diff --git a/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModel.java b/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModel.java
index a8b3b72858b3..689d00cb3f1e 100644
--- a/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModel.java
+++ b/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModel.java
@@ -504,6 +504,16 @@ private ApiFuture<GenerateContentResponse> generateContentAsync(GenerateContentR
     return vertexAi.getPredictionServiceClient().generateContentCallable().futureCall(request);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Removes the role in the system instruction content.
+   *
+   * @param systemInstruction a {@link com.google.cloud.vertexai.api.Content} instance
+   * @return a {@link com.google.cloud.vertexai.api.Content} instance with the role removed
+   */
+  private Content removeRoleInSystemInstructionContent(Content systemInstruction) {
+    return systemInstruction.toBuilder().clearRole().build();
+  }
+
   /**
    * Builds a {@link com.google.cloud.vertexai.api.GenerateContentRequest} based on a list of
    * contents and model configurations.
@@ -519,7 +529,8 @@ private GenerateContentRequest buildGenerateContentRequest(List<Content> content
             .addAllTools(tools);
 
     if (systemInstruction.isPresent()) {
-      requestBuilder.setSystemInstruction(systemInstruction.get());
+      requestBuilder.setSystemInstruction(
+          removeRoleInSystemInstructionContent(systemInstruction.get()));
     }
 
     return requestBuilder.build();
diff --git a/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModelTest.java b/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModelTest.java
index e61f6fe32090..c52f3be380ba 100644
--- a/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModelTest.java
+++ b/java-vertexai/google-cloud-vertexai/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/vertexai/generativeai/GenerativeModelTest.java
@@ -344,6 +344,7 @@ public void testGenerateContentwithSystemInstruction() throws Exception {
     verify(mockUnaryCallable).call(request.capture());
     assertThat(request.getValue().getSystemInstruction().getParts(0).getText())
         .isEqualTo(systemInstructionText);
+    assertThat(request.getValue().getSystemInstruction().getRole()).isEqualTo("");
   }
 
   @Test