.*%\}.*\{\{.*\}\}.*\{%.*%\}",
+        re.DOTALL,
+    )
+
     def __init__(
         self,
         model_name: str,
@@ -260,6 +271,7 @@ class GPT4All:
 
         # Retrieve model and download if allowed
         self.config: ConfigType = self.retrieve_model(model_name, model_path=model_path, allow_download=allow_download, verbose=verbose)
+        self._was_allow_download = allow_download
         self.model = LLModel(self.config["path"], n_ctx, ngl, backend)
         if device_init is not None:
             self.model.init_gpu(device_init)
@@ -300,6 +312,10 @@ class GPT4All:
             raise ValueError("current_chat_session may only be set when there is an active chat session")
         self._chat_session.history[:] = history
 
+    @property
+    def current_chat_template(self) -> str | None:
+        return None if self._chat_session is None else self._chat_session.template_source
+
     @staticmethod
     def list_models() -> list[ConfigType]:
         """
@@ -598,11 +614,19 @@ class GPT4All:
             self._chat_session.history.append(MessageType(role="assistant", content=full_response))
         return full_response
 
+    @classmethod
+    def is_legacy_chat_template(cls, tmpl: str) -> bool:
+        """A fairly reliable heuristic for detecting templates that don't look like Jinja templates."""
+        return bool(re.search(r"%[12]\b", tmpl) or not cls.RE_JINJA_LIKE.search(tmpl)
+                    or not re.search(r"\bcontent\b", tmpl))
+
     @contextmanager
     def chat_session(
         self,
+        *,
         system_message: str | Literal[False] | None = None,
         chat_template: str | None = None,
+        warn_legacy: bool = True,
     ):
         """
         Context manager to hold an inference optimized chat session with a GPT4All model.
@@ -614,22 +638,43 @@ class GPT4All:
 
         if system_message is None:
             system_message = self.config.get("systemMessage", False)
+        elif system_message is not False and warn_legacy and (m := self.RE_LEGACY_SYSPROMPT.search(system_message)):
+            print(
+                "Warning: chat_session() was passed a system message that is not plain text. System messages "
+                f"containing {m.group()!r} or with any special prefix/suffix are no longer supported.\nTo disable this "
+                "warning, pass warn_legacy=False.",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
 
         if chat_template is None:
-            if "name" not in self.config:
-                raise ValueError("For sideloaded models or with allow_download=False, you must specify a chat template.")
-            if "chatTemplate" not in self.config:
-                raise NotImplementedError("This model appears to have a built-in chat template, but loading it is not "
-                                          "currently implemented. Please pass a template to chat_session() directly.")
-            if (tmpl := self.config["chatTemplate"]) is None:
-                raise ValueError(f"The model {self.config['name']!r} does not support chat.")
-            chat_template = tmpl
+            if "chatTemplate" in self.config:
+                if (tmpl := self.config["chatTemplate"]) is None:
+                    raise ValueError(f"The model {self.config['name']!r} does not support chat.")
+                chat_template = tmpl
+            else:
+                try:
+                    chat_template = self.model.builtin_chat_template
+                except ValueError as e:
+                    if len(e.args) >= 2 and isinstance(err := e.args[1], str):
+                        msg = (f"Failed to load default chat template from model: {err}\n"
+                               "Please pass a template to chat_session() directly.")
+                        if not self._was_allow_download:
+                            msg += " If this is a built-in model, consider setting allow_download to True."
+                        raise ValueError(msg) from None
+                    raise
+        elif warn_legacy and self.is_legacy_chat_template(chat_template):
+            print(
+                "Warning: chat_session() was passed a chat template that is not in Jinja format. Old-style prompt "
+                "templates are no longer supported.\nTo disable this warning, pass warn_legacy=False.",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
 
         history = []
         if system_message is not False:
             history.append(MessageType(role="system", content=system_message))
         self._chat_session = ChatSession(
             template=_jinja_env.from_string(chat_template),
+            template_source=chat_template,
             history=history,
         )
         try: