diff --git a/docs/rlhf.md b/docs/rlhf.md
index 9f5ba05fdb..4f71184fc0 100644
--- a/docs/rlhf.md
+++ b/docs/rlhf.md
@@ -34,6 +34,21 @@ datasets:
 rl: ipo
 ```
 
+#### ORPO
+
+Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.07691
+
+```yaml
+rl: orpo
+orpo_alpha: 0.1
+remove_unused_columns: false
+
+chat_template: chatml
+datasets:
+  - path: argilla/ultrafeedback-binarized-preferences-cleaned
+    type: orpo.chat_template
+```
+
 #### Using local dataset files
 ```yaml
 datasets:
diff --git a/src/axolotl/prompt_strategies/orpo/chat_template.py b/src/axolotl/prompt_strategies/orpo/chat_template.py
index 7455ce1069..26a05ce35e 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/prompt_strategies/orpo/chat_template.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/prompt_strategies/orpo/chat_template.py
@@ -29,13 +29,11 @@ def load(
     chatml transforms for datasets with system, input, chosen, rejected
     """
 
-    chat_template = chat_templates("chatml", system_message=cfg.default_system_message)
+    chat_template = chat_templates("chatml")
     if ds_cfg and "chat_template" in ds_cfg:
         chat_template = ds_cfg["chat_template"]
         try:
-            chat_template = chat_templates(
-                chat_template, system_message=cfg.default_system_message
-            )
+            chat_template = chat_templates(chat_template)
         except ValueError:
             pass
 
diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/chat_templates.py b/src/axolotl/utils/chat_templates.py
index 26af42e19d..fd34b4ea99 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/chat_templates.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/chat_templates.py
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@
 This module provides functionality for selecting chat templates based on user choices.
 These templates are used for formatting messages in a conversation.
 """
-from typing import Optional
 
 
-def chat_templates(user_choice: str, system_message: Optional[str] = None):
+def chat_templates(user_choice: str):
     """
     Finds the correct chat_template for the tokenizer_config.
 
@@ -19,22 +18,14 @@ def chat_templates(user_choice: str, system_message: Optional[str] = None):
         ValueError: If the user_choice is not found in the templates.
     """
 
-    default_system_message = "You are a helpful assistant."
-    template_system_message: str = (
-        system_message if system_message is not None else default_system_message
-    )
-
     templates = {
         "alpaca": "{% for message in messages %}{% if message['role'] == 'user' %}{{ '### Instruction: ' + message['content'] + '\n\n' }}{% elif message['role'] == 'assistant' %}{{ '### Response: ' + message['content'] + eos_token}}{% endif %}{% endfor %}",
         "inst": "{{ bos_token }}{% 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'] == 'user' %}{{ '[INST] ' + message['content'] + ' [/INST]' }}{% elif message['role'] == 'assistant' %}{{ message['content'] + eos_token}}{% else %}{{ raise_exception('Only user and assistant roles are supported!') }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}",  # I don't know what this one is called. Used by Mistral/Mixtral.
-        "chatml": "{% if messages[0]['role'] == 'system' %}{% set loop_messages = messages[1:] %}{% set system_message = messages[0]['content'] %}{% else %}{% set loop_messages = messages %}{% set system_message = 'You are a helpful assistant.' %}{% endif %}{% if not add_generation_prompt is defined %}{% set add_generation_prompt = false %}{% endif %}{% for message in loop_messages %}{% if loop.index0 == 0 and system_message %}{{'<|im_start|>system\n' + system_message + '<|im_end|>\n'}}{% endif %}{{'<|im_start|>' + message['role'] + '\n' + message['content'] + '<|im_end|>' + '\n'}}{% endfor %}{% if add_generation_prompt %}{{ '<|im_start|>assistant\n' }}{% endif %}",
+        "chatml": "{% if not add_generation_prompt is defined %}{% set add_generation_prompt = false %}{% endif %}{% for message in messages %}{{'<|im_start|>' + message['role'] + '\n' + message['content'] + '<|im_end|>' + '\n'}}{% endfor %}{% if add_generation_prompt %}{{ '<|im_start|>assistant\n' }}{% endif %}",
         "gemma": "{{ bos_token }}{% 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 %}",
     }
 
     if user_choice in templates:
-        template = templates[user_choice]
-        if default_system_message in template:
-            template = template.replace(default_system_message, template_system_message)
-        return template
+        return templates[user_choice]
 
     raise ValueError(f"Template '{user_choice}' not found.")