diff --git a/src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/GraphQLUtils.cs b/src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/GraphQLUtils.cs
index f1c6e0a872..a5d321e4fb 100644
--- a/src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/GraphQLUtils.cs
+++ b/src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/GraphQLUtils.cs
@@ -186,10 +186,14 @@ public static bool TryExtractGraphQLFieldModelName(IDirectiveCollection fieldDir
             {
                 if (dir.Name.Value == ModelDirectiveType.DirectiveName)
                 {
-                    dir.ToObject<ModelDirectiveType>();
-                    modelName = dir.GetArgument<string>(ModelDirectiveType.ModelNameArgument).ToString();
+                    ModelDirectiveType modelDirectiveType = dir.ToObject<ModelDirectiveType>();
+
+                    if (modelDirectiveType.Name.HasValue)
+                    {
+                        modelName = dir.GetArgument<string>(ModelDirectiveType.ModelNameArgument).ToString();
+                        return modelName is not null;
+                    }
 
-                    return modelName is not null;
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/src/Service.Tests/CosmosTests/TestBase.cs b/src/Service.Tests/CosmosTests/TestBase.cs
index a71977c3b3..e2ad31aafb 100644
--- a/src/Service.Tests/CosmosTests/TestBase.cs
+++ b/src/Service.Tests/CosmosTests/TestBase.cs
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ namespace Azure.DataApiBuilder.Service.Tests.CosmosTests;
 public class TestBase
 {
     internal const string DATABASE_NAME = "graphqldb";
+    // Intentionally removed name attibute from Planet model to test scenario where the 'name' attribute
+    // is not explicitly added in the schema
     internal const string GRAPHQL_SCHEMA = @"
 type Character @model(name:""Character"") {
     id : ID,
@@ -39,7 +41,7 @@ type Character @model(name:""Character"") {
     star: Star
 }
 
-type Planet @model(name:""Planet"") {
+type Planet @model {
     id : ID!,
     name : String,
     character: Character,