diff --git a/src/typeagent/aitools/utils.py b/src/typeagent/aitools/utils.py
index adba401a..eb21f9ec 100644
--- a/src/typeagent/aitools/utils.py
+++ b/src/typeagent/aitools/utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 import sys
 import time
 
-import black
 import colorama
 
 import typechat
@@ -57,6 +56,8 @@ def format_code(text: str, line_width=None) -> str:
 
     NOTE: The text must be a valid Python expression or code block.
     """
+    import black
+
     if line_width is None:
         # Use the terminal width, but cap it to 200 characters.
         line_width = min(200, shutil.get_terminal_size().columns)
@@ -197,7 +198,11 @@ def parse_azure_endpoint(
             f"{endpoint_envvar}={azure_endpoint} doesn't contain valid api-version field"
         )
 
-    return azure_endpoint, m.group(1)
+    # Strip query string — AsyncAzureOpenAI expects a clean base URL and
+    # receives api_version as a separate parameter.
+    clean_endpoint = azure_endpoint.split("?", 1)[0]
+
+    return clean_endpoint, m.group(1)
 
 
 def get_azure_api_key(azure_api_key: str) -> str:
diff --git a/src/typeagent/knowpro/answers.py b/src/typeagent/knowpro/answers.py
index 2c300506..58a536ed 100644
--- a/src/typeagent/knowpro/answers.py
+++ b/src/typeagent/knowpro/answers.py
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Any
 
-import black
-
 import typechat
 
 from .answer_context_schema import AnswerContext, RelevantKnowledge, RelevantMessage
@@ -127,6 +125,8 @@ def create_question_prompt(question: str) -> str:
 
 def create_context_prompt(context: AnswerContext) -> str:
     # TODO: Use a more compact representation of the context than JSON.
+    import black
+
     prompt = [
         "[ANSWER CONTEXT]",
         "===",
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 5966af61..7f806f74 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def test_api_version_after_question_mark(
         )
         endpoint, version = utils.parse_azure_endpoint("TEST_ENDPOINT")
         assert version == "2025-01-01-preview"
-        assert endpoint.startswith("https://")
+        assert endpoint == "https://myhost.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/gpt-4"
 
     def test_api_version_after_ampersand(self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
         """api-version preceded by & (not the first query parameter)."""
@@ -84,6 +84,44 @@ def test_missing_env_var_raises(self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
         with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="not found"):
             utils.parse_azure_endpoint("NONEXISTENT_ENDPOINT")
 
+    def test_query_string_stripped_from_endpoint(
+        self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """Returned endpoint should not contain query string parameters."""
+        monkeypatch.setenv(
+            "TEST_ENDPOINT",
+            "https://myhost.openai.azure.com?api-version=2024-06-01",
+        )
+        endpoint, version = utils.parse_azure_endpoint("TEST_ENDPOINT")
+        assert endpoint == "https://myhost.openai.azure.com"
+        assert version == "2024-06-01"
+
+    def test_query_string_stripped_with_path(
+        self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """Query string stripped even when endpoint includes a path."""
+        monkeypatch.setenv(
+            "TEST_ENDPOINT",
+            "https://myhost.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/gpt-4?api-version=2025-01-01-preview",
+        )
+        endpoint, version = utils.parse_azure_endpoint("TEST_ENDPOINT")
+        assert endpoint == "https://myhost.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/gpt-4"
+        assert "?" not in endpoint
+        assert version == "2025-01-01-preview"
+
+    def test_query_string_stripped_multiple_params(
+        self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """All query parameters stripped, not just api-version."""
+        monkeypatch.setenv(
+            "TEST_ENDPOINT",
+            "https://myhost.openai.azure.com?foo=bar&api-version=2024-06-01",
+        )
+        endpoint, version = utils.parse_azure_endpoint("TEST_ENDPOINT")
+        assert endpoint == "https://myhost.openai.azure.com"
+        assert "foo" not in endpoint
+        assert version == "2024-06-01"
+
     def test_no_api_version_raises(self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
         """RuntimeError when the endpoint has no api-version field."""
         monkeypatch.setenv(