diff --git a/runner/ollamarunner/runner.go b/runner/ollamarunner/runner.go
index 9a1a549cd..9b68dc56d 100644
--- a/runner/ollamarunner/runner.go
+++ b/runner/ollamarunner/runner.go
@@ -561,14 +561,7 @@ func (s *Server) completion(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	sampler := sample.NewSampler(
-		req.Options.Temperature,
-		req.Options.TopK,
-		req.Options.TopP,
-		req.Options.MinP,
-		req.Options.Seed,
-		grammar,
-	)
+	sampler := sample.NewSampler(req.Options, grammar)
 
 	seq, err := s.NewSequence(req.Prompt, req.Images, NewSequenceParams{
 		numPredict: req.Options.NumPredict,
diff --git a/sample/samplers.go b/sample/samplers.go
index ef8033691..5cd43b9f5 100644
--- a/sample/samplers.go
+++ b/sample/samplers.go
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 package sample
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"math"
 	"math/rand/v2"
 	"slices"
 	"sync"
 
+	"github.com/ollama/ollama/api"
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/llama"
 )
 
@@ -126,40 +128,65 @@ func (s *Sampler) sample(tokens []token) (token, error) {
 	return tokens[idx], nil
 }
 
-// TODO(parthsareen): update sampler interface to use json unmarshal https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/9278
-func NewSampler(temperature float32, topK int, topP float32, minP float32, seed int, grammar *Grammar) Sampler {
+// SamplerParams contains the validated and normalized parameters for a sampler
+type SamplerParams struct {
+	Temperature float32 `json:"temperature"`
+	TopK        int     `json:"top_k"`
+	TopP        float32 `json:"top_p"`
+	MinP        float32 `json:"min_p"`
+	Seed        int     `json:"seed"`
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON implements json.Unmarshaler to handle validation during JSON unmarshaling
+func (p *SamplerParams) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
+	type rawParams SamplerParams
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, (*rawParams)(p)); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Validate and normalize after unmarshaling
+	if p.Temperature < 0.0 {
+		p.Temperature = 0.0
+	}
+
+	if p.TopP < 0.0 {
+		p.TopP = 0.0
+	}
+	if p.TopP >= 1.0 {
+		p.TopP = 1.0
+	}
+
+	if p.MinP < 0.0 {
+		p.MinP = 0.0
+	}
+	if p.MinP >= 1.0 {
+		p.MinP = 1.0
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// NewSampler creates a new sampler with the given options
+func NewSampler(opts *api.Options, grammar *Grammar) Sampler {
+	var params SamplerParams
+	data, _ := json.Marshal(opts)
+	_ = json.Unmarshal(data, &params)
+
 	var rng *rand.Rand
-	if seed != -1 {
+	if params.Seed != -1 {
 		// PCG requires two parameters: sequence and stream
 		// Use original seed for sequence
-		sequence := uint64(seed)
+		sequence := uint64(params.Seed)
 		// Use golden ratio hash to generate statistically independent seeds
 		rng = rand.New(rand.NewPCG(sequence, sequence^0x9E3779B9))
 	}
-	if temperature < 0.0 {
-		temperature = 0.0
-	}
-
-	if topP < 0.0 {
-		topP = 0.0
-	}
-	if topP >= 1.0 {
-		topP = 1.0
-	}
-
-	if minP < 0.0 {
-		minP = 0.0
-	}
-	if minP >= 1.0 {
-		minP = 1.0
-	}
 
 	return Sampler{
 		rng:         rng,
-		topK:        topK,
-		topP:        topP,
-		minP:        minP,
-		temperature: temperature,
+		topK:        params.TopK,
+		topP:        params.TopP,
+		minP:        params.MinP,
+		temperature: params.Temperature,
 		grammar:     grammar,
 	}
 }
diff --git a/sample/samplers_benchmark_test.go b/sample/samplers_benchmark_test.go
index cd1380141..1f15747b2 100644
--- a/sample/samplers_benchmark_test.go
+++ b/sample/samplers_benchmark_test.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func BenchmarkWeightedSampler(b *testing.B) {
 				logits[i] = float32(rand.Float64()*10 - 5)
 			}
 
