diff --git a/common/chat.cpp b/common/chat.cpp
index 1236e766921d2..1fc43c42a873c 100644
--- a/common/chat.cpp
+++ b/common/chat.cpp
@@ -1366,9 +1366,9 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_deepseek_v3_1(const common_cha
                 auto parameters = function.at("parameters");
                 builder.resolve_refs(parameters);
                 tool_rules.push_back(builder.add_rule(name + "-call",
-                    "( \"<｜tool▁call▁begin｜>\" )? \"function<｜tool▁sep｜>" + name + "\\n"
-                    "```json\\n\" " + builder.add_schema(name + "-args", parameters) + " "
-                    "\"```<｜tool▁call▁end｜>\""));
+                    "( \"<｜tool▁call▁begin｜>\" )? \"" + name + "<｜tool▁sep｜>"
+                    "\" " + builder.add_schema(name + "-args", parameters) + " "
+                    "\"<｜tool▁call▁end｜>\""));
             });
             // Distill Qwen 7B & 32B models seem confused re/ syntax of their tool call opening tag,
             // so we accept common variants (then it's all constrained)
@@ -1421,9 +1421,9 @@ static void common_chat_parse_deepseek_r1(common_chat_msg_parser & builder) {
 }
 
 static void common_chat_parse_deepseek_v3_1_content(common_chat_msg_parser & builder) {
-    static const common_regex function_regex("(?:<｜tool▁call▁begin｜>)?(?:function<｜tool▁sep｜>)?([^\\n<]+)(?:\\n```json\\n|<｜tool▁sep｜>)");
+    static const common_regex function_regex("(?:<｜tool▁call▁begin｜>)?([^\\n<]+)(?:<｜tool▁sep｜>)");
 
-    static const common_regex close_regex("(?:[\\n]*```[\\s\\r\\n]*)?<｜tool▁call▁end｜>");
+    static const common_regex close_regex("(?:[\\s]*)?<｜tool▁call▁end｜>");
     static const common_regex tool_calls_begin("(?:<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜>|<｜tool_calls_begin｜>|<｜tool calls begin｜>|<｜tool\\\\_calls\\\\_begin｜>|<｜tool▁calls｜>)");
     static const common_regex tool_calls_end("<｜tool▁calls▁end｜>");
 
diff --git a/tests/test-chat-parser.cpp b/tests/test-chat-parser.cpp
index 7ddd5babc706f..caa9be8ec1f9c 100644
--- a/tests/test-chat-parser.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-chat-parser.cpp
@@ -243,19 +243,7 @@ static void test_deepseek_v3_1_tool_calls() {
     assert_equals(variant, std::string(""), msg.content);
     assert_equals(variant, std::string(""), msg.reasoning_content);
 
-    // variant: function + fenced JSON
-    {
-        const std::string variant("fenced");
-        const std::string in = "<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>function<｜tool▁sep｜>get_time\n```json\n{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}\n```<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>";
-        auto m = common_chat_parse(in, false, syntax);
-        assert_equals<std::size_t>(variant, 1, m.tool_calls.size());
-        assert_equals(variant, std::string("get_time"), m.tool_calls[0].name);
-        assert_equals(variant, std::string("{\"city\":\"Tokyo\"}"), m.tool_calls[0].arguments);
-        assert_equals(variant, std::string(""), m.content);
-        assert_equals(variant, std::string(""), m.reasoning_content);
-    }
-
-    // variant: function + fenced JSON + thinking open
+    // variant: simple + thinking open
     {
         common_chat_syntax syntax = {
             /* .format = */ COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_DEEPSEEK_V3_1,
@@ -264,8 +252,8 @@ static void test_deepseek_v3_1_tool_calls() {
             /* .thinking_forced_open = */ true,
             /* .parse_tool_calls = */ true,
         };
-        const std::string variant("fenced_thinking");
-        const std::string in = "REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>function<｜tool▁sep｜>get_time\n```json\n{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}\n```<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>";
+        const std::string variant("simple_thinking");
+        const std::string in = "REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>";
         auto m = common_chat_parse(in, false, syntax);
         assert_equals<std::size_t>(variant, 1, m.tool_calls.size());
         assert_equals(variant, std::string("get_time"), m.tool_calls[0].name);
@@ -295,7 +283,7 @@ static void test_deepseek_v3_1_tool_calls() {
     }
 
