diff --git a/google/cloud/aiplatform/preview/datasets.py b/google/cloud/aiplatform/preview/datasets.py
index d65811b611..1616abb991 100644
--- a/google/cloud/aiplatform/preview/datasets.py
+++ b/google/cloud/aiplatform/preview/datasets.py
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 #
 
 import dataclasses
+import io
+import json
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 import uuid
 
@@ -32,7 +34,6 @@
 from vertexai import generative_models
 from vertexai.generative_models import _generative_models
 from vertexai.preview import prompts
-import pandas
 
 from google.protobuf import field_mask_pb2
 from google.protobuf import struct_pb2
@@ -758,7 +759,7 @@ def from_bigquery(
     def from_pandas(
         cls,
         *,
-        dataframe: pandas.DataFrame,
+        dataframe: "pandas.DataFrame",  # type: ignore # noqa: F821
         target_table_id: Optional[str] = None,
         display_name: Optional[str] = None,
         project: Optional[str] = None,
@@ -1077,7 +1078,7 @@ def from_gemini_request_jsonl(
 
         jsonl_string = blob.download_as_text()
         lines = [line.strip() for line in jsonl_string.splitlines() if line.strip()]
-        df = pandas.DataFrame(lines, columns=[request_column_name])
+        json_string = json.dumps({request_column_name: lines})
 
         session_options = bigframes.BigQueryOptions(
             credentials=credentials,
@@ -1085,7 +1086,7 @@ def from_gemini_request_jsonl(
             location=location,
         )
         with bigframes.connect(session_options) as session:
-            temp_bigframes_df = session.read_pandas(df)
+            temp_bigframes_df = session.read_json(io.StringIO(json_string))
             temp_bigframes_df[request_column_name] = bigframes.bigquery.parse_json(
                 temp_bigframes_df[request_column_name]
             )
diff --git a/tests/unit/aiplatform/test_multimodal_datasets.py b/tests/unit/aiplatform/test_multimodal_datasets.py
index 1b8446507a..c286feb487 100644
--- a/tests/unit/aiplatform/test_multimodal_datasets.py
+++ b/tests/unit/aiplatform/test_multimodal_datasets.py
@@ -584,9 +584,10 @@ def test_create_dataset_from_gemini_request_jsonl(
         mock_bucket.blob.assert_called_once_with("test-file.jsonl")
         mock_blob.download_as_text.assert_called_once()
 
-        pandas.testing.assert_frame_equal(
-            session_mock.read_pandas.call_args[0][0],
-            pandas.DataFrame({"requests": ["json_line_1", "json_line_2"]}),
+        session_mock.read_json.assert_called_once()
+        assert (
+            session_mock.read_json.call_args[0][0].getvalue()
+            == '{"requests": ["json_line_1", "json_line_2"]}'
         )
         bq_client_mock.return_value.copy_table.assert_called_once_with(
             sources=mock.ANY,
@@ -636,9 +637,10 @@ def test_create_dataset_from_gemini_request_jsonl_without_target_table_id(
         mock_bucket.blob.assert_called_once_with("test-file.jsonl")
         mock_blob.download_as_text.assert_called_once()
 
-        pandas.testing.assert_frame_equal(
-            session_mock.read_pandas.call_args[0][0],
-            pandas.DataFrame({"requests": ["json_line_1", "json_line_2"]}),
+        session_mock.read_json.assert_called_once()
+        assert (
+            session_mock.read_json.call_args[0][0].getvalue()
+            == '{"requests": ["json_line_1", "json_line_2"]}'
         )
 
         # Assert that the default BQ dataset is created