diff --git a/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/json_schema.py b/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/json_schema.py
index c5feab8478..9628f9e521 100644
--- a/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/json_schema.py
+++ b/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/json_schema.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from typing import Optional, TypeVar, Union, cast
+from copy import deepcopy
+from typing import Any, List, Optional, Sequence
 
 
 def _retrieve_ref(path: str, schema: dict) -> dict:
@@ -13,36 +14,59 @@ def _retrieve_ref(path: str, schema: dict) -> dict:
     out = schema
     for component in components[1:]:
         out = out[component]
-    return out
+    return deepcopy(out)
 
 
-JSON_LIKE = TypeVar("JSON_LIKE", bound=Union[dict, list])
-
-
-def _dereference_refs_helper(obj: JSON_LIKE, full_schema: dict) -> JSON_LIKE:
+def _dereference_refs_helper(
+    obj: Any, full_schema: dict, skip_keys: Sequence[str]
+) -> Any:
     if isinstance(obj, dict):
         obj_out = {}
         for k, v in obj.items():
-            if k == "$ref":
+            if k in skip_keys:
+                obj_out[k] = v
+            elif k == "$ref":
                 ref = _retrieve_ref(v, full_schema)
-                obj_out[k] = _dereference_refs_helper(ref, full_schema)
+                return _dereference_refs_helper(ref, full_schema, skip_keys)
             elif isinstance(v, (list, dict)):
-                obj_out[k] = _dereference_refs_helper(v, full_schema)  # type: ignore
+                obj_out[k] = _dereference_refs_helper(v, full_schema, skip_keys)
             else:
                 obj_out[k] = v
-        return cast(JSON_LIKE, obj_out)
+        return obj_out
     elif isinstance(obj, list):
-        return cast(
-            JSON_LIKE, [_dereference_refs_helper(el, full_schema) for el in obj]
-        )
+        return [_dereference_refs_helper(el, full_schema, skip_keys) for el in obj]
     else:
         return obj
 
 
+def _infer_skip_keys(obj: Any, full_schema: dict) -> List[str]:
+    keys = []
+    if isinstance(obj, dict):
+        for k, v in obj.items():
+            if k == "$ref":
+                ref = _retrieve_ref(v, full_schema)
+                keys.append(v.split("/")[1])
+                keys += _infer_skip_keys(ref, full_schema)
+            elif isinstance(v, (list, dict)):
+                keys += _infer_skip_keys(v, full_schema)
+    elif isinstance(obj, list):
+        for el in obj:
+            keys += _infer_skip_keys(el, full_schema)
+    return keys
+
+
 def dereference_refs(
-    schema_obj: dict, *, full_schema: Optional[dict] = None
-) -> Union[dict, list]:
+    schema_obj: dict,
+    *,
+    full_schema: Optional[dict] = None,
+    skip_keys: Optional[Sequence[str]] = None,
+) -> dict:
     """Try to substitute $refs in JSON Schema."""
 
     full_schema = full_schema or schema_obj
-    return _dereference_refs_helper(schema_obj, full_schema)
+    skip_keys = (
+        skip_keys
+        if skip_keys is not None
+        else _infer_skip_keys(schema_obj, full_schema)
+    )
+    return _dereference_refs_helper(schema_obj, full_schema, skip_keys)
diff --git a/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/openai_functions.py b/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/openai_functions.py
index 48c49541dc..cfb1e76d59 100644
--- a/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/openai_functions.py
+++ b/libs/langchain/langchain/utils/openai_functions.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import Dict, Optional, Type, TypedDict, cast
+from typing import Optional, Type, TypedDict
 
