diff --git a/backend/danswer/main.py b/backend/danswer/main.py
index 41dcc59d76c..8b660f5a9e3 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/main.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/main.py
@@ -206,15 +206,15 @@ def update_default_multipass_indexing(db_session: Session) -> None:
         logger.info(f"GPU availability: {gpu_available}")
 
         current_settings = get_current_search_settings(db_session)
-        if current_settings:
-            logger.notice(f"Updating multipass indexing setting to: {gpu_available}")
-            updated_settings = SavedSearchSettings.from_db_model(current_settings)
-            updated_settings.multipass_indexing = gpu_available
-            update_current_search_settings(db_session, updated_settings)
-        else:
-            logger.warning(
-                "No current search settings found. Skipping multipass indexing update."
-            )
+
+        logger.notice(f"Updating multipass indexing setting to: {gpu_available}")
+        updated_settings = SavedSearchSettings.from_db_model(current_settings)
+        # Enable multipass indexing if GPU is available or if using a cloud provider
+        updated_settings.multipass_indexing = (
+            gpu_available or current_settings.cloud_provider is not None
+        )
+        update_current_search_settings(db_session, updated_settings)
+
     else:
         logger.debug(
             "Existing docs or connectors found. Skipping multipass indexing update."
@@ -370,9 +370,6 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI) -> AsyncGenerator:
 
         translate_saved_search_settings(db_session)
 
-        # update multipass indexing setting based on GPU availability
-        update_default_multipass_indexing(db_session)
-
         # Does the user need to trigger a reindexing to bring the document index
         # into a good state, marked in the kv store
         mark_reindex_flag(db_session)
@@ -403,6 +400,9 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI) -> AsyncGenerator:
                 ),
             )
 
+        # update multipass indexing setting based on GPU availability
+        update_default_multipass_indexing(db_session)
+
     optional_telemetry(record_type=RecordType.VERSION, data={"version": __version__})
     yield
 
diff --git a/backend/danswer/utils/gpu_utils.py b/backend/danswer/utils/gpu_utils.py
index 5b872ffddb4..70a3dbc2c95 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/utils/gpu_utils.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/utils/gpu_utils.py
@@ -1,28 +1,30 @@
 import requests
+from retry import retry
 
 from danswer.utils.logger import setup_logger
+from shared_configs.configs import INDEXING_MODEL_SERVER_HOST
+from shared_configs.configs import INDEXING_MODEL_SERVER_PORT
 from shared_configs.configs import MODEL_SERVER_HOST
 from shared_configs.configs import MODEL_SERVER_PORT
 
 logger = setup_logger()
 
 
-def gpu_status_request(indexing: bool = False) -> bool:
-    model_server_url = f"{MODEL_SERVER_HOST}:{MODEL_SERVER_PORT}"
+@retry(tries=5, delay=5)
+def gpu_status_request(indexing: bool = True) -> bool:
+    if indexing:
+        model_server_url = f"{INDEXING_MODEL_SERVER_HOST}:{INDEXING_MODEL_SERVER_PORT}"
+    else:
+        model_server_url = f"{MODEL_SERVER_HOST}:{MODEL_SERVER_PORT}"
 
     if "http" not in model_server_url:
         model_server_url = f"http://{model_server_url}"
 
-    response = requests.get(f"{model_server_url}/api/gpu-status")
-
-    if response.status_code == 200:
+    try:
+        response = requests.get(f"{model_server_url}/api/gpu-status", timeout=10)
+        response.raise_for_status()
         gpu_status = response.json()
-        if gpu_status["gpu_available"]:
-            return True
-        else:
-            return False
-    else:
-        logger.warning(
-            f"Error: Unable to fetch GPU status. Status code: {response.status_code}"
-        )
-    return False
+        return gpu_status["gpu_available"]
+    except requests.RequestException as e:
+        logger.error(f"Error: Unable to fetch GPU status. Error: {str(e)}")
+        raise  # Re-raise exception to trigger a retry