diff --git a/internal/providers/helpers.go b/internal/providers/helpers.go
index f10b6605..6b0d35d3 100644
--- a/internal/providers/helpers.go
+++ b/internal/providers/helpers.go
@@ -191,7 +191,6 @@ func BuildOpenAIBody(request *models.UnifiedRequest, messagesJSON []interface{},
 			}
 		}
 		body["tools"] = sanitizedTools
-		body["reasoning_effort"] = "none" // pontytail: OpenAI reasoning models reject tools + reasoning_effort
 	}
 	if request.ToolChoice != nil {
 		var toolChoice interface{}
diff --git a/internal/providers/openai.go b/internal/providers/openai.go
index dcaff0a0..7cf18e72 100644
--- a/internal/providers/openai.go
+++ b/internal/providers/openai.go
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ func (p *OpenAIProvider) ChatCompletion(ctx context.Context, req *models.Unified
 			delete(body, "max_tokens")
 			body["max_completion_tokens"] = maxTokens
 		}
+		if len(req.Tools) > 0 {
+			body["reasoning_effort"] = "none"
+		}
 	}
 
 	resp, err := p.client.R().
@@ -169,6 +172,9 @@ func (p *OpenAIProvider) ChatCompletionStream(ctx context.Context, req *models.U
 			delete(body, "max_tokens")
 			body["max_completion_tokens"] = maxTokens
 		}
+		if len(req.Tools) > 0 {
+			body["reasoning_effort"] = "none"
+		}
 	}
 
 	resp, err := p.client.R().