diff --git a/pkg/inference/models/http_handler.go b/pkg/inference/models/http_handler.go
index d8eef014..63c56de9 100644
--- a/pkg/inference/models/http_handler.go
+++ b/pkg/inference/models/http_handler.go
@@ -23,6 +23,28 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/model-runner/pkg/middleware"
 )
 
+// parseBoolQueryParam parses a boolean query parameter from the request.
+// Returns the parsed value, or false if the parameter is absent or unparseable
+// (logging a warning in the latter case). Treats presence of the key with an
+// empty value (e.g., `?force`) as true.
+func parseBoolQueryParam(r *http.Request, log logging.Logger, name string) bool {
+	q := r.URL.Query()
+	if !q.Has(name) {
+		return false
+	}
+	valStr := q.Get(name)
+	// Treat presence of key with empty value as true (e.g., `?force`)
+	if valStr == "" {
+		return true
+	}
+	val, err := strconv.ParseBool(valStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Warn("error while parsing query parameter", "param", name, "value", valStr, "error", err)
+		return false
+	}
+	return val
+}
+
 // HTTPHandler manages inference model pulls and storage.
 type HTTPHandler struct {
 	// log is the associated logger.
@@ -195,16 +217,7 @@ func (h *HTTPHandler) handleGetModel(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 }
 
 func (h *HTTPHandler) handleGetModelByRef(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, modelRef string) {
-	// Parse remote query parameter
-	remote := false
-	if r.URL.Query().Has("remote") {
-		val, err := strconv.ParseBool(r.URL.Query().Get("remote"))
-		if err != nil {
-			h.log.Warn("error while parsing remote query parameter", "error", err)
-		} else {
-			remote = val
-		}
-	}
+	remote := parseBoolQueryParam(r, h.log, "remote")
 
 	var (
 		apiModel *Model
@@ -309,14 +322,7 @@ func (h *HTTPHandler) handleDeleteModel(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 
 	modelRef := r.PathValue("name")
 
-	var force bool
-	if r.URL.Query().Has("force") {
-		if val, err := strconv.ParseBool(r.URL.Query().Get("force")); err != nil {
-			h.log.Warn("error while parsing force query parameter", "error", err)
-		} else {
-			force = val
-		}
-	}
+	force := parseBoolQueryParam(r, h.log, "force")
 
 	// First try to delete without normalization (as ID), then with normalization if not found
 	resp, err := h.manager.Delete(modelRef, force)
diff --git a/pkg/inference/scheduling/http_handler.go b/pkg/inference/scheduling/http_handler.go
index a9f3077b..9a7195ed 100644
--- a/pkg/inference/scheduling/http_handler.go
+++ b/pkg/inference/scheduling/http_handler.go
@@ -23,6 +23,23 @@ import (
 
 type contextKey bool
 
+// readRequestBody reads up to maxSize bytes from the request body and writes
+// an appropriate HTTP error if reading fails. Returns (body, true) on success
+// or (nil, false) after writing the error response.
+func readRequestBody(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, maxSize int64) ([]byte, bool) {
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(http.MaxBytesReader(w, r.Body, maxSize))
+	if err != nil {
+		var maxBytesError *http.MaxBytesError
+		if errors.As(err, &maxBytesError) {
+			http.Error(w, "request too large", http.StatusBadRequest)
+		} else {
+			http.Error(w, "failed to read request body", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+		return nil, false
+	}
+	return body, true
+}
+
 const preloadOnlyKey contextKey = false
 
 // HTTPHandler handles HTTP requests for the scheduler.
@@ -132,14 +149,8 @@ func (h *HTTPHandler) handleOpenAIInference(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reque
 
 	// Read the entire request body. We put some basic size constraints in place
 	// to avoid DoS attacks. We do this early to avoid client write timeouts.
-	body, err := io.ReadAll(http.MaxBytesReader(w, r.Body, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize))
-	if err != nil {
-		var maxBytesError *http.MaxBytesError
-		if errors.As(err, &maxBytesError) {
-			http.Error(w, "request too large", http.StatusBadRequest)
-		} else {
-			http.Error(w, "failed to read request body", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		}
+	body, ok := readRequestBody(w, r, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize)
+	if !ok {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -338,14 +349,8 @@ func (h *HTTPHandler) GetDiskUsage(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
 // Unload unloads the specified runners (backend, model) from the backend.
 // Currently, this doesn't work for runners that are handling an OpenAI request.
 func (h *HTTPHandler) Unload(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	body, err := io.ReadAll(http.MaxBytesReader(w, r.Body, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize))
-	if err != nil {
-		var maxBytesError *http.MaxBytesError
-		if errors.As(err, &maxBytesError) {
-			http.Error(w, "request too large", http.StatusBadRequest)
-		} else {
-			http.Error(w, "failed to read request body", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		}
+	body, ok := readRequestBody(w, r, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize)
+	if !ok {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -371,14 +376,8 @@ type installBackendRequest struct {
 // InstallBackend handles POST <inference-prefix>/install-backend requests.
 // It triggers on-demand installation of a deferred backend.
 func (h *HTTPHandler) InstallBackend(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	body, err := io.ReadAll(http.MaxBytesReader(w, r.Body, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize))
-	if err != nil {
-		var maxBytesError *http.MaxBytesError
-		if errors.As(err, &maxBytesError) {
-			http.Error(w, "request too large", http.StatusBadRequest)
-		} else {
-			http.Error(w, "failed to read request body", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		}
+	body, ok := readRequestBody(w, r, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize)
+	if !ok {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -404,6 +403,7 @@ func (h *HTTPHandler) InstallBackend(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 func (h *HTTPHandler) Configure(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// Determine the requested backend and ensure that it's valid.
 	var backend inference.Backend
+	var err error
 	if b := r.PathValue("backend"); b == "" {
 		backend = h.scheduler.defaultBackend
 	} else {
@@ -414,14 +414,8 @@ func (h *HTTPHandler) Configure(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	body, err := io.ReadAll(http.MaxBytesReader(w, r.Body, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize))
-	if err != nil {
-		var maxBytesError *http.MaxBytesError
-		if errors.As(err, &maxBytesError) {
-			http.Error(w, "request too large", http.StatusBadRequest)
-		} else {
-			http.Error(w, "failed to read request body", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		}
+	body, ok := readRequestBody(w, r, maximumOpenAIInferenceRequestSize)
+	if !ok {
 		return
 	}