diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/models.py b/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
index 405c9e4b2..4f796dc29 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ def load_lora(model, cfg):
         PeftModel,
     )
 
-    lora_target_modules = list(cfg.lora_target_modules)
+    lora_target_modules = list(cfg.lora_target_modules or [])
 
     if cfg.lora_target_linear:
         bits = None
diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/validation.py b/src/axolotl/utils/validation.py
index 2fe7f99db..ebc50b5af 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/validation.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/validation.py
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ def validate_config(cfg):
     if cfg.adapter == "qlora":
         if cfg.merge_lora:
             # can't merge qlora if loaded in 8bit or 4bit
-            assert cfg.load_in_8bit is False
-            assert cfg.load_4bit is False
+            assert cfg.load_in_8bit is not True
+            assert cfg.load_4bit is not True
             assert cfg.load_in_4bit is False
         else:
-            assert cfg.load_in_8bit is False
-            assert cfg.load_4bit is False
+            assert cfg.load_in_8bit is not True
+            assert cfg.load_4bit is not True
             assert cfg.load_in_4bit is True
     if not cfg.load_in_8bit and cfg.adapter == "lora":
         logging.warning("We recommend setting `load_in_8bit: true` for LORA finetuning")