diff --git a/backend/python/sglang/backend.py b/backend/python/sglang/backend.py
index 8b48d23233dc..0d38c6b7d2c9 100644
--- a/backend/python/sglang/backend.py
+++ b/backend/python/sglang/backend.py
@@ -147,9 +147,25 @@ def _messages_to_dicts(self, messages) -> List[dict]:
                 d["reasoning_content"] = msg.reasoning_content
             if msg.tool_calls:
                 try:
-                    d["tool_calls"] = json.loads(msg.tool_calls)
+                    tool_calls = json.loads(msg.tool_calls)
                 except json.JSONDecodeError:
                     pass
+                else:
+                    # OpenAI wire format carries function.arguments as a
+                    # JSON-encoded string, but chat templates (e.g. Qwen3)
+                    # iterate over it as a mapping. The vllm backend
+                    # already parses arguments before applying the chat
+                    # template (PR #10256); mirror that here so the
+                    # sglang backend works with the same wire format.
+                    if isinstance(tool_calls, list):
+                        for tc in tool_calls:
+                            func = tc.get("function") if isinstance(tc, dict) else None
+                            if isinstance(func, dict) and isinstance(func.get("arguments"), str):
+                                try:
+                                    func["arguments"] = json.loads(func["arguments"])
+                                except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                                    pass
+                    d["tool_calls"] = tool_calls
             result.append(d)
         return result