diff --git a/.github/workflows/python-integration-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/python-integration-tests.yml
index 31ccd8db9e55..3b7e34e80df4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/python-integration-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/python-integration-tests.yml
@@ -129,8 +129,6 @@ jobs:
           AZURE_OPENAI_TEXT_DEPLOYMENT_NAME: ${{ vars.AZURE_OPENAI_TEXT_DEPLOYMENT_NAME }}
           AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION: ${{ vars.AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION }}
           AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT: ${{ secrets.AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT }}
-          AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY }}
-          AZURE_OPENAI_TOKEN_ENDPOINT: ${{ vars.AZURE_OPENAI_TOKEN_ENDPOINT }}
           BING_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.BING_API_KEY }}
           OPENAI_CHAT_MODEL_ID: ${{ vars.OPENAI_CHAT_MODEL_ID }}
           OPENAI_TEXT_MODEL_ID: ${{ vars.OPENAI_TEXT_MODEL_ID }}
@@ -258,8 +256,6 @@ jobs:
           AZURE_OPENAI_TEXT_DEPLOYMENT_NAME: ${{ vars.AZURE_OPENAI_TEXT_DEPLOYMENT_NAME }}
           AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION: ${{ vars.AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION }}
           AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT: ${{ secrets.AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT }}
-          AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY }}
-          AZURE_OPENAI_TOKEN_ENDPOINT: ${{ vars.AZURE_OPENAI_TOKEN_ENDPOINT }}
           BING_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.BING_API_KEY }}
           OPENAI_CHAT_MODEL_ID: ${{ vars.OPENAI_CHAT_MODEL_ID }}
           OPENAI_TEXT_MODEL_ID: ${{ vars.OPENAI_TEXT_MODEL_ID }}
diff --git a/python/semantic_kernel/connectors/ai/open_ai/services/azure_chat_completion.py b/python/semantic_kernel/connectors/ai/open_ai/services/azure_chat_completion.py
index 92dc436c9f86..e9a419247649 100644
--- a/python/semantic_kernel/connectors/ai/open_ai/services/azure_chat_completion.py
+++ b/python/semantic_kernel/connectors/ai/open_ai/services/azure_chat_completion.py
@@ -94,15 +94,23 @@ def __init__(
         if not azure_openai_settings.chat_deployment_name:
             raise ServiceInitializationError("chat_deployment_name is required.")
 
-        # If the api_key is none, and the ad_token is none, and the ad_token_provider is none,
+        # If the async_client is None, the api_key is none, the ad_token is none, and the ad_token_provider is none,
         # then we will attempt to get the ad_token using the default endpoint specified in the Azure OpenAI settings.
-        if api_key is None and ad_token_provider is None and azure_openai_settings.token_endpoint and ad_token is None:
+        if (
+            async_client is None
+            and azure_openai_settings.api_key is None
+            and ad_token_provider is None
+            and ad_token is None
+            and azure_openai_settings.token_endpoint
+        ):
             ad_token = azure_openai_settings.get_azure_openai_auth_token(
                 token_endpoint=azure_openai_settings.token_endpoint
             )
 
-        if not azure_openai_settings.api_key and not ad_token and not ad_token_provider:
-            raise ServiceInitializationError("Please provide either api_key, ad_token or ad_token_provider")
+        if not async_client and not azure_openai_settings.api_key and not ad_token and not ad_token_provider:
+            raise ServiceInitializationError(
+                "Please provide either a custom client, or an api_key, an ad_token or an ad_token_provider"
+            )
 
         super().__init__(
             deployment_name=azure_openai_settings.chat_deployment_name,