diff --git a/nodes/model_loader.py b/nodes/model_loader.py
index 5d92977..e0ef4c1 100644
--- a/nodes/model_loader.py
+++ b/nodes/model_loader.py
@@ -105,7 +105,10 @@ class PrismAudioModelLoader:
                 vae_state[k[len(prefix):]] = v
             else:
                 vae_state[k] = v
-        model.pretransform.load_state_dict(vae_state)
+        # strict=False: vae.ckpt is a training checkpoint that also contains
+        # discriminator, loss modules, and EMA wrappers not present in the
+        # inference AudioAutoencoder — ignore those extra keys.
+        model.pretransform.load_state_dict(vae_state, strict=False)
 
         # Apply precision: DiT + conditioners in user-selected dtype,
         # but keep VAE (pretransform) in fp32 to avoid NaN from snake activations in fp16