diff --git a/timm/models/helpers.py b/timm/models/helpers.py
index c771e825..d461c81b 100644
--- a/timm/models/helpers.py
+++ b/timm/models/helpers.py
@@ -272,8 +272,7 @@ def load_pretrained(
         else:
             state_dict = load_state_dict_from_hf(pretrained_loc)
     else:
-        _logger.warning("No pretrained weights exist or were found for this model. Using random initialization.")
-        return
+        raise ValueError("No pretrained weights exist or were found for this model.")
 
     if filter_fn is not None:
         # for backwards compat with filter fn that take one arg, try one first, the two