diff --git a/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/client.py b/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/client.py
index e177152d..4d4a18ba 100644
--- a/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/client.py
+++ b/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/client.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import logging
-from typing import List, Optional, Tuple, TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import List, Optional, TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import aiohttp
 from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ async def _get_client_certificate(
         region: str,
         cluster: str,
         key: rsa.RSAPrivateKey,
-    ) -> Tuple[str, List[str]]:
+    ) -> List[str]:
         """
         Fetch a client certificate for the given AlloyDB cluster.
 
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ async def _get_client_certificate(
         )
         resp_dict = await resp.json()
 
-        return (resp_dict["pemCertificate"], resp_dict["pemCertificateChain"])
+        return resp_dict["pemCertificateChain"]
 
     async def close(self) -> None:
         """Close AlloyDBClient gracefully."""
diff --git a/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/refresh.py b/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/refresh.py
index 9031298d..fa0e0cf7 100644
--- a/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/refresh.py
+++ b/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/refresh.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 import logging
 import ssl
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
-from typing import List, Tuple, TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import List, TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from cryptography import x509
 
@@ -75,11 +75,9 @@ class RefreshResult:
     """
 
     def __init__(
-        self, instance_ip: str, key: rsa.RSAPrivateKey, certs: Tuple[str, List[str]]
+        self, instance_ip: str, key: rsa.RSAPrivateKey, cert_chain: List[str]
     ) -> None:
         self.instance_ip = instance_ip
-        self._key = key
-        self._certs = certs
 
         # create TLS context
         self.context = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_CLIENT)
@@ -90,9 +88,8 @@ def __init__(
         # add request_ssl attribute to ssl.SSLContext, required for pg8000 driver
         self.context.request_ssl = False  # type: ignore
 
-        client_cert, cert_chain = self._certs
         # get expiration from client certificate
-        cert_obj = x509.load_pem_x509_certificate(client_cert.encode("UTF-8"))
+        cert_obj = x509.load_pem_x509_certificate(cert_chain[0].encode("UTF-8"))
         self.expiration = cert_obj.not_valid_after
 
         # tmpdir and its contents are automatically deleted after the CA cert
@@ -100,7 +97,7 @@ def __init__(
         # need to be written to files in order to be loaded by the SSLContext
         with TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
             ca_filename, cert_chain_filename, key_filename = _write_to_file(
-                tmpdir, cert_chain, client_cert, self._key
+                tmpdir, cert_chain, key
             )
             self.context.load_cert_chain(cert_chain_filename, keyfile=key_filename)
             self.context.load_verify_locations(cafile=ca_filename)
diff --git a/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/utils.py b/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/utils.py
index 96dee4c6..aa9e7563 100644
--- a/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/utils.py
+++ b/google/cloud/alloydb/connector/utils.py
@@ -16,16 +16,14 @@
 
 from typing import List, Tuple, TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from cryptography import x509
-from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import hashes, serialization
-from cryptography.x509.oid import NameOID
+from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import rsa
 
 
 def _write_to_file(
-    dir_path: str, cert_chain: List[str], client_cert: str, key: rsa.RSAPrivateKey
+    dir_path: str, cert_chain: List[str], key: rsa.RSAPrivateKey
 ) -> Tuple[str, str, str]:
     """
     Helper function to write the server_ca, client certificate and
@@ -41,13 +39,10 @@ def _write_to_file(
         encryption_algorithm=serialization.NoEncryption(),
     )
 
-    # add client cert to beginning of cert chain
-    full_chain = [client_cert] + cert_chain
-
     with open(ca_filename, "w+") as ca_out:
         ca_out.write("".join(cert_chain))
     with open(cert_chain_filename, "w+") as chain_out:
-        chain_out.write("".join(full_chain))
+        chain_out.write("".join(cert_chain))
     with open(key_filename, "wb") as priv_out:
         priv_out.write(key_bytes)