diff --git a/sgm/inference/api.py b/sgm/inference/api.py
index 2bb0e17de..91348e588 100644
--- a/sgm/inference/api.py
+++ b/sgm/inference/api.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
                                                    EulerEDMSampler,
                                                    HeunEDMSampler,
                                                    LinearMultistepSampler)
-from sgm.util import load_model_from_config
+from sgm.util import load_model_from_config, get_default_device_name
 
 
 class ModelArchitecture(str, Enum):
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ def __init__(
         model_id: ModelArchitecture,
         model_path="checkpoints",
         config_path="configs/inference",
-        device="cuda",
+        device: Optional[str] = None,
         use_fp16=True,
     ) -> None:
         if model_id not in model_specs:
@@ -145,10 +145,10 @@ def __init__(
         self.specs = model_specs[self.model_id]
         self.config = str(pathlib.Path(config_path, self.specs.config))
         self.ckpt = str(pathlib.Path(model_path, self.specs.ckpt))
-        self.device = device
+        self.device = device or get_default_device_name()
         self.model = self._load_model(device=device, use_fp16=use_fp16)
 
-    def _load_model(self, device="cuda", use_fp16=True):
+    def _load_model(self, *, device, use_fp16=True):
         config = OmegaConf.load(self.config)
         model = load_model_from_config(config, self.ckpt)
         if model is None:
diff --git a/sgm/inference/helpers.py b/sgm/inference/helpers.py
index 31b0ec3dc..cb111eb47 100644
--- a/sgm/inference/helpers.py
+++ b/sgm/inference/helpers.py
@@ -4,13 +4,12 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 import torch
+from PIL import Image
 from einops import rearrange
 from imwatermark import WatermarkEncoder
 from omegaconf import ListConfig
-from PIL import Image
-from torch import autocast
 
-from sgm.util import append_dims
+from sgm.util import append_dims, safe_autocast, get_default_device_name
 
 
 class WatermarkEmbedder:
@@ -111,21 +110,24 @@ def do_sample(
     batch2model_input: Optional[List] = None,
     return_latents=False,
     filter=None,
-    device="cuda",
+    device: Optional[str] = None,
 ):
+    if not device:
+        device = get_default_device_name()
     if force_uc_zero_embeddings is None:
         force_uc_zero_embeddings = []
     if batch2model_input is None:
         batch2model_input = []
 
     with torch.no_grad():
-        with autocast(device) as precision_scope:
+        with safe_autocast(device):
             with model.ema_scope():
                 num_samples = [num_samples]
                 batch, batch_uc = get_batch(
                     get_unique_embedder_keys_from_conditioner(model.conditioner),
                     value_dict,
                     num_samples,
+                    device=device,
                 )
                 for key in batch:
                     if isinstance(batch[key], torch.Tensor):
@@ -170,7 +172,13 @@ def denoiser(input, sigma, c):
                 return samples
 
 
-def get_batch(keys, value_dict, N: Union[List, ListConfig], device="cuda"):
+def get_batch(
+    keys,
+    value_dict,
+    N: Union[List, ListConfig],
+    *,
+    device: str,
+):
     # Hardcoded demo setups; might undergo some changes in the future
 
     batch = {}
@@ -227,7 +235,9 @@ def get_batch(keys, value_dict, N: Union[List, ListConfig], device="cuda"):
     return batch, batch_uc
 
 
-def get_input_image_tensor(image: Image.Image, device="cuda"):
+def get_input_image_tensor(image: Image.Image, device: Optional[str] = None):
+    if not device:
+        device = get_default_device_name()
     w, h = image.size
     print(f"loaded input image of size ({w}, {h})")
     width, height = map(
@@ -252,15 +262,18 @@ def do_img2img(
     return_latents=False,
     skip_encode=False,
     filter=None,
-    device="cuda",
+    device: Optional[str] = None,
 ):
+    if not device:
+        device = get_default_device_name()
     with torch.no_grad():
-        with autocast(device) as precision_scope:
+        with safe_autocast(device):
             with model.ema_scope():
                 batch, batch_uc = get_batch(
                     get_unique_embedder_keys_from_conditioner(model.conditioner),
                     value_dict,
                     [num_samples],
+                    device=device,
                 )
                 c, uc = model.conditioner.get_unconditional_conditioning(
                     batch,
diff --git a/sgm/models/diffusion.py b/sgm/models/diffusion.py
index 2f3efd3c7..9a9ca61bd 100644
--- a/sgm/models/diffusion.py
+++ b/sgm/models/diffusion.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import math
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Tuple, Union, Optional
 
