diff --git a/llama.cpp b/llama.cpp
index 6ab5e1bf4..40dda265c 100644
--- a/llama.cpp
+++ b/llama.cpp
@@ -12782,6 +12782,28 @@ static int32_t llama_chat_apply_template_internal(
         if (add_ass) {
             ss << "<s>assistant\n";
         }
+    } else if (tmpl.find("<start_of_turn>") != std::string::npos) {
+        // google/gemma-7b-it
+        std::string system_prompt = "";
+        for (auto message : chat) {
+            std::string role(message->role);
+            if (role == "system") {
+                // there is no system message for gemma, but we will merge it with user prompt, so nothing is broken
+                system_prompt = trim(message->content);
+                continue;
+            }
+            // in gemma, "assistant" is "model"
+            role = role == "assistant" ? "model" : message->role;
+            ss << "<start_of_turn>" << role << "\n";
+            if (!system_prompt.empty() && role != "model") {
+                ss << system_prompt << "\n\n";
+                system_prompt = "";
+            }
+            ss << trim(message->content) << "<end_of_turn>\n";
+        }
+        if (add_ass) {
+            ss << "<start_of_turn>model\n";
+        }
     } else {
         // template not supported
         return -1;
diff --git a/tests/test-chat-template.cpp b/tests/test-chat-template.cpp
index d02b39e14..fa2eb577b 100644
--- a/tests/test-chat-template.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-chat-template.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ int main(void) {
         "{{ bos_token }}{% if messages[0]['role'] == 'system' %}{% set loop_messages = messages[1:] %}{% set system_message = messages[0]['content'] %}{% elif true == true and not '<<SYS>>' in messages[0]['content'] %}{% set loop_messages = messages %}{% set system_message = 'Vous êtes Vigogne, un assistant IA créé par Zaion Lab. Vous suivez extrêmement bien les instructions. Aidez autant que vous le pouvez.' %}{% else %}{% set loop_messages = messages %}{% set system_message = false %}{% endif %}{% for message in loop_messages %}{% if (message['role'] == 'user') != (loop.index0 % 2 == 0) %}{{ raise_exception('Conversation roles must alternate user/assistant/user/assistant/...') }}{% endif %}{% if loop.index0 == 0 and system_message != false %}{% set content = '<<SYS>>\\\\n' + system_message + '\\\\n<</SYS>>\\\\n\\\\n' + message['content'] %}{% else %}{% set content = message['content'] %}{% endif %}{% if message['role'] == 'user' %}{{ '[INST] ' + content.strip() + ' [/INST]' }}{% elif message['role'] == 'system' %}{{ '<<SYS>>\\\\n' + content.strip() + '\\\\n<</SYS>>\\\\n\\\\n' }}{% elif message['role'] == 'assistant' %}{{ ' '  + content.strip() + ' ' + eos_token }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}",
         // mlabonne/AlphaMonarch-7B
         "{% for message in messages %}{{bos_token + message['role'] + '\\n' + message['content'] + eos_token + '\\n'}}{% endfor %}{% if add_generation_prompt %}{{ bos_token + 'assistant\\n' }}{% endif %}",
+        // google/gemma-7b-it
+        "{% if messages[0]['role'] == 'system' %}{{ raise_exception('System role not supported') }}{% endif %}{% for message in messages %}{% if (message['role'] == 'user') != (loop.index0 % 2 == 0) %}{{ raise_exception('Conversation roles must alternate user/assistant/user/assistant/...') }}{% endif %}{% if (message['role'] == 'assistant') %}{% set role = 'model' %}{% else %}{% set role = message['role'] %}{% endif %}{{ '<start_of_turn>' + role + '\\n' + message['content'] | trim + '<end_of_turn>\\n' }}{% endfor %}{% if add_generation_prompt %}{{'<start_of_turn>model\\n'}}{% endif %}",
     };
     std::vector<std::string> expected_output = {
         // teknium/OpenHermes-2.5-Mistral-7B
@@ -41,6 +43,8 @@ int main(void) {
         "[INST] <<SYS>>\nYou are a helpful assistant\n<</SYS>>\n\nHello [/INST] Hi there </s>[INST] Who are you [/INST] I am an assistant </s>[INST] Another question [/INST]",
         // mlabonne/AlphaMonarch-7B
         "system\nYou are a helpful assistant</s>\n<s>user\nHello</s>\n<s>assistant\nHi there</s>\n<s>user\nWho are you</s>\n<s>assistant\n   I am an assistant   </s>\n<s>user\nAnother question</s>\n<s>assistant\n",
+        // google/gemma-7b-it
+        "<start_of_turn>user\nYou are a helpful assistant\n\nHello<end_of_turn>\n<start_of_turn>model\nHi there<end_of_turn>\n<start_of_turn>user\nWho are you<end_of_turn>\n<start_of_turn>model\nI am an assistant<end_of_turn>\n<start_of_turn>user\nAnother question<end_of_turn>\n<start_of_turn>model\n",
     };
     std::vector<char> formatted_chat(1024);
     int32_t res;