diff --git a/aider/repo.py b/aider/repo.py
index 0b01e9978..5ae06baed 100644
--- a/aider/repo.py
+++ b/aider/repo.py
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@ import os
 from pathlib import Path, PurePosixPath
 
 import git
-import openai
 
 from aider import models, prompts, utils
-from aider.sendchat import send_with_retries
+from aider.sendchat import simple_send_with_retries
 
 from .dump import dump  # noqa: F401
 
@@ -104,19 +103,10 @@ class GitRepo:
             dict(role="user", content=content),
         ]
 
-        commit_message = None
         for model in [models.GPT35.name, models.GPT35_16k.name]:
-            try:
-                _hash, response = send_with_retries(
-                    model=models.GPT35.name,
-                    messages=messages,
-                    functions=None,
-                    stream=False,
-                )
-                commit_message = response.choices[0].message.content
+            commit_message = simple_send_with_retries(model, messages)
+            if commit_message:
                 break
-            except (AttributeError, openai.error.InvalidRequestError):
-                pass
 
         if not commit_message:
             self.io.tool_error("Failed to generate commit message!")
diff --git a/aider/sendchat.py b/aider/sendchat.py
index 9a4414230..441447863 100644
--- a/aider/sendchat.py
+++ b/aider/sendchat.py
@@ -42,3 +42,16 @@ def send_with_retries(model, messages, functions, stream):
 
     res = openai.ChatCompletion.create(**kwargs)
     return hash_object, res
+
+
+def simple_send_with_retries(model, messages):
+    try:
+        _hash, response = send_with_retries(
+            model=model,
+            messages=messages,
+            functions=None,
+            stream=False,
+        )
+        return response.choices[0].message.content
+    except (AttributeError, openai.error.InvalidRequestError):
+        return
diff --git a/tests/test_repo.py b/tests/test_repo.py
index ca0985886..67983a134 100644
--- a/tests/test_repo.py
+++ b/tests/test_repo.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import os
 import tempfile
 import unittest
 from pathlib import Path
-from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 import git
 
@@ -12,13 +12,9 @@ from aider.repo import GitRepo
 
 
 class TestRepo(unittest.TestCase):
-    @patch("aider.repo.send_with_retries")
+    @patch("aider.repo.simple_send_with_retries")
     def test_get_commit_message(self, mock_send):
-        # Set the return value of the mocked function
-        mock_response = MagicMock()
-        mock_response.choices = [MagicMock()]
-        mock_response.choices[0].message.content = "a good commit message"
-        mock_send.return_value = (None, mock_response)
+        mock_send.return_value = "a good commit message"
 
         repo = GitRepo(InputOutput(), None)
         # Call the get_commit_message method with dummy diff and context
@@ -27,13 +23,9 @@ class TestRepo(unittest.TestCase):
         # Assert that the returned message is the expected one
         self.assertEqual(result, "a good commit message")
 
-    @patch("aider.repo.send_with_retries")
+    @patch("aider.repo.simple_send_with_retries")
     def test_get_commit_message_strip_quotes(self, mock_send):
-        # Set the return value of the mocked function
-        mock_response = MagicMock()
-        mock_response.choices = [MagicMock()]
-        mock_response.choices[0].message.content = '"a good commit message"'
-        mock_send.return_value = (None, mock_response)
+        mock_send.return_value = '"a good commit message"'
 
         repo = GitRepo(InputOutput(), None)
         # Call the get_commit_message method with dummy diff and context
@@ -42,13 +34,9 @@ class TestRepo(unittest.TestCase):
         # Assert that the returned message is the expected one
         self.assertEqual(result, "a good commit message")
 
-    @patch("aider.repo.send_with_retries")
+    @patch("aider.repo.simple_send_with_retries")
     def test_get_commit_message_no_strip_unmatched_quotes(self, mock_send):
-        # Set the return value of the mocked function
-        mock_response = MagicMock()
-        mock_response.choices = [MagicMock()]
-        mock_response.choices[0].message.content = 'a good "commit message"'
-        mock_send.return_value = (None, mock_response)
+        mock_send.return_value = 'a good "commit message"'
 
         repo = GitRepo(InputOutput(), None)
         # Call the get_commit_message method with dummy diff and context