diff --git a/python/packages/azure-ai/agent_framework_azure_ai/_client.py b/python/packages/azure-ai/agent_framework_azure_ai/_client.py
index 2fa54ea565..191c7a3870 100644
--- a/python/packages/azure-ai/agent_framework_azure_ai/_client.py
+++ b/python/packages/azure-ai/agent_framework_azure_ai/_client.py
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ async def prepare_options(
 
     async def initialize_client(self) -> None:
         """Initialize OpenAI client asynchronously."""
-        self.client = await self.project_client.get_openai_client()  # type: ignore
+        self.client = self.project_client.get_openai_client()  # type: ignore
 
     def _update_agent_name(self, agent_name: str | None) -> None:
         """Update the agent name in the chat client.
diff --git a/python/pyproject.toml b/python/pyproject.toml
index cbe69d4634..6225d689bc 100644
--- a/python/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/pyproject.toml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ classifiers = [
 ]
 dependencies = [
     "agent-framework-core[all]",
+    "azure-ai-projects>=2.0.0b2",
 ]
 
 [dependency-groups]