diff --git a/test/test_job_config.py b/test/test_job_config.py
index 23571f7d..5dcf7490 100644
--- a/test/test_job_config.py
+++ b/test/test_job_config.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
 # This software may be used and distributed according to the terms of the Llama 2 Community License Agreement.
 
+import tempfile
+
 import pytest
 from torchtrain.config_manager import JobConfig
 
@@ -20,3 +22,9 @@ def test_job_file_does_not_exist(self):
         with pytest.raises(FileNotFoundError):
             config = JobConfig()
             config.parse_args(["--job.config_file", "ohno.toml"])
+
+    def test_empty_config_file(self):
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile() as fp:
+            config = JobConfig()
+            config.parse_args(["--job.config_file", fp.name])
+            assert config.job.description
diff --git a/torchtrain/config_manager.py b/torchtrain/config_manager.py
index be007979..01ad47f9 100644
--- a/torchtrain/config_manager.py
+++ b/torchtrain/config_manager.py
@@ -227,7 +227,6 @@ def init_args_from_command_line(
         )
         parser.add_argument(
             "--training.enable_selective_ac",
-            default=False,
             action="store_true",
             help="whether to enable selective activation checkpointing",
         )