diff --git a/aviary/backend/llm/predictor.py b/aviary/backend/llm/predictor.py
index 40c21dec..3b83725e 100644
--- a/aviary/backend/llm/predictor.py
+++ b/aviary/backend/llm/predictor.py
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ async def _create_worker_group(
         await asyncio.gather(
             *[
                 initialize_node_remote_pg.remote(
-                    llm_config.model_id,
+                    llm_config.actual_hf_model_id,
                     llm_config.initialization.s3_mirror_config,
                 )
                 for i in range(scaling_config.num_workers)
diff --git a/aviary/backend/llm/utils.py b/aviary/backend/llm/utils.py
index b84bce4a..c64eadbe 100644
--- a/aviary/backend/llm/utils.py
+++ b/aviary/backend/llm/utils.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def download_model(
     Download a model from an S3 bucket and save it in TRANSFORMERS_CACHE for
     seamless interoperability with Hugging Face's Transformers library.
 
-    The downloaded model must have a 'hash' file containing the commit hash corresponding
+    The downloaded model may have a 'hash' file containing the commit hash corresponding
     to the commit on Hugging Face Hub.
     """
     from transformers.utils.hub import TRANSFORMERS_CACHE
@@ -47,11 +47,13 @@ def download_model(
         + [os.path.join(bucket_uri, "hash"), "."]
     )
     if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(".", "hash")):
-        raise RuntimeError(
-            "Hash file not found in the bucket or bucket could not have been downloaded."
+        f_hash = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
+        logger.warning(
+            f"hash file does not exist in {bucket_uri}. Using {f_hash} as the hash."
         )
-    with open(os.path.join(".", "hash"), "r") as f:
-        f_hash = f.read().strip()
+    else:
+        with open(os.path.join(".", "hash"), "r") as f:
+            f_hash = f.read().strip()
     logger.info(
         f"Downloading {model_id} from {bucket_uri} to {os.path.join(path, 'snapshots', f_hash)}"
     )
diff --git a/aviary/backend/server/models.py b/aviary/backend/server/models.py
index 74890553..f7365172 100644
--- a/aviary/backend/server/models.py
+++ b/aviary/backend/server/models.py
@@ -305,6 +305,15 @@ def initializer_pipeline(cls, values):
             )
         return values
 
+    @root_validator
+    def s3_mirror_config_transformers(cls, values):
+        s3_mirror_config: S3MirrorConfig = values.get("s3_mirror_config")
+        if s3_mirror_config.bucket_uri:
+            initializer: Initializer = values.get("initializer")
+            if isinstance(initializer, Transformers):
+                initializer.from_pretrained_kwargs["local_files_only"] = True
+        return values
+
 
 class GenerationConfig(BaseModelExtended):
     prompt_format: Optional[str] = None