diff --git a/+llms/+internal/textGenerator.m b/+llms/+internal/textGenerator.m
index f6cb167..204e516 100644
--- a/+llms/+internal/textGenerator.m
+++ b/+llms/+internal/textGenerator.m
@@ -28,4 +28,10 @@
     properties (Access=protected)
         StreamFun
     end
+
+    methods
+        function hObj = set.StopSequences(hObj,value)
+            hObj.StopSequences = string(value);
+        end
+    end
 end
diff --git a/+llms/+utils/mustBeValidStop.m b/+llms/+utils/mustBeValidStop.m
index f3862c7..7301a2c 100644
--- a/+llms/+utils/mustBeValidStop.m
+++ b/+llms/+utils/mustBeValidStop.m
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ function mustBeValidStop(value)
     if ~isempty(value)
         mustBeVector(value);
         mustBeNonzeroLengthText(value);
+        value = string(value);
         % This restriction is set by the OpenAI API
         if numel(value)>4
             error("llms:stopSequencesMustHaveMax4Elements", llms.utils.errorMessageCatalog.getMessage("llms:stopSequencesMustHaveMax4Elements"));
diff --git a/tests/topenAIChat.m b/tests/topenAIChat.m
index e06db55..b156b18 100644
--- a/tests/topenAIChat.m
+++ b/tests/topenAIChat.m
@@ -388,7 +388,6 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
 function validConstructorInput = iGetValidConstructorInput()
 % while it is valid to provide the key via an environment variable,
 % this test set does not use that, for easier setup
-validFunction = openAIFunction("funName");
 validConstructorInput = struct( ...
     "JustKey", struct( ...
         "Input",{{"APIKey","this-is-not-a-real-key"}}, ...
@@ -396,7 +395,7 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {1}, ...
                 "TopP", {1}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {10}, ...
@@ -412,7 +411,7 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {1}, ...
                 "TopP", {1}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {10}, ...
@@ -428,7 +427,7 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {2}, ...
                 "TopP", {1}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {10}, ...
@@ -444,7 +443,7 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {1}, ...
                 "TopP", {0.2}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {10}, ...
@@ -470,13 +469,29 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
                 "ResponseFormat", {"text"} ...
             ) ...
         ), ...
+    "StopSequencesCharVector", struct( ...
+        "Input",{{"APIKey","this-is-not-a-real-key","StopSequences",'supercalifragilistic'}}, ...
+        "ExpectedWarning", '', ...
+        "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
+                "Temperature", {1}, ...
+                "TopP", {1}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {"supercalifragilistic"}, ...
+                "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
+                "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
+                "TimeOut", {10}, ...
+                "FunctionNames", {[]}, ...
+                "ModelName", {"gpt-4o-mini"}, ...
+                "SystemPrompt", {[]}, ...
+                "ResponseFormat", {"text"} ...
+            ) ...
+        ), ...
     "PresencePenalty", struct( ...
         "Input",{{"APIKey","this-is-not-a-real-key","PresencePenalty",0.1}}, ...
         "ExpectedWarning", '', ...
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {1}, ...
                 "TopP", {1}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0.1}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {10}, ...
@@ -492,7 +507,7 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {1}, ...
                 "TopP", {1}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0.1}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {10}, ...
@@ -508,7 +523,7 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {1}, ...
                 "TopP", {1}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {0.1}, ...
@@ -524,7 +539,7 @@ function keyNotFound(testCase)
         "VerifyProperties", struct( ...
                 "Temperature", {1}, ...
                 "TopP", {1}, ...
-                "StopSequences", {{}}, ...
+                "StopSequences", {string([])}, ...
                 "PresencePenalty", {0}, ...
                 "FrequencyPenalty", {0}, ...
                 "TimeOut", {10}, ...