diff --git a/terratorch/models/backbones/prithvi_vit.py b/terratorch/models/backbones/prithvi_vit.py
index 9b9b4f96..2561e12f 100644
--- a/terratorch/models/backbones/prithvi_vit.py
+++ b/terratorch/models/backbones/prithvi_vit.py
@@ -207,10 +207,6 @@ def _create_prithvi(
         prithvi_model_class = PrithviMAE
         checkpoint_filter_wrapper_fn = checkpoint_filter_fn_mae
 
-    if pretrained:
-        assert variant in pretrained_weights, (f"No pre-trained model found for variant {variant} "
-                                               f"(pretrained models: {pretrained_weights.keys()})")
-
     model = prithvi_model_class(**model_args)
 
     if pretrained:
@@ -224,6 +220,9 @@ def _create_prithvi(
             if loaded_keys.unexpected_keys:
                 logger.warning(f"Missing keys in ckpt_path {ckpt_path}: {loaded_keys.missing_keys}")
         else:
+            assert variant in pretrained_weights, (f"No pre-trained model found for variant {variant} "
+                                                   f"(pretrained models: {pretrained_weights.keys()})")
+
             try:
                 # Download config.json to count model downloads
                 _ = hf_hub_download(repo_id=pretrained_weights[variant]["hf_hub_id"], filename="config.json")
@@ -236,6 +235,8 @@ def _create_prithvi(
             except RuntimeError as e:
                 logger.error(f"Failed to load the pre-trained weights for {variant}.")
                 raise e
+    elif ckpt_path is not None:
+        logger.warning(f"ckpt_path is provided but pretrained is set to False, ignoring ckpt_path {ckpt_path}.")
 
     model.model_bands = model_bands
     model.pretrained_bands = pretrained_bands