 
-    // variant: thinking forced open + tool call in reasoning content + function + fenced JSON
+    // variant: thinking forced open + tool call in reasoning content
     {
         common_chat_syntax syntax = {
             /* .format = */ COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_DEEPSEEK_V3_1,
@@ -304,8 +292,8 @@ static void test_deepseek_v3_1_tool_calls() {
             /* .thinking_forced_open = */ true,
             /* .parse_tool_calls = */ true,
         };
-        const std::string variant("thinking_forced_open_tool_call_in_reasoning_fenced_thinking");
-        const std::string in = "REASONING<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time2<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo2\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>function<｜tool▁sep｜>get_time\n```json\n{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}\n```<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>";
+        const std::string variant("thinking_forced_open_tool_call_in_reasoning");
+        const std::string in = "REASONING<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time2<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo2\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>";
         auto m = common_chat_parse(in, false, syntax);
         assert_equals<std::size_t>(variant, 1, m.tool_calls.size());
         assert_equals(variant, std::string("get_time"), m.tool_calls[0].name);
diff --git a/tests/test-chat.cpp b/tests/test-chat.cpp
index 4bcbf97a0e212..d6a3383dda7b7 100644
--- a/tests/test-chat.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-chat.cpp
@@ -1804,24 +1804,11 @@ static void test_template_output_parsers() {
                     /* .thinking_forced_open = */ false,
                     /* .parse_tool_calls = */ true,
                 }));
-        // variant: function + fenced JSON
-        assert_msg_equals(
-            simple_assist_msg("", "", "get_time", "{\"city\":\"Tokyo\"}"),
-            common_chat_parse(
-                "<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>function<｜tool▁sep｜>get_time\n```json\n{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}\n```<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>",
-                /* is_partial= */ false,
-                {
-                    COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_DEEPSEEK_V3_1,
-                    /* .reasoning_format = */ COMMON_REASONING_FORMAT_DEEPSEEK,
-                    /* .reasoning_in_content = */ false,
-                    /* .thinking_forced_open = */ false,
-                    /* .parse_tool_calls = */ true,
-                }));
-        // variant: function + fenced JSON + thinking open
+        // variant: simple + thinking open
         assert_msg_equals(
             simple_assist_msg("", "REASONING", "get_time", "{\"city\":\"Tokyo\"}"),
             common_chat_parse(
-                "REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>function<｜tool▁sep｜>get_time\n```json\n{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}\n```<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>",
+                "REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>",
                 /* is_partial= */ false,
                 {
                     COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_DEEPSEEK_V3_1,
@@ -1848,11 +1835,11 @@ static void test_template_output_parsers() {
                     /* .thinking_forced_open = */ false,
                     /* .parse_tool_calls = */ true,
                 }));
-        // variant: thinking forced open + tool call in reasoning content + function + fenced JSON
+        // variant: thinking forced open + tool call in reasoning content
         assert_msg_equals(
             simple_assist_msg("", "REASONING<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time2<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo2\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>REASONING", "get_time", "{\"city\":\"Tokyo\"}"),
             common_chat_parse(
-                "REASONING<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time2<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo2\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>function<｜tool▁sep｜>get_time\n```json\n{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}\n```<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>",
+                "REASONING<｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time2<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo2\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>REASONING</think><｜tool▁calls▁begin｜><｜tool▁call▁begin｜>get_time<｜tool▁sep｜>{\"city\": \"Tokyo\"}<｜tool▁call▁end｜><｜tool▁calls▁end｜>",
                 /* is_partial= */ false,
                 {
                     COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_DEEPSEEK_V3_1,