diff --git a/src/cpp/src/llm_pipeline_static.cpp b/src/cpp/src/llm_pipeline_static.cpp
index 2cf5c22ae2..49dfdc549c 100644
--- a/src/cpp/src/llm_pipeline_static.cpp
+++ b/src/cpp/src/llm_pipeline_static.cpp
@@ -407,7 +407,8 @@ ov::genai::ModelConfigDesc get_modeldesc_from_json(const std::filesystem::path&
     if (config_data.contains("_name_or_path")) {
         desc.name_or_path = config_data["_name_or_path"].get<std::string>();
     }
-    desc.num_key_value_heads = config_data["num_key_value_heads"].get<int>();
+    desc.num_key_value_heads = config_data.contains("num_key_value_heads")
+        ? config_data["num_key_value_heads"].get<int>() : -1;
     return desc;
 }