diff --git a/torchchat/generate.py b/torchchat/generate.py
index a596187f5..a10d0e5be 100644
--- a/torchchat/generate.py
+++ b/torchchat/generate.py
@@ -1126,7 +1126,7 @@ def chat(
                     messages_to_encode.append(
                         {"role": "system", "content": self.system_prompt}
                     )
-                messages_to_encode.append({"role": "system", "content": prompt})
+                messages_to_encode.append({"role": "user", "content": prompt})
                 encoded = self.chat_formatter.encode_dialog_prompt(
                     messages_to_encode, add_generation_prompt=True,
                 )