diff --git a/codex-rs/core/src/chat_completions.rs b/codex-rs/core/src/chat_completions.rs
index abb27d9b5..d8d3a63d1 100644
--- a/codex-rs/core/src/chat_completions.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/core/src/chat_completions.rs
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn stream_chat_completions(
     debug!(
         "POST to {}: {}",
         provider.get_full_url(&None),
-        serde_json::to_string_pretty(&payload).unwrap_or_default()
+        payload.to_string()
     );
 
     let mut attempt = 0;
diff --git a/codex-rs/core/src/client.rs b/codex-rs/core/src/client.rs
index 3a0bcb9b5..651d8ba49 100644
--- a/codex-rs/core/src/client.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/core/src/client.rs
@@ -294,10 +294,9 @@ impl ModelClient {
         let auth = auth_manager.as_ref().and_then(|m| m.auth());
 
         trace!(
-            "POST to {}: {:?}",
+            "POST to {}: {}",
             self.provider.get_full_url(&auth),
-            serde_json::to_string(payload_json)
-                .unwrap_or("<unable to serialize payload>".to_string())
+            payload_json.to_string()
         );
 
         let mut req_builder = self