diff --git a/torchft/local_sgd.py b/torchft/local_sgd.py
index 5748def1..824b8f56 100644
--- a/torchft/local_sgd.py
+++ b/torchft/local_sgd.py
@@ -132,7 +132,11 @@ def _perform_sync(self) -> None:
                     # we averaged the local version of the tensor so need to copy it back as a DTensor
                     param.data.copy_(
                         DTensor.from_local(
-                            avg_param, param.device_mesh, param.placements
+                            avg_param,
+                            param.device_mesh,
+                            param.placements,
+                            shape=param.shape,
+                            stride=param.stride(),
                         )
                     )
                 else:
@@ -249,7 +253,11 @@ def _restore_parameters(self) -> None:
                     # we averaged the local version of the tensor so need to copy it back as a DTensor
                     p.data.copy_(
                         DTensor.from_local(
-                            self.original_parameters[name], p.device_mesh, p.placements
+                            self.original_parameters[name],
+                            p.device_mesh,
+                            p.placements,
+                            shape=p.shape,
+                            stride=p.stride(),
                         ),
                         non_blocking=False,
                     )
diff --git a/torchft/local_sgd_integ_test.py b/torchft/local_sgd_integ_test.py
index 456b1782..88356775 100644
--- a/torchft/local_sgd_integ_test.py
+++ b/torchft/local_sgd_integ_test.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import copy
 import logging
+import os
 import re
 import traceback
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
@@ -11,8 +12,10 @@
 import torch
 from parameterized import parameterized
 from torch import nn, optim
+from torch.distributed.tensor import DTensor, Replicate
 
 from torchft._torchft import LighthouseServer
+from torchft.device_mesh import ft_init_device_mesh
 from torchft.local_sgd import DiLoCo, LocalSGD
 from torchft.manager import Manager
 from torchft.manager_integ_test import FailureInjector, MyModel, Runner
@@ -64,6 +67,7 @@ def state_dict() -> Dict[str, Dict[str, object]]:
         stack.callback(lambda: manager.shutdown(wait=False))
 
         m: nn.Module = MyModel().to(device)
+
         optimizer: optim.Optimizer = optim.Adam(m.parameters())
         criterion = nn.CrossEntropyLoss()
 
@@ -156,6 +160,29 @@ def state_dict() -> Dict[str, Dict[str, object]]:  # pyre-ignore[53]
             **runner.manager_args,
         )
         stack.callback(manager.shutdown)
+        # initialize default group for device mesh to work
+        if not torch.distributed.is_initialized():
+            torch.distributed.init_process_group(
+                init_method=f"tcp://localhost:0",
+                rank=rank,
+                world_size=runner.world_size,
+            )
+
+        device_type = device.type
+        ft_device_mesh = ft_init_device_mesh(
+            device_type=device_type,
+            mesh_shape=(runner.world_size, 1),
+            mesh_dim_names=("replicate", "none"),
+            replicate_dim=0,
+            manager=manager,
+        )
+        for layer in m.layers:
+            if isinstance(layer, nn.Linear):
+                for param in layer.parameters():
+                    param = DTensor.from_local(
+                        param,
+                        device_mesh=ft_device_mesh,
+                    )
 
         criterion = nn.CrossEntropyLoss()
         all_state_dicts = {}
@@ -170,13 +197,10 @@ def state_dict() -> Dict[str, Dict[str, object]]:  # pyre-ignore[53]
             while True:
                 manager_curr_step = manager.current_step()
                 if manager_curr_step not in all_state_dicts:
-                    print(
-                        f"{manager_curr_step=} {diloco._local_step=} {runner.replica_id=} {state_dict()=}"
-                    )
                     all_state_dicts[manager_curr_step] = copy.deepcopy(state_dict())
                 batch_size = 1
-                inputs = m.get_rand_inputs(batch_size).to(device)
-                labels = m.get_rand_labels(batch_size).to(device)
+                inputs = m.get_rand_inputs(batch_size, device=device)
+                labels = m.get_rand_labels(batch_size, device=device)
 
                 out = m(inputs)
                 loss = criterion(out, labels)
diff --git a/torchft/manager_integ_test.py b/torchft/manager_integ_test.py
index e7622be0..8ae3103e 100644
--- a/torchft/manager_integ_test.py
+++ b/torchft/manager_integ_test.py
@@ -33,19 +33,29 @@ def __init__(self, in_dim: int = 3, out_dim: int = 4) -> None:
         super().__init__()
         self.in_dim = in_dim
         self.out_dim = out_dim
-        self.model = nn.Sequential(
-            nn.Linear(in_dim, out_dim),
-            nn.Sigmoid(),
+        self.layers = nn.ModuleList(
+            [
+                nn.Linear(in_dim, 8),
+                nn.ReLU(),
+                nn.Linear(8, out_dim),
+                nn.ReLU(),
+            ]
         )
 
     def forward(self, x: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
-        return self.model(x)
-
-    def get_rand_inputs(self, batch_size: int) -> torch.Tensor:
-        return torch.rand(batch_size, self.in_dim)
-
-    def get_rand_labels(self, batch_size: int) -> torch.Tensor:
-        return torch.randint(3, (batch_size,))
+        for layer in self.layers:
+            x = layer(x)
+        return x
+
+    def get_rand_inputs(
+        self, batch_size: int, device: torch.device = torch.device("cpu")
+    ) -> torch.Tensor:
+        return torch.rand(batch_size, self.in_dim, device=device)
+
+    def get_rand_labels(
+        self, batch_size: int, device: torch.device = torch.device("cpu")
+    ) -> torch.Tensor:
+        return torch.randint(3, (batch_size,), device=device)
 
 
 class InjectedFailure(Exception):