 import pytorch_lightning as pl
 import torch
@@ -12,8 +12,15 @@
 from ..modules.autoencoding.temporal_ae import VideoDecoder
 from ..modules.diffusionmodules.wrappers import OPENAIUNETWRAPPER
 from ..modules.ema import LitEma
-from ..util import (default, disabled_train, get_obj_from_str,
-                    instantiate_from_config, log_txt_as_img)
+from ..util import (
+    default,
+    disabled_train,
+    get_default_device_name,
+    get_obj_from_str,
+    instantiate_from_config,
+    log_txt_as_img,
+    safe_autocast,
+)
 
 
 class DiffusionEngine(pl.LightningModule):
@@ -114,6 +121,12 @@ def get_input(self, batch):
         # image tensors should be scaled to -1 ... 1 and in bchw format
         return batch[self.input_key]
 
+    def _first_stage_autocast_context(self):
+        return safe_autocast(
+            device=get_default_device_name(),
+            enabled=not self.disable_first_stage_autocast,
+        )
+
     @torch.no_grad()
     def decode_first_stage(self, z):
         z = 1.0 / self.scale_factor * z
@@ -121,7 +134,7 @@ def decode_first_stage(self, z):
 
         n_rounds = math.ceil(z.shape[0] / n_samples)
         all_out = []
-        with torch.autocast("cuda", enabled=not self.disable_first_stage_autocast):
+        with self._first_stage_autocast_context():
             for n in range(n_rounds):
                 if isinstance(self.first_stage_model.decoder, VideoDecoder):
                     kwargs = {"timesteps": len(z[n * n_samples : (n + 1) * n_samples])}
@@ -139,7 +152,7 @@ def encode_first_stage(self, x):
         n_samples = default(self.en_and_decode_n_samples_a_time, x.shape[0])
         n_rounds = math.ceil(x.shape[0] / n_samples)
         all_out = []
-        with torch.autocast("cuda", enabled=not self.disable_first_stage_autocast):
+        with self._first_stage_autocast_context():
             for n in range(n_rounds):
                 out = self.first_stage_model.encode(
                     x[n * n_samples : (n + 1) * n_samples]
diff --git a/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/openaimodel.py b/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/openaimodel.py
index e3949dd1e..00f16131a 100644
--- a/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/openaimodel.py
+++ b/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/openaimodel.py
@@ -10,9 +10,15 @@
 from torch.utils.checkpoint import checkpoint
 
 from ...modules.attention import SpatialTransformer
-from ...modules.diffusionmodules.util import (avg_pool_nd, conv_nd, linear,
-                                              normalization,
-                                              timestep_embedding, zero_module)
+from ...modules.diffusionmodules.util import (
+    avg_pool_nd,
+    checkpoint,
+    conv_nd,
+    linear,
+    normalization,
+    timestep_embedding,
+    zero_module,
+)
 from ...modules.video_attention import SpatialVideoTransformer
 from ...util import exists
 
diff --git a/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/sampling.py b/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/sampling.py
index af07566d5..93a251541 100644
--- a/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/sampling.py
+++ b/sgm/modules/diffusionmodules/sampling.py
@@ -9,11 +9,14 @@
 from omegaconf import ListConfig, OmegaConf
 from tqdm import tqdm
 
-from ...modules.diffusionmodules.sampling_utils import (get_ancestral_step,
-                                                        linear_multistep_coeff,
-                                                        to_d, to_neg_log_sigma,
-                                                        to_sigma)
-from ...util import append_dims, default, instantiate_from_config
+from ...modules.diffusionmodules.sampling_utils import (
+    get_ancestral_step,
+    linear_multistep_coeff,
+    to_d,
+    to_neg_log_sigma,
+    to_sigma,
+)
+from ...util import append_dims, default, instantiate_from_config, get_default_device_name
 
