diff --git a/torchtitan/components/checkpoint.py b/torchtitan/components/checkpoint.py
index d4c5416aa2..79918d0046 100644
--- a/torchtitan/components/checkpoint.py
+++ b/torchtitan/components/checkpoint.py
@@ -189,15 +189,25 @@ def __init__(
         self.enable = checkpoint_config.enable
         self.load_only = checkpoint_config.load_only
 
+        self.states = states
+        self.states.update(
+            {
+                MODEL: ModelWrapper(model_parts),
+                OPTIMIZER: optimizers,
+                DATALOADER: dataloader,
+                LR_SCHEDULER: lr_schedulers,
+            }
+        )
+
         self.ft_manager = (
-            ft_manager.manager
-            if ft_manager
-            and ft_manager.enabled
-            and checkpoint_config.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints
-            else None
+            ft_manager.manager if ft_manager and ft_manager.enabled else None
         )
 
-        if ft_manager and ft_manager.enabled and not self.ft_manager:
+        self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints = (
+            self.ft_manager and checkpoint_config.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints
+        )
+
+        if self.ft_manager and not self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints:
             logger.warn(
                 "Fault tolerance is enabled but enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints is False. "
                 "This means replicas can retrain over the same data multiple times, which can result in overfitting."
@@ -229,20 +239,11 @@ def load_state_dict(state_dict):
         async_mode = checkpoint_config.async_mode.lower()
         self.enable_staging = (
             self.enable and async_mode == AsyncMode.ASYNC_WITH_PINNED_MEM
-        ) or self.ft_manager
+        ) or self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints
 
-        if not self.enable and self.ft_manager is None:
+        if not self.enable and not self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints:
             return
 
-        self.states = states
-        self.states.update(
-            {
-                MODEL: ModelWrapper(model_parts),
-                OPTIMIZER: optimizers,
-                DATALOADER: dataloader,
-                LR_SCHEDULER: lr_schedulers,
-            }
-        )
         self.ft_states = {DATALOADER: dataloader}
 
         self.staging = False
@@ -279,7 +280,7 @@ def load_state_dict(state_dict):
         if (
             async_mode == AsyncMode.ASYNC
             or async_mode == AsyncMode.ASYNC_WITH_PINNED_MEM
-            or self.ft_manager
+            or self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints
         ):
             self.pg = dist.new_group(backend="gloo")
 
@@ -480,14 +481,16 @@ def save(self, curr_step: int, last_step: bool = False) -> None:
             None
         """
 
-        if self.ft_manager:
+        if self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints:
             self._ft_save(curr_step)
 
         if not self._should_save(curr_step, last_step):
             return
 
         begin = time.monotonic()
-        if not self.ft_manager or self.ft_manager.participating_rank() == 0:
+        if not self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints or (
+            self.ft_manager and self.ft_manager.participating_rank() == 0
+        ):
             logger.info("Saving the checkpoint (or staging if async is enabled).")
             checkpoint_id = self._create_checkpoint_id(curr_step)
             self._async_wait()
@@ -530,7 +533,8 @@ def save(self, curr_step: int, last_step: bool = False) -> None:
                 "Finished saving the checkpoint (or staging if async is enabled)"
                 f"in {time.monotonic() - begin:.2f} seconds."
             )
-        elif self.ft_manager:
+        elif self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints:
+            assert self.ft_manager is not None
             logger.info(
                 "Replica %d doesn't save checkpoint.",
                 self.ft_manager.participating_rank(),
@@ -551,7 +555,7 @@ def load(self, step: int = -1) -> bool:
             bool: Whether the checkpoint was loaded successfully.
         """
 
-        if self.ft_manager:
+        if self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints:
             self._ft_load()
 
         if not self.enable:
@@ -749,7 +753,7 @@ def _states_to_load(self, model_only: bool) -> dict[str, Any]:
 
         states_to_load = self._flattened_model_states_sd(states_to_load)
 
-        if self.ft_manager:
+        if self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints:
             states_to_load.pop(DATALOADER)
 
         return states_to_load
@@ -805,7 +809,9 @@ def _async_wait(self) -> None:
         if self.async_mode == AsyncMode.ASYNC_WITH_PINNED_MEM:
             if self.save_future is not None:
                 self.save_future.result()
-        elif self.async_mode == AsyncMode.ASYNC or self.ft_manager is not None:
+        elif (
+            self.async_mode == AsyncMode.ASYNC or self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints
+        ):
             if self.save_future is not None:
                 self.save_future.result()
                 self.save_future = None
@@ -820,7 +826,10 @@ def _purge_stale_checkpoints(self):
             self.keep_latest_k > 0
             and dist.get_rank() == 0
             and os.path.isdir(self.folder)
-            and (not self.ft_manager or self.ft_manager.participating_rank() == 0)
+            and (
+                not self.enable_ft_dataloader_checkpoints
+                or (self.ft_manager and self.ft_manager.participating_rank() == 0)
+            )
         ):
             discovered_checkpoints = []
             for filename in os.listdir(self.folder):