diff --git a/scripts/base_train.py b/scripts/base_train.py
index c7683c9..a161c47 100644
--- a/scripts/base_train.py
+++ b/scripts/base_train.py
@@ -218,12 +218,13 @@ def disable_fp8(model):
         return
 
     # Swap Float8Linear -> Linear (our custom class that casts weights to match input dtype)
+    # Use device="meta" to avoid VRAM spike - the weight tensor will be swapped in afterwards
     for parent, attr_name, fp8_module in fp8_locations:
         linear = Linear(
             fp8_module.in_features,
             fp8_module.out_features,
             bias=fp8_module.bias is not None,
-            device=fp8_module.weight.device,
+            device="meta",  # Use meta device to avoid unnecessary VRAM allocation
             dtype=fp8_module.weight.dtype,
         )
         linear.weight = fp8_module.weight  # share, don't copy