diff --git a/timm/models/factory.py b/timm/models/factory.py
index a7b6c90e..736b5d1d 100644
--- a/timm/models/factory.py
+++ b/timm/models/factory.py
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ def create_model(
             raise RuntimeError('Unknown model (%s)' % model_name)
 
     if checkpoint_path:
-        load_checkpoint(model, checkpoint_path)
+        features_only = kwargs.get("features_only", False)
+        load_checkpoint(model, checkpoint_path, strict=not features_only)
 
     return model