diff --git a/torchchat/model.py b/torchchat/model.py
index 0f60ea318..93a0d7366 100644
--- a/torchchat/model.py
+++ b/torchchat/model.py
@@ -30,9 +30,14 @@
     SequenceParallel,
 )
 from torch.nn import functional as F
-# TODO: remove this after we figure out where in torchtune an `evaluate` module
-# is being imported, which is being confused with huggingface's `evaluate``.
-import lm_eval  # noqa 
+
+try:
+    # TODO: remove this after we figure out where in torchtune an `evaluate` module
+    # is being imported, which is being confused with huggingface's `evaluate``.
+    import lm_eval  # noqa 
+except Exception:
+    pass
+
 from torchtune.models.clip import clip_vision_encoder
 from torchtune.models.llama3_1._component_builders import llama3_1 as llama3_1_builder
 from torchtune.models.llama3_2_vision._component_builders import (