diff --git a/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/converters/tensorrtllm_engine_converter.py b/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/converters/tensorrtllm_engine_converter.py
index a6f74063..1d0db66d 100644
--- a/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/converters/tensorrtllm_engine_converter.py
+++ b/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/converters/tensorrtllm_engine_converter.py
@@ -52,7 +52,10 @@ def convert(
 
         for file_data in generic_dataset.files_data.values():
             for row in file_data.rows:
-                token_ids = config.tokenizer.encode(row.texts[0])
+                if not config.apply_chat_template:
+                    token_ids = config.tokenizer.encode(row.texts[0])
+                else:
+                    token_ids = config.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(row.texts[0])
                 payload = {
                     "input_ids": {
                         "content": token_ids,
@@ -82,4 +85,7 @@ def _add_request_params(self, payload: Dict, config: InputsConfig) -> None:
                 payload["min_length"] = [num_tokens]
 
         for key, value in config.extra_inputs.items():
-            payload[key] = [value]
+            if key == "triton_converter_set_end_id" and value:
+                payload["end_id"] = [config.tokenizer._tokenizer.eos_token_id]
+            else:
+                payload[key] = [value]
diff --git a/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/inputs_config.py b/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/inputs_config.py
index 133c0121..0993668c 100644
--- a/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/inputs_config.py
+++ b/genai-perf/genai_perf/inputs/inputs_config.py
@@ -142,3 +142,6 @@ class InputsConfig:
 
     # Seed used to generate random values
     random_seed: int = DEFAULT_RANDOM_SEED
+
+    # whether to apply chat template in triton converter
+    apply_chat_template: bool = False
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/genai-perf/genai_perf/main.py b/genai-perf/genai_perf/main.py
index 916df005..4379dd67 100755
--- a/genai-perf/genai_perf/main.py
+++ b/genai-perf/genai_perf/main.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ def create_config_options(args: Namespace) -> InputsConfig:
         batch_size_image=args.batch_size_image,
         batch_size_text=args.batch_size_text,
         output_dir=args.artifact_dir,
+        apply_chat_template=args.triton_converter_apply_chat_template,
     )
 
 
diff --git a/genai-perf/genai_perf/parser.py b/genai-perf/genai_perf/parser.py
index e9df28a1..d3ac59c2 100644
--- a/genai-perf/genai_perf/parser.py
+++ b/genai-perf/genai_perf/parser.py
@@ -571,6 +571,13 @@ def _add_image_input_args(parser):
         "If format is not selected, format of generated image is selected at random",
     )
 
+    input_group.add_argument(
+        "--triton-converter-apply-chat-template",
+        action="store_true",
+        required=False,
+        help="If specified, the input to trtllm engines in triton server will "
+        "be wrapped with chat template."
+    )
 
 def _add_profile_args(parser):
     profile_group = parser.add_argument_group("Profiling")
diff --git a/genai-perf/genai_perf/profile_data_parser/llm_profile_data_parser.py b/genai-perf/genai_perf/profile_data_parser/llm_profile_data_parser.py
index e8d8503a..1395b02a 100755
--- a/genai-perf/genai_perf/profile_data_parser/llm_profile_data_parser.py
+++ b/genai-perf/genai_perf/profile_data_parser/llm_profile_data_parser.py
@@ -282,8 +282,11 @@ def _get_tensorrtllm_engine_token_counts(
         for r in res_outputs:
             if isinstance(r["output_ids"], list):
                 token_ids += r["output_ids"]
-            else:
+            elif isinstance(r["output_ids"], int):
                 token_ids.append(r["output_ids"])
+            else:
+                # for the empty first/last responses
+                token_ids.append(0)
         return token_ids, len(token_ids)
 
     def _get_triton_output_tokens(self, res_outputs: List[Dict]) -> List[str]:
diff --git a/genai-perf/genai_perf/tokenizer.py b/genai-perf/genai_perf/tokenizer.py
index 2467801e..42494e95 100644
--- a/genai-perf/genai_perf/tokenizer.py
+++ b/genai-perf/genai_perf/tokenizer.py
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ def __call__(self, text, **kwargs) -> "BatchEncoding":
     def encode(self, text, **kwargs) -> List[int]:
         self._encode_args.update(kwargs)
         return self._tokenizer.encode(text, **self._encode_args)
+    
+    def apply_chat_template(self, text) -> List[int]:
+        return self._tokenizer.encode(self._tokenizer.apply_chat_template([{"role": "user", "content": text}], tokenize=False), add_special_tokens=False)
 
     def decode(self, token_ids, **kwargs) -> str:
         self._decode_args.update(kwargs)
diff --git a/genai-perf/genai_perf/wrapper.py b/genai-perf/genai_perf/wrapper.py
index 3c23499f..6bbca4a2 100644
--- a/genai-perf/genai_perf/wrapper.py
+++ b/genai-perf/genai_perf/wrapper.py
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ def build_cmd(args: Namespace, extra_args: Optional[List[str]] = None) -> List[s
             "tokenizer",
             "tokenizer_trust_remote_code",
             "tokenizer_revision",
+            "triton_converter_apply_chat_template"
         ]
 
         utils.remove_file(args.profile_export_file)