diff --git a/examples/server/utils.hpp b/examples/server/utils.hpp
index 8f545aea52dc4..2fcb895abe7e4 100644
--- a/examples/server/utils.hpp
+++ b/examples/server/utils.hpp
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ static std::string llama_get_chat_template(const struct llama_model * model) {
     if (res < 2) {
         return "";
     } else {
-        std::vector<char> model_template(res, 0);
+        std::vector<char> model_template(res + 1, 0);
         llama_model_meta_val_str(model, template_key.c_str(), model_template.data(), model_template.size());
         return std::string(model_template.data(), model_template.size() - 1);
     }
diff --git a/include/llama.h b/include/llama.h
index 36945cde335dc..eebbacb803454 100644
--- a/include/llama.h
+++ b/include/llama.h
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ extern "C" {
     // Functions to access the model's GGUF metadata scalar values
     // - The functions return the length of the string on success, or -1 on failure
     // - The output string is always null-terminated and cleared on failure
+    // - When retrieving a string, an extra byte must be allocated to account for the null terminator
     // - GGUF array values are not supported by these functions
 
     // Get metadata value as a string by key name