 DEFAULT_GUIDER = {"target": "sgm.modules.diffusionmodules.guiders.IdentityGuider"}
 
@@ -25,8 +28,10 @@ def __init__(
         num_steps: Union[int, None] = None,
         guider_config: Union[Dict, ListConfig, OmegaConf, None] = None,
         verbose: bool = False,
-        device: str = "cuda",
+        device: Union[str, None] = None,
     ):
+        if device is None:
+            device = get_default_device_name()
         self.num_steps = num_steps
         self.discretization = instantiate_from_config(discretization_config)
         self.guider = instantiate_from_config(
diff --git a/sgm/modules/encoders/modules.py b/sgm/modules/encoders/modules.py
index 48bd5ea8b..e99db5af6 100644
--- a/sgm/modules/encoders/modules.py
+++ b/sgm/modules/encoders/modules.py
@@ -20,8 +20,17 @@
 from ...modules.diffusionmodules.util import (extract_into_tensor,
                                               make_beta_schedule)
 from ...modules.distributions.distributions import DiagonalGaussianDistribution
-from ...util import (append_dims, autocast, count_params, default,
-                     disabled_train, expand_dims_like, instantiate_from_config)
+from ...util import (
+    append_dims,
+    autocast,
+    count_params,
+    default,
+    disabled_train,
+    expand_dims_like,
+    get_default_device_name,
+    instantiate_from_config,
+    safe_autocast,
+)
 
 
 class AbstractEmbModel(nn.Module):
@@ -229,7 +238,9 @@ def forward(self, c):
             c = c[:, None, :]
         return c
 
-    def get_unconditional_conditioning(self, bs, device="cuda"):
+    def get_unconditional_conditioning(self, bs, device=None):
+        if device is None:
+            device = get_default_device_name()
         uc_class = (
             self.n_classes - 1
         )  # 1000 classes --> 0 ... 999, one extra class for ucg (class 1000)
@@ -254,9 +265,10 @@ class FrozenT5Embedder(AbstractEmbModel):
     """Uses the T5 transformer encoder for text"""
 
     def __init__(
-        self, version="google/t5-v1_1-xxl", device="cuda", max_length=77, freeze=True
+        self, version="google/t5-v1_1-xxl", device=None, max_length=77, freeze=True
     ):  # others are google/t5-v1_1-xl and google/t5-v1_1-xxl
         super().__init__()
+        device = device or get_default_device_name()
         self.tokenizer = T5Tokenizer.from_pretrained(version)
         self.transformer = T5EncoderModel.from_pretrained(version)
         self.device = device
@@ -281,7 +293,7 @@ def forward(self, text):
             return_tensors="pt",
         )
         tokens = batch_encoding["input_ids"].to(self.device)
-        with torch.autocast("cuda", enabled=False):
+        with safe_autocast(get_default_device_name(), enabled=False):
             outputs = self.transformer(input_ids=tokens)
         z = outputs.last_hidden_state
         return z
@@ -296,9 +308,10 @@ class FrozenByT5Embedder(AbstractEmbModel):
     """
 
