diff --git a/studio/backend/core/inference/worker.py b/studio/backend/core/inference/worker.py
index 2eb46f3217..afe0ecc458 100644
--- a/studio/backend/core/inference/worker.py
+++ b/studio/backend/core/inference/worker.py
@@ -156,12 +156,28 @@ def _handle_load(backend, config: dict, resp_queue: Any) -> None:
                 except Exception as e:
                     logger.warning("Could not read adapter_config.json: %s", e)
 
+        # Auto-enable trust_remote_code for unsloth/* transformers 5.x models
+        # (matches the training worker logic in core/training/worker.py)
+        trust_remote_code = config.get("trust_remote_code", False)
+        if not trust_remote_code:
+            from utils.transformers_version import needs_transformers_5
+
+            model_name = config["model_name"]
+            if needs_transformers_5(model_name) and model_name.lower().startswith(
+                "unsloth/"
+            ):
+                trust_remote_code = True
+                logger.info(
+                    "Auto-enabled trust_remote_code for unsloth/* transformers 5.x model: %s",
+                    model_name,
+                )
+
         success = backend.load_model(
             config = mc,
             max_seq_length = config.get("max_seq_length", 2048),
             load_in_4bit = load_in_4bit,
             hf_token = hf_token,
-            trust_remote_code = config.get("trust_remote_code", False),
+            trust_remote_code = trust_remote_code,
         )
 
         if success: