diff --git a/models/spring-ai-openai/pom.xml b/models/spring-ai-openai/pom.xml
index f89b1012e..cb4ddedc0 100644
--- a/models/spring-ai-openai/pom.xml
+++ b/models/spring-ai-openai/pom.xml
@@ -55,11 +55,6 @@
 			<version>${project.parent.version}</version>
 		</dependency>
 
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>io.rest-assured</groupId>
-			<artifactId>json-path</artifactId>
-		</dependency>
-
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>com.github.victools</groupId>
 			<artifactId>jsonschema-generator</artifactId>
diff --git a/models/spring-ai-openai/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/openai/OpenAiAudioSpeechModel.java b/models/spring-ai-openai/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/openai/OpenAiAudioSpeechModel.java
index 2ea526222..f9fcd006c 100644
--- a/models/spring-ai-openai/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/openai/OpenAiAudioSpeechModel.java
+++ b/models/spring-ai-openai/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/openai/OpenAiAudioSpeechModel.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 package org.springframework.ai.openai;
 
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Flux;
@@ -35,6 +34,7 @@ import org.springframework.ai.retry.RetryUtils;
 import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
 import org.springframework.retry.support.RetryTemplate;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * OpenAI audio speech client implementation for backed by {@link OpenAiAudioApi}.
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ public class OpenAiAudioSpeechModel implements SpeechModel, StreamingSpeechModel
 			}
 		}
 
-		String input = StringUtils.isNotBlank(options.getInput()) ? options.getInput()
+		String input = StringUtils.hasText(options.getInput()) ? options.getInput()
 				: request.getInstructions().getText();
 
 		OpenAiAudioApi.SpeechRequest.Builder requestBuilder = OpenAiAudioApi.SpeechRequest.builder()