     def __init__(
-        self, version="google/byt5-base", device="cuda", max_length=77, freeze=True
+        self, version="google/byt5-base", device=None, max_length=77, freeze=True
     ):  # others are google/t5-v1_1-xl and google/t5-v1_1-xxl
         super().__init__()
+        device = device or get_default_device_name()
         self.tokenizer = ByT5Tokenizer.from_pretrained(version)
         self.transformer = T5EncoderModel.from_pretrained(version)
         self.device = device
@@ -323,7 +336,7 @@ def forward(self, text):
             return_tensors="pt",
         )
         tokens = batch_encoding["input_ids"].to(self.device)
-        with torch.autocast("cuda", enabled=False):
+        with safe_autocast(get_default_device_name(), enabled=False):
             outputs = self.transformer(input_ids=tokens)
         z = outputs.last_hidden_state
         return z
@@ -340,7 +353,7 @@ class FrozenCLIPEmbedder(AbstractEmbModel):
     def __init__(
         self,
         version="openai/clip-vit-large-patch14",
-        device="cuda",
+        device=None,
         max_length=77,
         freeze=True,
         layer="last",
@@ -348,6 +361,7 @@ def __init__(
         always_return_pooled=False,
     ):  # clip-vit-base-patch32
         super().__init__()
+        device = device or get_default_device_name()
         assert layer in self.LAYERS
         self.tokenizer = CLIPTokenizer.from_pretrained(version)
         self.transformer = CLIPTextModel.from_pretrained(version)
@@ -408,7 +422,7 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         arch="ViT-H-14",
         version="laion2b_s32b_b79k",
-        device="cuda",
+        device=None,
         max_length=77,
         freeze=True,
         layer="last",
@@ -416,6 +430,7 @@ def __init__(
         legacy=True,
     ):
         super().__init__()
+        device = device or get_default_device_name()
         assert layer in self.LAYERS
         model, _, _ = open_clip.create_model_and_transforms(
             arch,
@@ -510,12 +525,13 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         arch="ViT-H-14",
         version="laion2b_s32b_b79k",
-        device="cuda",
+        device=None,
         max_length=77,
         freeze=True,
         layer="last",
     ):
         super().__init__()
+        device = device or get_default_device_name()
         assert layer in self.LAYERS
         model, _, _ = open_clip.create_model_and_transforms(
             arch, device=torch.device("cpu"), pretrained=version
@@ -580,7 +596,7 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         arch="ViT-H-14",
         version="laion2b_s32b_b79k",
-        device="cuda",
+        device=None,
         max_length=77,
         freeze=True,
         antialias=True,
@@ -592,6 +608,7 @@ def __init__(
         init_device=None,
     ):
         super().__init__()
+        device = device or get_default_device_name()
         model, _, _ = open_clip.create_model_and_transforms(
             arch,
             device=torch.device(default(init_device, "cpu")),
@@ -737,11 +754,12 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         clip_version="openai/clip-vit-large-patch14",
         t5_version="google/t5-v1_1-xl",
-        device="cuda",
+        device=None,
         clip_max_length=77,
         t5_max_length=77,
     ):
         super().__init__()
+        device = device or get_default_device_name()
         self.clip_encoder = FrozenCLIPEmbedder(
             clip_version, device, max_length=clip_max_length
         )
@@ -1006,7 +1024,7 @@ def forward(
             noise = torch.randn_like(vid)
             vid = vid + noise * append_dims(sigmas, vid.ndim)
 
-        with torch.autocast("cuda", enabled=not self.disable_encoder_autocast):
+        with safe_autocast(get_default_device_name(), enabled=not self.disable_encoder_autocast):
             n_samples = (
                 self.en_and_decode_n_samples_a_time
                 if self.en_and_decode_n_samples_a_time is not None
diff --git a/sgm/util.py b/sgm/util.py
index 66d9b2a69..6c83c8c1f 100644
--- a/sgm/util.py
+++ b/sgm/util.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import functools
 import importlib
 import os
+from contextlib import nullcontext
 from functools import partial
 from inspect import isfunction
 
@@ -11,6 +12,10 @@
 from safetensors.torch import load_file as load_safetensors
 
 
+def get_default_device_name() -> str:
+    return os.environ.get("SGM_DEFAULT_DEVICE", "cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu")
+
+
 def disabled_train(self, mode=True):
     """Overwrite model.train with this function to make sure train/eval mode
     does not change anymore."""
@@ -273,3 +278,10 @@ def get_nested_attribute(obj, attribute_path, depth=None, return_key=False):
             current_attribute = getattr(current_attribute, attribute)
 
     return (current_attribute, current_key) if return_key else current_attribute
+
+
+def safe_autocast(device, **kwargs):
+    """Autocast that doesn't crash on devices unsupported by autocast."""
+    if device not in ("cpu", "cuda"):
+        return nullcontext()
+    return torch.autocast(device, **kwargs)