diff --git a/tinygrad/nn/state.py b/tinygrad/nn/state.py
index 7b340c4ec71e0..100584a427653 100644
--- a/tinygrad/nn/state.py
+++ b/tinygrad/nn/state.py
@@ -147,7 +147,8 @@ def __init__(self):
       print("WARNING: unused weights in state_dict", sorted(list(state_dict.keys() - model_state_dict.keys())))
     for k,v in (t := tqdm(model_state_dict.items(), disable=None if verbose else True)):
       t.desc = f"ram used: {GlobalCounters.mem_used/1e9:5.2f} GB, {k:50s}: "
-      if k not in state_dict and not strict:
+      if k not in state_dict:
+        if strict: raise RuntimeError(f"missing key in state_dict: {k!r}")
         if DEBUG >= 1: print(f"WARNING: not loading {k}")
         continue
       if v.shape != state_dict[k].shape: