diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunction.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunction.cs
index a319f6b1c85d..410c19593628 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunction.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunction.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.SemanticKernel.ChatCompletion;
 internal sealed class AIFunctionKernelFunction : KernelFunction
 {
     private readonly AIFunction _aiFunction;
+    private readonly JsonElement _jsonSchema;
 
     public AIFunctionKernelFunction(AIFunction aiFunction) :
         base(
@@ -33,14 +34,19 @@ public AIFunctionKernelFunction(AIFunction aiFunction) :
     {
         // Kernel functions created from AI functions are always fully qualified
         this._aiFunction = aiFunction;
+        this._jsonSchema = aiFunction.JsonSchema.Clone();
     }
 
     private AIFunctionKernelFunction(AIFunctionKernelFunction other, string? pluginName) :
         base(other.Name, pluginName, other.Description, other.Metadata.Parameters, AbstractionsJsonContext.Default.Options, other.Metadata.ReturnParameter)
     {
         this._aiFunction = other._aiFunction;
+        this._jsonSchema = other._jsonSchema;
     }
 
+    /// <inheritdoc />
+    public override JsonElement JsonSchema => this._jsonSchema;
+
     public override KernelFunction Clone(string? pluginName = null)
     {
         // Should allow null but not empty or whitespace
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunctionTests.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunctionTests.cs
index 1739797c8442..60e749662914 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunctionTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/AI/ChatCompletion/AIFunctionKernelFunctionTests.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
 
 using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
@@ -117,6 +119,41 @@ public void ShouldPreserveDescriptionFromAIFunction()
         Assert.Equal("This is a test description", sut.Description);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void ShouldPreserveRootLevelSchemaDefinitionsFromAIFunction()
+    {
+        // Arrange
+        var aiFunction = new TestAIFunctionWithSchema("TestFunction", """
+            {
+              "type": "object",
+              "properties": {
+                "node": {
+                  "$ref": "#/$defs/Node"
+                }
+              },
+              "$defs": {
+                "Node": {
+                  "type": "object",
+                  "properties": {
+                    "name": {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+            """);
+
+        // Act
+        AIFunctionKernelFunction sut = new(aiFunction);
+        var schema = sut.JsonSchema;
+
+        // Assert
+        Assert.True(schema.TryGetProperty("$defs", out var defs));
+        Assert.True(defs.TryGetProperty("Node", out _));
+        Assert.Equal("#/$defs/Node", schema.GetProperty("properties").GetProperty("node").GetProperty("$ref").GetString());
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public async Task ShouldInvokeUnderlyingAIFunctionWhenInvoked()
     {
@@ -133,6 +170,27 @@ public async Task ShouldInvokeUnderlyingAIFunctionWhenInvoked()
         Assert.True(testAIFunction.WasInvoked);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task ShouldInvokeUnderlyingAIFunctionWhenInvokedAsStreaming()
+    {
+        // Arrange
+        var testAIFunction = new TestAIFunction("TestFunction");
+        AIFunctionKernelFunction sut = new(testAIFunction);
+        var kernel = new Kernel();
+        var streamed = new List<string>();
+
+        // Act
+        await foreach (var chunk in sut.InvokeStreamingAsync<string>(kernel, []))
+        {
+            streamed.Add(chunk);
+        }
+
+        // Assert
+        Assert.True(testAIFunction.WasInvoked);
+        Assert.Single(streamed);
+        Assert.Equal("Test result", streamed[0]);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void ShouldCloneCorrectlyWithNewPluginName()
     {
@@ -227,4 +285,24 @@ public TestAIFunction(string name, string description = "")
             return ValueTask.FromResult<object?>("Test result");
         }
     }
+
+    private sealed class TestAIFunctionWithSchema : AIFunction
+    {
+        private readonly JsonElement _schema;
+
+        public TestAIFunctionWithSchema(string name, string jsonSchema)
+        {
+            this.Name = name;
+            this._schema = JsonDocument.Parse(jsonSchema).RootElement.Clone();
+        }
+
+        public override string Name { get; }
+
+        public override JsonElement JsonSchema => this._schema;
+
+        protected override ValueTask<object?> InvokeCoreAsync(AIFunctionArguments? arguments = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        {
+            return ValueTask.FromResult<object?>("Test result");
+        }
+    }
 }