diff --git a/envconfig/config.go b/envconfig/config.go
index 09243ab95..dd25ed80d 100644
--- a/envconfig/config.go
+++ b/envconfig/config.go
@@ -145,8 +145,8 @@ func Remotes() []string {
 	return r
 }
 
-func Bool(k string) func() bool {
-	return func() bool {
+func BoolWithDefault(k string) func(defaultValue bool) bool {
+	return func(defaultValue bool) bool {
 		if s := Var(k); s != "" {
 			b, err := strconv.ParseBool(s)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -156,7 +156,14 @@ func Bool(k string) func() bool {
 			return b
 		}
 
-		return false
+		return defaultValue
+	}
+}
+
+func Bool(k string) func() bool {
+	withDefault := BoolWithDefault(k)
+	return func() bool {
+		return withDefault(false)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -177,7 +184,7 @@ func LogLevel() slog.Level {
 
 var (
 	// FlashAttention enables the experimental flash attention feature.
-	FlashAttention = Bool("OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION")
+	FlashAttention = BoolWithDefault("OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION")
 	// KvCacheType is the quantization type for the K/V cache.
 	KvCacheType = String("OLLAMA_KV_CACHE_TYPE")
 	// NoHistory disables readline history.
@@ -263,7 +270,7 @@ type EnvVar struct {
 func AsMap() map[string]EnvVar {
 	ret := map[string]EnvVar{
 		"OLLAMA_DEBUG":             {"OLLAMA_DEBUG", LogLevel(), "Show additional debug information (e.g. OLLAMA_DEBUG=1)"},
-		"OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION":   {"OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION", FlashAttention(), "Enabled flash attention"},
+		"OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION":   {"OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION", FlashAttention(false), "Enabled flash attention"},
 		"OLLAMA_KV_CACHE_TYPE":     {"OLLAMA_KV_CACHE_TYPE", KvCacheType(), "Quantization type for the K/V cache (default: f16)"},
 		"OLLAMA_GPU_OVERHEAD":      {"OLLAMA_GPU_OVERHEAD", GpuOverhead(), "Reserve a portion of VRAM per GPU (bytes)"},
 		"OLLAMA_HOST":              {"OLLAMA_HOST", Host(), "IP Address for the ollama server (default 127.0.0.1:11434)"},
diff --git a/llm/memory.go b/llm/memory.go
index 6f192b35d..4a54b3312 100644
--- a/llm/memory.go
+++ b/llm/memory.go
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ func estimateGPULayers(gpus []discover.GpuInfo, f *ggml.GGML, projectors []strin
 		slog.Warn("model missing blk.0 layer size")
 	}
 
-	useFlashAttention := (envconfig.FlashAttention() || f.FlashAttention()) &&
+	useFlashAttention := envconfig.FlashAttention(f.FlashAttention()) &&
 		(discover.GpuInfoList)(gpus).FlashAttentionSupported() &&
 		f.SupportsFlashAttention()
 
diff --git a/llm/server.go b/llm/server.go
index 63ad6085c..a7e8049b7 100644
--- a/llm/server.go
+++ b/llm/server.go
@@ -196,14 +196,10 @@ func NewLlamaServer(gpus discover.GpuInfoList, modelPath string, f *ggml.GGML, a
 		loadRequest.ProjectorPath = projectors[0]
 	}
 
+	fa := envconfig.FlashAttention(f.FlashAttention())
+
 	// This will disable flash attention unless all GPUs on the system support it, even if we end up selecting a subset
 	// that can handle it.
-	fa := envconfig.FlashAttention()
-	if f.FlashAttention() {
-		slog.Info("model wants flash attention")
-		fa = true
-	}
-
 	if fa && !gpus.FlashAttentionSupported() {
 		slog.Warn("flash attention enabled but not supported by gpu")
 		fa = false