diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/agents/agent_instance.py b/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/agents/agent_instance.py
index e01f5e82e..51ee8621f 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/agents/agent_instance.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/agents/agent_instance.py
@@ -127,14 +127,14 @@ class ChatAgent(ShieldRunnerMixin):
         session = self.sessions[request.session_id]
 
         messages = []
+        if len(session.turns) == 0 and self.agent_config.instructions != "":
+            messages.append(SystemMessage(content=self.agent_config.instructions))
+
         for i, turn in enumerate(session.turns):
             messages.extend(self.turn_to_messages(turn))
 
         messages.extend(request.messages)
 
-        # print("processed dialog ======== ")
-        # print_dialog(messages)
-
         turn_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
         start_time = datetime.now()
         yield AgentTurnResponseStreamChunk(