diff --git a/src/pipecat/processors/aggregators/llm_context_summarizer.py b/src/pipecat/processors/aggregators/llm_context_summarizer.py
index 4a32d5397..a3d65b894 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/processors/aggregators/llm_context_summarizer.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/processors/aggregators/llm_context_summarizer.py
@@ -306,8 +306,10 @@ class LLMContextSummarizer(BaseObject):
         # Get recent messages to keep
         recent_messages = messages[last_summarized_index + 1 :]
 
-        # Create summary message as an user message
-        summary_message = {"role": "user", "content": f"Conversation summary: {summary}"}
+        # Create summary message as a user message (the summary is context
+        # provided *to* the assistant, not something the assistant said)
+        summary_content = self._config.summary_message_template.format(summary=summary)
+        summary_message = {"role": "user", "content": summary_content}
 
         # Reconstruct context
         new_messages = []
diff --git a/src/pipecat/utils/context/llm_context_summarization.py b/src/pipecat/utils/context/llm_context_summarization.py
index 537cc91ab..7cb07a00c 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/utils/context/llm_context_summarization.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/utils/context/llm_context_summarization.py
@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ class LLMContextSummarizationConfig:
             immediate conversational context.
         summarization_prompt: Custom prompt for the LLM to use when generating
             summaries. If None, uses DEFAULT_SUMMARIZATION_PROMPT.
+        summary_message_template: Template for formatting the summary when
+            injected into context. Must contain ``{summary}`` as a placeholder
+            for the generated summary text. Allows applications to wrap the
+            summary in custom delimiters (e.g., XML tags) so that system
+            prompts can distinguish summaries from live conversation.
     """
 
     max_context_tokens: int = 8000
@@ -80,6 +85,7 @@ class LLMContextSummarizationConfig:
     max_unsummarized_messages: int = 20
     min_messages_after_summary: int = 4
     summarization_prompt: Optional[str] = None
+    summary_message_template: str = "Conversation summary: {summary}"
 
     def __post_init__(self):
         """Validate configuration parameters."""