diff --git a/server/src/common/backend_ipc.cpp b/server/src/common/backend_ipc.cpp
index 0403a7d73..e8e99f128 100644
--- a/server/src/common/backend_ipc.cpp
+++ b/server/src/common/backend_ipc.cpp
@@ -179,6 +179,13 @@ bool BackendIpcProcess::start(const BackendIpcLaunchConfig & cfg) {
         }
         argv_storage.emplace_back("--stream-fd=" + std::to_string(stream_pipe[1]));
 
+        // Apply any per-daemon environment overrides (e.g. GPU visibility
+        // pinning) in the child before exec, so the parent's own environment is
+        // untouched.
+        for (const auto & kv : cfg.child_env) {
+            ::setenv(kv.first.c_str(), kv.second.c_str(), 1);
+        }
+
         std::vector<char *> argv;
         argv.reserve(argv_storage.size() + 1);
         for (std::string & arg : argv_storage) argv.push_back(arg.data());
diff --git a/server/src/common/backend_ipc.h b/server/src/common/backend_ipc.h
index 62ea6f493..22eeb2638 100644
--- a/server/src/common/backend_ipc.h
+++ b/server/src/common/backend_ipc.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <limits>
 #include <string>
+#include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
 #if !defined(_WIN32)
@@ -81,6 +82,10 @@ struct BackendIpcLaunchConfig {
     std::string work_dir;
     BackendIpcPayloadTransport payload_transport = BackendIpcPayloadTransport::Auto;
     size_t shared_payload_bytes = 0;
+    // Extra environment variables to set in the child *before* exec (e.g. to pin
+    // the daemon to a subset of GPUs via ROCR_VISIBLE_DEVICES/CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES).
+    // Empty by default: the child inherits the parent environment unchanged.
+    std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::string>> child_env;
 };
 
 struct BackendIpcPayloadSegment {
diff --git a/server/src/common/target_shard_ipc.cpp b/server/src/common/target_shard_ipc.cpp
index 776aa6b67..549581f47 100644
--- a/server/src/common/target_shard_ipc.cpp
+++ b/server/src/common/target_shard_ipc.cpp
@@ -171,7 +171,26 @@ bool TargetShardIpcSession::start(const TargetShardIpcLaunchConfig & cfg) {
         layer_begin_list += std::to_string(cfg.layer_begins[i]);
         layer_end_list += std::to_string(cfg.layer_ends[i]);
     }
-    launch.args.push_back("--target-gpus=" + gpu_list);
+    // Optional GPU isolation for the target-shard daemon. By default the main
+    // process and the daemon both enumerate every GPU; for a cross-backend split
+    // (CUDA main + HIP daemon) that is harmless, but for a same-backend split
+    // (e.g. HIP main + HIP daemon across two AMD GPUs) two ROCr runtimes each
+    // initializing the *other* process's device can hard-fault the machine.
+    // When DFLASH_TARGET_SHARD_ISOLATE_GPUS is set, pin the daemon to see only
+    // its assigned GPUs via {CUDA,ROCR}_VISIBLE_DEVICES; under that pinned view
+    // the visible GPUs re-index from 0, so remap --target-gpus to match.
+    std::string target_gpu_list = gpu_list;
+    if (std::getenv("DFLASH_TARGET_SHARD_ISOLATE_GPUS") != nullptr) {
+        launch.child_env.emplace_back("ROCR_VISIBLE_DEVICES", gpu_list);
+        launch.child_env.emplace_back("CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES", gpu_list);
+        std::string remapped;
+        for (size_t i = 0; i < cfg.gpus.size(); ++i) {
+            if (i > 0) remapped += ",";
+            remapped += std::to_string(i);
+        }
+        target_gpu_list = remapped;
+    }
+    launch.args.push_back("--target-gpus=" + target_gpu_list);
     launch.args.push_back("--layer-begins=" + layer_begin_list);
     launch.args.push_back("--layer-ends=" + layer_end_list);
     launch.args.push_back("--max-ctx=" + std::to_string(cfg.max_ctx));