diff --git a/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils.py b/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils.py
index 5e9874ef7..42f549847 100644
--- a/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils.py
+++ b/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils.py
@@ -61,10 +61,9 @@ def extract_sub_state_dict_from_checkpoint(checkpoint_prefix, checkpoint_path):
             by ALF, e.g. "/path_to_experiment/train/algorithm/ckpt-100".
     """
 
-    map_location = None
-    if not torch.cuda.is_available():
-        map_location = torch.device('cpu')
-
+    # use ``cpu`` as the map location to avoid GPU RAM surge when loading a
+    # model checkpoint.
+    map_location = torch.device('cpu')
     checkpoint = torch.load(checkpoint_path, map_location=map_location)
 
     if checkpoint_prefix != '':
@@ -249,9 +248,9 @@ def _merge_checkpoint(merged, new):
                 "Checkpoint '%s' does not exist. Train from scratch." % f_path)
             return self._global_step
 
-        map_location = None
-        if not torch.cuda.is_available():
-            map_location = torch.device('cpu')
+        # use ``cpu`` as the map location to avoid GPU RAM surge when loading a
+        # model checkpoint.
+        map_location = torch.device('cpu')
 
         checkpoint = torch.load(f_path, map_location=map_location)
         if including_optimizer:
diff --git a/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils_test.py b/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils_test.py
index f8ca3155e..fa2fc17a5 100644
--- a/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils_test.py
+++ b/alf/utils/checkpoint_utils_test.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 from alf.networks.preprocessors import EmbeddingPreprocessor
 from alf.tensor_specs import TensorSpec
 from alf.utils import common
+import unittest
 
 
 class Net(nn.Module):
@@ -627,5 +628,35 @@ def test_checkpoint_structure(self):
             self.assertEqual(model_structure, expected_model_structure)
 
 
+class TestCheckpointMapLocation(alf.test.TestCase):
+    @unittest.skipIf(not torch.cuda.is_available(), "gpu is unavailable")
+    def test_map_location(self):
+        # test that that loading checkpoint file using cpu as the map_location
+        # works in the subsequent ``load_state_dict`` both for cpu and gpu models
+        model_on_cpu = Net()
+        model_on_gpu = Net().cuda()
+
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as ckpt_dir:
+            ckpt_path = ckpt_dir + '/test.ckpt'
+            torch.save(model_on_cpu.state_dict(), ckpt_path)
+
+            # load checkpoint file on cpu
+            device = torch.device('cpu')
+            state_dict = torch.load(ckpt_path, map_location=device)
+
+            # test load state-dict for cpu model
+            model_on_cpu.load_state_dict(state_dict)
+
+            # test load state-dict for cpu model
+            model_on_gpu.load_state_dict(state_dict)
+
+            for p1, p2 in zip(model_on_cpu.parameters(),
+                              model_on_gpu.parameters()):
+                self.assertTrue('cpu' == str(p1.device))
+                self.assertTrue(p2.is_cuda)
+
+                self.assertTensorClose(p1, p2.cpu())
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     alf.test.main()