 from langchain.pydantic_v1 import BaseModel
 from langchain.utils.json_schema import dereference_refs
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ def convert_pydantic_to_openai_function(
     name: Optional[str] = None,
     description: Optional[str] = None
 ) -> FunctionDescription:
-    schema = cast(Dict, dereference_refs(model.schema()))
+    schema = dereference_refs(model.schema())
+    schema.pop("definitions", None)
     return {
         "name": name or schema["title"],
         "description": description or schema["description"],
diff --git a/libs/langchain/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_json_schema.py b/libs/langchain/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_json_schema.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..233c467272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libs/langchain/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_json_schema.py
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+import pytest
+
+from langchain.utils.json_schema import dereference_refs
+
+
+def test_dereference_refs_no_refs() -> None:
+    schema = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "first_name": {"type": "string"},
+        },
+    }
+    actual = dereference_refs(schema)
+    assert actual == schema
+
+
+def test_dereference_refs_one_ref() -> None:
+    schema = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "first_name": {"$ref": "#/$defs/name"},
+        },
+        "$defs": {"name": {"type": "string"}},
+    }
+    expected = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "first_name": {"type": "string"},
+        },
+        "$defs": {"name": {"type": "string"}},
+    }
+    actual = dereference_refs(schema)
+    assert actual == expected
+
+
+def test_dereference_refs_multiple_refs() -> None:
+    schema = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "first_name": {"$ref": "#/$defs/name"},
+            "other": {"$ref": "#/$defs/other"},
+        },
+        "$defs": {
+            "name": {"type": "string"},
+            "other": {"type": "object", "properties": {"age": "int", "height": "int"}},
+        },
+    }
+    expected = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "first_name": {"type": "string"},
+            "other": {"type": "object", "properties": {"age": "int", "height": "int"}},
+        },
+        "$defs": {
+            "name": {"type": "string"},
+            "other": {"type": "object", "properties": {"age": "int", "height": "int"}},
+        },
+    }
+    actual = dereference_refs(schema)
+    assert actual == expected
+
+
+def test_dereference_refs_nested_refs_skip() -> None:
+    schema = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "info": {"$ref": "#/$defs/info"},
+        },
+        "$defs": {
+            "name": {"type": "string"},
+            "info": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {"age": "int", "name": {"$ref": "#/$defs/name"}},
+            },
+        },
+    }
+    expected = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "info": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {"age": "int", "name": {"type": "string"}},
+            },
+        },
+        "$defs": {
+            "name": {"type": "string"},
+            "info": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {"age": "int", "name": {"$ref": "#/$defs/name"}},
+            },
+        },
+    }
+    actual = dereference_refs(schema)
+    assert actual == expected
+
+
+def test_dereference_refs_nested_refs_no_skip() -> None:
+    schema = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "info": {"$ref": "#/$defs/info"},
+        },
+        "$defs": {
+            "name": {"type": "string"},
+            "info": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {"age": "int", "name": {"$ref": "#/$defs/name"}},
+            },
+        },
+    }
+    expected = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "info": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {"age": "int", "name": {"type": "string"}},
+            },
+        },
+        "$defs": {
+            "name": {"type": "string"},
+            "info": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {"age": "int", "name": {"type": "string"}},
+            },
+        },
+    }
+    actual = dereference_refs(schema, skip_keys=())
+    assert actual == expected
+
+
+def test_dereference_refs_missing_ref() -> None:
+    schema = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "first_name": {"$ref": "#/$defs/name"},
+        },
+        "$defs": {},
+    }
+    with pytest.raises(KeyError):
+        dereference_refs(schema)
+
+
+def test_dereference_refs_remote_ref() -> None:
+    schema = {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+            "first_name": {"$ref": "https://somewhere/else/name"},
+        },
+    }
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        dereference_refs(schema)
diff --git a/libs/langchain/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_openai_functions.py b/libs/langchain/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_openai_functions.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b5a22d837b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libs/langchain/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_openai_functions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+from langchain.pydantic_v1 import BaseModel, Field
+from langchain.utils.openai_functions import convert_pydantic_to_openai_function
+
+
+def test_convert_pydantic_to_openai_function() -> None:
+    class Data(BaseModel):
+        """The data to return."""
+
+        key: str = Field(..., description="API key")
+        days: int = Field(default=0, description="Number of days to forecast")
+
+    actual = convert_pydantic_to_openai_function(Data)
+    expected = {
+        "name": "Data",
+        "description": "The data to return.",
+        "parameters": {
+            "title": "Data",
+            "description": "The data to return.",
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+                "key": {"title": "Key", "description": "API key", "type": "string"},
+                "days": {
+                    "title": "Days",
+                    "description": "Number of days to forecast",
+                    "default": 0,
+                    "type": "integer",
+                },
+            },
+            "required": ["key"],
+        },
+    }
+    assert actual == expected
+
+
+def test_convert_pydantic_to_openai_function_nested() -> None:
+    class Data(BaseModel):
+        """The data to return."""
+
+        key: str = Field(..., description="API key")
+        days: int = Field(default=0, description="Number of days to forecast")
+
+    class Model(BaseModel):
+        """The model to return."""
+
+        data: Data
+
+    actual = convert_pydantic_to_openai_function(Model)
+    expected = {
+        "name": "Model",
+        "description": "The model to return.",
+        "parameters": {
+            "title": "Model",
+            "description": "The model to return.",
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+                "data": {
+                    "title": "Data",
+                    "description": "The data to return.",
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": {
+                        "key": {
+                            "title": "Key",
+                            "description": "API key",
+                            "type": "string",
+                        },
+                        "days": {
+                            "title": "Days",
+                            "description": "Number of days to forecast",
+                            "default": 0,
+                            "type": "integer",
+                        },
+                    },
+                    "required": ["key"],
+                }
+            },
+            "required": ["data"],
+        },
+    }
+    assert actual == expected