diff --git a/candle-nn/src/var_builder.rs b/candle-nn/src/var_builder.rs
index 0b266a41ee..9d245f12ab 100644
--- a/candle-nn/src/var_builder.rs
+++ b/candle-nn/src/var_builder.rs
@@ -535,14 +535,15 @@ impl Backend for ShardedSafeTensors {
 
     fn get(
         &self,
-        target_shape: Shape, // The size is not checked for ShardedTensors
+        target_shape: Shape, // The size is only checked when the world size is 1.
         path: &str,
         h: Self::Hints,
         dtype: DType,
         dev: &Device,
     ) -> Result<Tensor> {
-        if h == Default::default() {
-            // no sharding
+        if h.world_size == 1 {
+            // There is no sharding to be applied here so we use the default backend to speed
+            // things up.
             return SimpleBackend::get(&self.0, target_shape, path, Default::default(), dtype, dev);
         }