diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/models.py b/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
index fb9fb4bf6..0c4f1cf80 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
@@ -904,7 +904,7 @@ class ModelLoader:
                 **bnb_config,
             )
 
-        elif self.cfg.hqq_nbits:
+        elif self.cfg.use_hqq:
             from axolotl.utils.schemas.quant import get_hqq_quant_config_kwargs
 
             self.model_kwargs["quantization_config"] = HqqConfig(
@@ -1044,6 +1044,9 @@ class ModelLoader:
                         config=self.model_config,
                     )
             else:
+                if self.cfg.use_hqq:
+                    # if using hqq, we need to set device_map to gpu otherwise the loading get stuck
+                    self.model_kwargs["device_map"] = "auto"
                 self.model = self.auto_model_loader.from_pretrained(
                     self.base_model,
                     config=self.model_config,
@@ -1198,7 +1201,7 @@ class ModelLoader:
         if (
             not skip_prepare_model_for_kbit_training
             and self.cfg.adapter in ["lora", "qlora"]
-            and (self.cfg.load_in_8bit or self.cfg.load_in_4bit or self.cfg.hqq_nbits)
+            and (self.cfg.load_in_8bit or self.cfg.load_in_4bit or self.cfg.use_hqq)
         ):
             LOG.info("converting PEFT model w/ prepare_model_for_kbit_training")
             self.model = prepare_model_for_kbit_training(
diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/quant.py b/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/quant.py
index 9297c1640..0b9d2dd0f 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/quant.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/quant.py
@@ -2,50 +2,69 @@
 Takes care of quantization configuration
 """
 
-from typing import Literal
+from typing import Annotated
 
-from pydantic import BaseModel, model_validator
+from annotated_types import MinLen
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, model_validator
 
 
 class HQQConfig(BaseModel):
     """HQQ configuration subset"""
 
-    hqq_nbits: Literal[8, 4, 3, 2, 1] | None = None
-    hqq_group_size: int | None = None
-    hqq_target_module: list[str] | None = None
+    n_bits: int | None = Field(default=None)
+    group_size: int | None = Field(default=None)
+    target_modules: list[str] | str | None = Field(
+        default=None,
+        json_schema_extra={
+            "description": "Target modules for HQQ quantization. If not specified, the whole model will be quantized."
+        },
+    )
+
+
+class QuantizationConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Over all Quantization configuration subset"""
+
+    # We will use this class as base future refactoring of all quantization configs
+    use_hqq: bool = False
+    hqq_config: Annotated[list[HQQConfig], MinLen(1)] | None = None
 
     @model_validator(mode="before")
     @classmethod
-    def check_hqq_config_fields(cls, data):
-        fields = ("hqq_nbits", "hqq_group_size")
-        non_empty_count = sum(1 for field in fields if data.get(field))
-        if non_empty_count == 1 or (
-            data.get("'hqq_target_module") and non_empty_count < 2
-        ):
+    def check_hqq_config(cls, data):
+        if data.get("use_hqq") and not data.get("hqq_config"):
             raise ValueError(
-                "If using HQQ, must set both `hqq_nbits` and `hqq_group_size`"
+                "If using HQQ, must set `hqq_config` to a list of HQQConfig objects"
             )
 
+        if data.get("hqq_config") and len(data.get("hqq_config")) > 1:
+            for hqq_config in data.get("hqq_config"):
+                if hqq_config.get("target_modules") is None:
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        "If using HQQ, `target_modules` must be specified for each HQQConfig object"
+                    )
+
         return data
 
 
 def get_hqq_quant_config_kwargs(cfg):
 
     # If no target module is specified, then target the whole model
-    if cfg.hqq_target_module is None:
+    if len(cfg.hqq_config) == 1 and cfg.hqq_config[0].target_modules is None:
         return {
-            "nbits": cfg.hqq_nbits,
-            "group_size": cfg.hqq_group_size,
+            "nbits": cfg.hqq_config[0].n_bits,
+            "group_size": cfg.hqq_config[0].group_size,
         }
 
-    hqq_target_module = cfg.hqq_target_module
-    if not isinstance(cfg.hqq_target_module, list):
-        hqq_target_module = [hqq_target_module]
-
     hqq_quant_config_kwargs = {"dynamic_config": {}}
-    for module in hqq_target_module:
-        hqq_quant_config_kwargs["dynamic_config"][module] = {
-            "nbits": cfg.hqq_nbits,
-            "group_size": cfg.hqq_group_size,
-        }
+    for hqq_config in cfg.hqq_config:
+        target_modules = hqq_config.target_modules
+        if not isinstance(target_modules, list):
+            target_modules = [target_modules]
+
+        for module in target_modules:
+            hqq_quant_config_kwargs["dynamic_config"][module] = {
+                "nbits": hqq_config.hqq_nbits,
+                "group_size": hqq_config.hqq_group_size,
+            }
+
     return hqq_quant_config_kwargs