-			sampler := NewSampler(0.8, 0, 0, 0, 42, nil)
+			sampler := NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(0.8, 0, 0, 0, 42), nil)
 			b.ResetTimer()
 			for b.Loop() {
 				sampler.Sample(logits)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func BenchmarkWeightedSampler(b *testing.B) {
 
 	for _, tc := range configs {
 		b.Run("Config"+tc.name, func(b *testing.B) {
-			sampler := NewSampler(tc.temperature, tc.topK, tc.topP, tc.minP, tc.seed, nil)
+			sampler := NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(tc.temperature, tc.topK, tc.topP, tc.minP, tc.seed), nil)
 			sampler.Sample(logits)
 
 			b.ResetTimer()
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func BenchmarkWeightedSampler(b *testing.B) {
 
 	// Test with combined transforms separately - topK influences performance greatly
 	b.Run("TransformCombined", func(b *testing.B) {
-		sampler := NewSampler(0.8, 50, 0.9, 0.05, 42, nil)
+		sampler := NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(0.8, 50, 0.9, 0.05, 42), nil)
 		b.ResetTimer()
 
 		for b.Loop() {
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func BenchmarkGreedySampler(b *testing.B) {
 				logits[i] = float32(rand.Float64()*10 - 5)
 			}
 
-			sampler := NewSampler(0, -1, 0, 0, -1, nil)
+			sampler := NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(0, -1, 0, 0, -1), nil)
 			b.ResetTimer()
 
 			for b.Loop() {
diff --git a/sample/samplers_test.go b/sample/samplers_test.go
index d79dce474..0bc37890c 100644
--- a/sample/samplers_test.go
+++ b/sample/samplers_test.go
@@ -4,11 +4,23 @@ import (
 	"math"
 	"math/rand/v2"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ollama/ollama/api"
 )
 
+func createSamplerOptions(temperature float32, topK int, topP float32, minP float32, seed int) *api.Options {
+	return &api.Options{
+		Temperature: temperature,
+		TopK:        topK,
+		TopP:        topP,
+		MinP:        minP,
+		Seed:        seed,
+	}
+}
+
 func TestWeighted(t *testing.T) {
 	logits := []float32{-10, 3, -10, -10}
-	sampler := NewSampler(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, nil)
+	sampler := NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(0, 0, 0, 0, 0), nil)
 	got, err := sampler.Sample(logits)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
@@ -20,7 +32,7 @@ func TestWeighted(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	logits = []float32{-100, -10, 0, 10}
-	sampler = NewSampler(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, nil)
+	sampler = NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(0, 0, 0, 0, 0), nil)
 	got, err = sampler.Sample(logits)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
@@ -34,7 +46,7 @@ func TestWeighted(t *testing.T) {
 	// Test very high p
 	logits = []float32{1.0, 0.9999999999999999, 0.5, 0.1}
 	// Use extremely small topP to filter out all tokens
-	sampler = NewSampler(1.0, 0, 1e-10, 0, 0, nil)
+	sampler = NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(1.0, 0, 1e-10, 0, 0), nil)
 	got, err = sampler.Sample(logits)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
@@ -47,7 +59,7 @@ func TestWeighted(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	logits = []float32{float32(math.NaN()), float32(math.NaN()), float32(math.NaN())}
-	sampler = NewSampler(1, 0, 0.95, 0.05, 0, nil)
+	sampler = NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(1, 0, 0.95, 0.05, 0), nil)
 	got, err = sampler.Sample(logits)
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Errorf("expected error, got %d", got)
@@ -57,8 +69,8 @@ func TestWeighted(t *testing.T) {
 
 func BenchmarkSample(b *testing.B) {
 	samplers := map[string]Sampler{
-		"Greedy":   NewSampler(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, nil), // Use NewSampler with temp=0 for greedy
-		"Weighted": NewSampler(0.5, 10, 0.9, 0.2, -1, nil),
+		"Greedy":   NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(0, 0, 0, 0, 0), nil), // Use NewSampler with temp=0 for greedy
+		"Weighted": NewSampler(createSamplerOptions(0.5, 10, 0.9, 0.2, -1), nil),
 	}
 
 	// Generate random logits for benchmarking