diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/config.py b/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/config.py
index a316c733a..4e1161ced 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/config.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/config.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class MetaReferenceInferenceConfig(BaseModel):
     # when this is False, we assume that the distributed process group is setup by someone
     # outside of this code (e.g., when run inside `torchrun`). that is useful for clients
     # (including our testing code) who might be using llama-stack as a library.
-    use_elastic_agent: bool = True
+    create_distributed_process_group: bool = True
 
     @field_validator("model")
     @classmethod
diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/inference.py b/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/inference.py
index 55d5de72c..7edc279d0 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/inference.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/impls/meta_reference/inference/inference.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class MetaReferenceInferenceImpl(Inference, ModelsProtocolPrivate):
 
     async def initialize(self) -> None:
         print(f"Loading model `{self.model.descriptor()}`")
-        if self.config.use_elastic_agent:
+        if self.config.create_distributed_process_group:
             self.generator = LlamaModelParallelGenerator(self.config)
             self.generator.start()
         else:
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class MetaReferenceInferenceImpl(Inference, ModelsProtocolPrivate):
         ]
 
     async def shutdown(self) -> None:
-        if self.config.use_elastic_agent:
+        if self.config.create_distributed_process_group:
             self.generator.stop()
 
     def completion(
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ class MetaReferenceInferenceImpl(Inference, ModelsProtocolPrivate):
                 f"Model mismatch: {request.model} != {self.model.descriptor()}"
             )
 
-        if self.config.use_elastic_agent:
+        if self.config.create_distributed_process_group:
             if SEMAPHORE.locked():
                 raise RuntimeError("Only one concurrent request is supported")
 
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ class MetaReferenceInferenceImpl(Inference, ModelsProtocolPrivate):
                 logprobs=logprobs if request.logprobs else None,
             )
 
-        if self.config.use_elastic_agent:
+        if self.config.create_distributed_process_group:
             async with SEMAPHORE:
                 return impl()
         else:
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ class MetaReferenceInferenceImpl(Inference, ModelsProtocolPrivate):
                 )
             )
 
-        if self.config.use_elastic_agent:
+        if self.config.create_distributed_process_group:
             async with SEMAPHORE:
                 for x in impl():
                     yield x