diff --git a/tools/server/server-common.cpp b/tools/server/server-common.cpp
index fb71792fe6..47c2dcd768 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-common.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-common.cpp
@@ -1123,8 +1123,11 @@ json oaicompat_chat_params_parse(
     // Reasoning budget: pass parameters through to sampling layer
     {
         int reasoning_budget = opt.reasoning_budget;
-        if (reasoning_budget == -1 && body.contains("thinking_budget_tokens")) {
-            reasoning_budget = json_value(body, "thinking_budget_tokens", -1);
+        if (body.contains("thinking_budget_tokens")) {
+            int req_budget = json_value(body, "thinking_budget_tokens", -1);
+            if (reasoning_budget == -1 || (req_budget != -1 && req_budget < reasoning_budget)) {
+                reasoning_budget = req_budget;
+            }
         }
 
         if (!chat_params.thinking_end_tag.empty()) {