diff --git a/docs/modules/models/text_embedding/examples/azureopenai.ipynb b/docs/modules/models/text_embedding/examples/azureopenai.ipynb
index 435f2e06766ff4..0f09f1e969def9 100644
--- a/docs/modules/models/text_embedding/examples/azureopenai.ipynb
+++ b/docs/modules/models/text_embedding/examples/azureopenai.ipynb
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
     "\n",
     "os.environ[\"OPENAI_API_TYPE\"] = \"azure\"\n",
     "os.environ[\"OPENAI_API_BASE\"] = \"https://<your-endpoint.openai.azure.com/\"\n",
-    "os.environ[\"OPENAI_API_KEY\"] = \"your AzureOpenAI key\""
+    "os.environ[\"OPENAI_API_KEY\"] = \"your AzureOpenAI key\"\n",
+    "os.environ[\"OPENAI_API_VERSION\"] = \"2023-03-15-preview\""
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/langchain/embeddings/openai.py b/langchain/embeddings/openai.py
index 52fbf94b836dc3..307ecd5921730b 100644
--- a/langchain/embeddings/openai.py
+++ b/langchain/embeddings/openai.py
@@ -77,8 +77,7 @@ class OpenAIEmbeddings(BaseModel, Embeddings):
             openai = OpenAIEmbeddings(openai_api_key="my-api-key")
 
     In order to use the library with Microsoft Azure endpoints, you need to set
-    the OPENAI_API_TYPE, OPENAI_API_BASE, OPENAI_API_KEY and optionally and
-    API_VERSION.
+    the OPENAI_API_TYPE, OPENAI_API_BASE, OPENAI_API_KEY and OPENAI_API_VERSION.
     The OPENAI_API_TYPE must be set to 'azure' and the others correspond to
     the properties of your endpoint.
     In addition, the deployment name must be passed as the model parameter.
@@ -90,6 +89,7 @@ class OpenAIEmbeddings(BaseModel, Embeddings):
             os.environ["OPENAI_API_TYPE"] = "azure"
             os.environ["OPENAI_API_BASE"] = "https://<your-endpoint.openai.azure.com/"
             os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = "your AzureOpenAI key"
+            os.environ["OPENAI_API_VERSION"] = "2023-03-15-preview"
 
             from langchain.embeddings.openai import OpenAIEmbeddings
             embeddings = OpenAIEmbeddings(
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class OpenAIEmbeddings(BaseModel, Embeddings):
     client: Any  #: :meta private:
     model: str = "text-embedding-ada-002"
     deployment: str = model  # to support Azure OpenAI Service custom deployment names
-    openai_api_version: str = "2022-12-01"
+    openai_api_version: str = ""
     # to support Azure OpenAI Service custom endpoints
     openai_api_base: Optional[str] = None
     # to support Azure OpenAI Service custom endpoints
@@ -144,11 +144,14 @@ def validate_environment(cls, values: Dict) -> Dict:
             "OPENAI_API_TYPE",
             default="",
         )
-        openai_api_version = get_from_dict_or_env(
-            values,
-            "openai_api_version",
-            "OPENAI_API_VERSION",
-        )
+        if openai_api_type in ("azure", "azure_ad", "azuread"):
+            openai_api_version = get_from_dict_or_env(
+                values,
+                "openai_api_version",
+                "OPENAI_API_VERSION",
+            )
+        else:
+            openai_api_version = None
         openai_organization = get_from_dict_or_env(
             values,
             "openai_organization",
@@ -163,6 +166,7 @@ def validate_environment(cls, values: Dict) -> Dict:
                 openai.organization = openai_organization
             if openai_api_base:
                 openai.api_base = openai_api_base
+            if openai_api_version:
                 openai.api_version = openai_api_version
             if openai_api_type:
                 openai.api_type = openai_api_type