diff --git a/src/axolotl/telemetry/manager.py b/src/axolotl/telemetry/manager.py
index 64da12ce1..71bb5ca2a 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/telemetry/manager.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/telemetry/manager.py
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ import psutil
 import torch
 import yaml
 
-from axolotl.utils.distributed import is_main_process
-
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 POSTHOG_HOST = "https://app.posthog.com"
@@ -77,6 +75,43 @@ RELEVANT_PACKAGES = {
 }
 
 
+def is_main_process() -> bool:
+    """
+    Check whether we're running in the main process.
+
+    Note:
+        We're using this function instead of `torch.utils.distributed.is_main_process`
+        causes issues with DeepSpeed world_size since. This function avoids that issue
+        by checking env vars that are set by various launchers.
+
+    Returns:
+        Whether we're running in the main process.
+    """
+    # If PyTorch distributed is already initialized, use it
+    if torch.distributed.is_initialized():
+        return torch.distributed.get_rank() == 0
+
+    # Otherwise check environment variables for global rank
+    # NOTE: need to verify this in SLURM / OpenMPI environments
+    global_rank = int(
+        os.environ.get(
+            "RANK",
+            os.environ.get(
+                "GLOBAL_RANK",
+                os.environ.get(
+                    "SLURM_PROCID",
+                    os.environ.get(
+                        "OMPI_COMM_WORLD_RANK",
+                        "0",
+                    ),
+                ),
+            ),
+        )
+    )
+
+    return global_rank == 0
+
+
 class TelemetryManager:
     """Manages telemetry collection and transmission"""
 
diff --git a/tests/telemetry/test_manager.py b/tests/telemetry/test_manager.py
index 441d94a10..e01ab9339 100644
--- a/tests/telemetry/test_manager.py
+++ b/tests/telemetry/test_manager.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def manager(telemetry_manager_class, mock_whitelist):
     """Create a TelemetryManager instance with mocked dependencies"""
     with patch("posthog.capture"), patch("posthog.flush"), patch("time.sleep"), patch(
         "axolotl.telemetry.manager.WHITELIST_PATH", mock_whitelist
-    ), patch("axolotl.telemetry.manager.is_main_process", return_value=True):
+    ), patch.dict(os.environ, {"RANK": "0"}):
         manager = telemetry_manager_class()
         # Manually enable for most tests
         manager.enabled = True
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ def manager(telemetry_manager_class, mock_whitelist):
 
 def test_singleton_instance(telemetry_manager_class):
     """Test that TelemetryManager is a singleton"""
-    with patch("posthog.capture"), patch("time.sleep"):
+    with patch("posthog.capture"), patch("time.sleep"), patch.dict(
+        os.environ, {"RANK": "0"}
+    ):
         first = telemetry_manager_class()
         second = telemetry_manager_class()
         assert first is second
@@ -58,36 +60,30 @@ def test_singleton_instance(telemetry_manager_class):
 
 def test_telemetry_disabled_with_axolotl_do_not_track(telemetry_manager_class):
     """Test that telemetry is disabled when AXOLOTL_DO_NOT_TRACK=1"""
-    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"AXOLOTL_DO_NOT_TRACK": "1"}), patch(
-        "axolotl.telemetry.manager.is_main_process", return_value=True
-    ):
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"AXOLOTL_DO_NOT_TRACK": "1", "RANK": "0"}):
         manager = telemetry_manager_class()
         assert not manager.enabled
 
 
 def test_telemetry_disabled_with_do_not_track(telemetry_manager_class):
     """Test that telemetry is disabled when DO_NOT_TRACK=1"""
-    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"DO_NOT_TRACK": "1"}), patch(
-        "axolotl.telemetry.manager.is_main_process", return_value=True
-    ):
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"DO_NOT_TRACK": "1", "RANK": "0"}):
         manager = telemetry_manager_class()
         assert not manager.enabled
 
 
 def test_telemetry_disabled_for_non_main_process(telemetry_manager_class):
     """Test that telemetry is disabled for non-main processes"""
-    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"AXOLOTL_DO_NOT_TRACK": "0"}), patch(
-        "axolotl.telemetry.manager.is_main_process", return_value=False
-    ):
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"AXOLOTL_DO_NOT_TRACK": "0", "RANK": "1"}):
         manager = telemetry_manager_class()
         assert not manager.enabled
 
 
 def test_telemetry_enabled_by_default(telemetry_manager_class):
     """Test that telemetry is enabled by default"""
-    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True), patch(
-        "axolotl.telemetry.manager.is_main_process", return_value=True
-    ), patch("time.sleep"), patch("logging.Logger.warning"):
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"RANK": "0"}, clear=True), patch("time.sleep"), patch(
+        "logging.Logger.warning"
+    ):
         manager = telemetry_manager_class()
         assert manager.enabled
         assert not manager.explicit_enable
@@ -95,13 +91,9 @@ def test_telemetry_enabled_by_default(telemetry_manager_class):
 
 def test_explicit_enable_disables_warning(telemetry_manager_class):
     """Test that explicit enabling prevents warning"""
-    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"AXOLOTL_DO_NOT_TRACK": "0"}), patch(
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"AXOLOTL_DO_NOT_TRACK": "0", "RANK": "0"}), patch(
         "logging.Logger.warning"
-    ) as mock_warning, patch(
-        "axolotl.telemetry.manager.is_main_process", return_value=True
-    ), patch(
-        "time.sleep"
-    ):
+    ) as mock_warning, patch("time.sleep"):
         manager = telemetry_manager_class()
         assert manager.enabled
         assert manager.explicit_enable
@@ -111,13 +103,9 @@ def test_explicit_enable_disables_warning(telemetry_manager_class):
 
 def test_warning_displayed_for_implicit_enable(telemetry_manager_class):
     """Test that warning is displayed when telemetry is implicitly enabled"""
-    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True), patch(
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"RANK": "0"}, clear=True), patch(
         "logging.Logger.warning"
-    ) as mock_warning, patch(
-        "axolotl.telemetry.manager.is_main_process", return_value=True
-    ), patch(
-        "time.sleep"
-    ):
+    ) as mock_warning, patch("time.sleep"):
         manager = telemetry_manager_class()
         assert manager.enabled
         assert not manager.explicit_enable