diff --git a/tools/battery/battery.py b/tools/battery/battery.py
index 7dad22167..e3205d925 100644
--- a/tools/battery/battery.py
+++ b/tools/battery/battery.py
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ def command(binary, e, opts, model=None):
         cmd += ["--model", model]
     cmd += opts["extra_args"]
     cmd.append(e["input_path"])
-    if opts["gpulock"]:
+    if opts["gpulock"] and "--no-gpu" not in cmd:     # a CPU run has no card to share
         cmd = [opts["gpulock"]] + cmd
     return cmd