diff --git a/kt-kernel/CMakeLists.txt b/kt-kernel/CMakeLists.txt
index 3b342693..24f092d5 100644
--- a/kt-kernel/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/kt-kernel/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -332,17 +332,17 @@ if(KTRANSFORMERS_CPU_MOE_AMD)
     )
 
     if(NOT BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR OR NOT BLIS_LIBRARY)
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "BLIS not found; set BLIS_ROOT or specify BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR/BLIS_LIBRARY")
+        message(WARNING "BLIS not found; set BLIS_ROOT or specify BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR/BLIS_LIBRARY")
     else()
         message(STATUS "Found BLIS include at ${BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR}")
         message(STATUS "Found BLIS library ${BLIS_LIBRARY}")
+        set(_KT_BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR ${BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR})
+        set(_KT_BLIS_LIBRARY ${BLIS_LIBRARY})
     endif()
     # The Python extension target (${PROJECT_NAME}) is created later by
     # pybind11_add_module(). Calling target_include_directories/target_link_libraries
     # here would fail because the target doesn't exist yet. Save the discovered
     # BLIS paths and apply them after the module target is created.
-    set(_KT_BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR ${BLIS_INCLUDE_DIR})
-    set(_KT_BLIS_LIBRARY ${BLIS_LIBRARY})
 endif()
 
 
diff --git a/kt-kernel/setup.py b/kt-kernel/setup.py
index 13222595..be043b89 100644
--- a/kt-kernel/setup.py
+++ b/kt-kernel/setup.py
@@ -229,9 +229,10 @@ class CMakeBuild(build_ext):
 
         # Vendor / feature specific toggles
         # Enable AMD MoE kernel on AMD by default unless user explicitly set CPUINFER_ENABLE_AMD
-        if d.get("vendor") == "amd" and os.environ.get("CPUINFER_ENABLE_AMD") is None:
-            cmake_args.append("-DKTRANSFORMERS_CPU_MOE_AMD=ON")
-            print("-- Detected AMD CPU; enabling AMD MoE kernel (-DKTRANSFORMERS_CPU_MOE_AMD=ON)")
+        # temporarily disabled this opt, use llamafile backend for now
+        # if d.get("vendor") == "amd" and os.environ.get("CPUINFER_ENABLE_AMD") is None:
+        #     cmake_args.append("-DKTRANSFORMERS_CPU_MOE_AMD=ON")
+        #     print("-- Detected AMD CPU; enabling AMD MoE kernel (-DKTRANSFORMERS_CPU_MOE_AMD=ON)")
 
         # On ARM, enable KML by default if not explicitly toggled
         if d.get("vendor") == "arm" and os.environ.get("CPUINFER_ENABLE_KML") is None: