diff --git a/timm/models/helpers.py b/timm/models/helpers.py
index dfb6b860..adfef550 100644
--- a/timm/models/helpers.py
+++ b/timm/models/helpers.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def load_state_dict(checkpoint_path, use_ema=False):
         raise FileNotFoundError()
 
 
-def load_checkpoint(model, checkpoint_path, use_ema=False, strict=False):
+def load_checkpoint(model, checkpoint_path, use_ema=False, strict=True):
     state_dict = load_state_dict(checkpoint_path, use_ema)
     model.load_state_dict(state_dict, strict=strict)