diff --git a/python/sglang/srt/models/qwen3_vl.py b/python/sglang/srt/models/qwen3_vl.py
index 6c06aaa0e..079f45843 100644
--- a/python/sglang/srt/models/qwen3_vl.py
+++ b/python/sglang/srt/models/qwen3_vl.py
@@ -962,6 +962,7 @@ class Qwen3VLForConditionalGeneration(nn.Module):
             if (
                 not is_visual
                 and layer_id is not None
+                and hasattr(self, "model")
                 and hasattr(self.model, "start_layer")
                 and (
                     layer_id < self.model.start_layer