diff --git a/backends/candle/src/layers/linear.rs b/backends/candle/src/layers/linear.rs
index e15ca8e87..9eca78a7c 100644
--- a/backends/candle/src/layers/linear.rs
+++ b/backends/candle/src/layers/linear.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@ use serde::Deserialize;
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, PartialEq, Clone)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "lowercase")]
 pub enum HiddenAct {
-    #[serde(alias = "gelu_pytorch_tanh")]
+    // NOTE: `GeluErf` is excluded due to incompatibility with cuBLASLt, as only GeLU + tanh
+    // approximation is implemented due to efficiency, so GeLU is standardized to tanh approx. with
+    // slight numerical deviation from GeLU erf (neglible on inference quality)
+    #[serde(alias = "gelu_new", alias = "gelu_pytorch_tanh")]
     Gelu,
     Relu,
     Silu,
diff --git a/backends/candle/src/lib.rs b/backends/candle/src/lib.rs
index ff824f555..46607d60d 100644
--- a/backends/candle/src/lib.rs
+++ b/backends/candle/src/lib.rs
@@ -180,7 +180,19 @@ impl CandleBackend {
         let config: String = std::fs::read_to_string(model_path.join("config.json"))
             .context("Unable to read config file")
             .map_err(|err| BackendError::Start(format!("{err:?}")))?;
-        let config: Config = serde_json::from_str(&config)
+
+        let config_value: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(&config)
+            .context("Unable to parse config.json")
+            .map_err(|err| BackendError::Start(format!("{err:?}")))?;
+
+        if let Some(hidden_act) = config_value.get("hidden_act").and_then(|v| v.as_str()) {
+            if hidden_act == "gelu" {
+                // NOTE: https://github.com/huggingface/text-embeddings-inference/pull/753
+                tracing::warn!("The `config.json` contains `hidden_act=gelu` and GeLU + tanh approximation will be used instead of exact GeLU (aka. GeLU erf), which might lead to subtle differences with Transformers or Sentence Transformers outputs which use exact GeLU when `hidden_act=gelu`, unless specified otherwise. GeLU + tanh is more efficient and more consistent across devices (e.g., cuBLASLt comes with fused GeLU + tanh), and will have negligible impact on the inference quality.");
+            }
+        }
+
+        let config: Config = serde_json::from_value(config_value)
             .context("Model is not supported")
             .map_err(|err| BackendError::Start(format!("{err:?}")))?;
 
diff --git a/backends/candle/tests/snapshots/test_bert__emotions_batch.snap b/backends/candle/tests/snapshots/test_bert__emotions_batch.snap
index fd582b8c2..149ccf21c 100644
--- a/backends/candle/tests/snapshots/test_bert__emotions_batch.snap
+++ b/backends/candle/tests/snapshots/test_bert__emotions_batch.snap
@@ -2,87 +2,87 @@
 source: backends/candle/tests/test_bert.rs
 expression: predictions_batch
 ---
-- - -6.548559
-  - -6.302024
-  - -4.8671727
-  - -3.9600255
-  - -4.6329865
-  - -6.2816987
-  - -6.069644
-  - -5.7742686
-  - -6.9259467
-  - -6.1909447
-  - -5.67395
+- - -6.5485673
+  - -6.3020196
+  - -4.86717
+  - -3.9600184
+  - -4.632993
+  - -6.2817054
+  - -6.069636
+  - -5.7742705
+  - -6.925953
+  - -6.190939
+  - -5.6739373
   - -6.1698227
-  - -7.513461
-  - -6.865867
-  - -7.186479
-  - -7.128109
-  - -8.210709
-  - -7.0171394
-  - -7.1321163
-  - -8.533409
-  - -6.2294865
-  - -8.742306
-  - -5.7792044
-  - -8.657227
-  - -8.258305
-  - -6.64832
-  - -7.4060283
-  - 3.046496
-- - -5.8167515
-  - -6.6119466
-  - -5.2771955
-  - -2.6306503
-  - -4.6419163
-  - -5.579778
-  - -5.797174
-  - -6.0305815
-  - -5.8720746
-  - 0.45377323
-  - -3.0235887
-  - -5.3944407
-  - -5.186683
-  - -6.2649117
-  - -6.1962767
-  - -6.97937
-  - -5.5674877
-  - -5.521044
-  - -5.8899207
-  - -4.8699703
-  - -5.6259933
-  - -7.6109924
-  - -4.3881936
-  - -6.039008
-  - -4.934696
-  - -0.6715916
-  - -6.399376
-  - -2.4499295
-- - -6.548559
-  - -6.302024
-  - -4.8671727
-  - -3.9600255
-  - -4.6329865
-  - -6.2816987
-  - -6.069644
-  - -5.7742686
-  - -6.9259467
-  - -6.1909447
-  - -5.67395
+  - -7.5134573
+  - -6.8658743
+  - -7.1864815
+  - -7.128115
+  - -8.2107115
+  - -7.017146
+  - -7.132131
+  - -8.533407
+  - -6.229486
+  - -8.742311
+  - -5.7792006
+  - -8.65723
+  - -8.258308
+  - -6.648321
+  - -7.406026
+  - 3.0464942
+- - -5.816747
+  - -6.611947
+  - -5.2771983
+  - -2.6306484
+  - -4.6419153
+  - -5.5797825
+  - -5.7971735
+  - -6.030578
+  - -5.872076
+  - 0.45378062
+  - -3.0235896
+  - -5.3944383
+  - -5.18668
+  - -6.264913
+  - -6.196284
+  - -6.9793677
+  - -5.567489
+  - -5.5210495
+  - -5.889915
+  - -4.8699794
+  - -5.625993
+  - -7.6109934
+  - -4.388194
+  - -6.0390115
+  - -4.934693
+  - -0.6715966
+  - -6.3993735
+  - -2.4499245
+- - -6.5485673
+  - -6.3020196
+  - -4.86717
+  - -3.9600184
+  - -4.632993
+  - -6.2817054
+  - -6.069636
+  - -5.7742705
+  - -6.925953
+  - -6.190939
+  - -5.6739373
   - -6.1698227
-  - -7.513461
-  - -6.865867
-  - -7.186479
-  - -7.128109
-  - -8.210709
-  - -7.0171394
-  - -7.1321163
-  - -8.533409
-  - -6.2294865
-  - -8.742306
-  - -5.7792044
-  - -8.657227
-  - -8.258305
-  - -6.64832
-  - -7.4060283
-  - 3.046496
+  - -7.5134573
+  - -6.8658743
+  - -7.1864815
+  - -7.128115
+  - -8.2107115
+  - -7.017146
+  - -7.132131
+  - -8.533407
+  - -6.229486
+  - -8.742311
+  - -5.7792006
+  - -8.65723
+  - -8.258308
+  - -6.648321
+  - -7.406026
+  - 3.0464942