diff --git a/checkpoints/chemical_system/config.yaml b/checkpoints/chemical_system/config.yaml
index 671d0abb..b4578a58 100644
--- a/checkpoints/chemical_system/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/chemical_system/config.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ adapter:
       num_targets: 1
       otf_graph: true
       regress_stress: true
-      scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
     hidden_dim: 512
     property_embeddings: {}
     property_embeddings_adapt:
@@ -150,7 +149,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt:
diff --git a/checkpoints/chemical_system_energy_above_hull/config.yaml b/checkpoints/chemical_system_energy_above_hull/config.yaml
index e0c95365..c87c61ba 100644
--- a/checkpoints/chemical_system_energy_above_hull/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/chemical_system_energy_above_hull/config.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ adapter:
       num_targets: 1
       otf_graph: true
       regress_stress: true
-      scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
     hidden_dim: 512
     property_embeddings: {}
     property_embeddings_adapt:
@@ -166,7 +165,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt:
diff --git a/checkpoints/dft_band_gap/config.yaml b/checkpoints/dft_band_gap/config.yaml
index 1eebe5d5..d2853ecd 100644
--- a/checkpoints/dft_band_gap/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/dft_band_gap/config.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ adapter:
       num_targets: 1
       otf_graph: true
       regress_stress: true
-      scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
     hidden_dim: 512
     property_embeddings: {}
     property_embeddings_adapt:
@@ -150,7 +149,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt:
diff --git a/checkpoints/dft_mag_density/config.yaml b/checkpoints/dft_mag_density/config.yaml
index bcb67a9b..5c9e5be8 100644
--- a/checkpoints/dft_mag_density/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/dft_mag_density/config.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ adapter:
       num_targets: 1
       otf_graph: true
       regress_stress: true
-      scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
     hidden_dim: 512
     property_embeddings: {}
     property_embeddings_adapt:
@@ -150,7 +149,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt:
diff --git a/checkpoints/dft_mag_density_hhi_score/config.yaml b/checkpoints/dft_mag_density_hhi_score/config.yaml
index f86c90fd..3b1d2344 100644
--- a/checkpoints/dft_mag_density_hhi_score/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/dft_mag_density_hhi_score/config.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ adapter:
       num_targets: 1
       otf_graph: true
       regress_stress: true
-      scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
     hidden_dim: 512
     property_embeddings: {}
     property_embeddings_adapt:
@@ -166,7 +165,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt:
diff --git a/checkpoints/mattergen_base/config.yaml b/checkpoints/mattergen_base/config.yaml
index 04012f3a..1aa63e72 100644
--- a/checkpoints/mattergen_base/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/mattergen_base/config.yaml
@@ -118,7 +118,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt: {}
diff --git a/checkpoints/ml_bulk_modulus/config.yaml b/checkpoints/ml_bulk_modulus/config.yaml
index 413ffcf1..ad19ad6b 100644
--- a/checkpoints/ml_bulk_modulus/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/ml_bulk_modulus/config.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ adapter:
       num_targets: 1
       otf_graph: true
       regress_stress: true
-      scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
     hidden_dim: 512
     property_embeddings: {}
     property_embeddings_adapt:
@@ -152,7 +151,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt:
diff --git a/checkpoints/mp_20_base/config.yaml b/checkpoints/mp_20_base/config.yaml
index 814a3656..16e80444 100644
--- a/checkpoints/mp_20_base/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/mp_20_base/config.yaml
@@ -120,7 +120,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt: {}
diff --git a/checkpoints/space_group/config.yaml b/checkpoints/space_group/config.yaml
index 2861dcee..4dc5627e 100644
--- a/checkpoints/space_group/config.yaml
+++ b/checkpoints/space_group/config.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ adapter:
       num_targets: 1
       otf_graph: true
       regress_stress: true
-      scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
     hidden_dim: 512
     property_embeddings: {}
     property_embeddings_adapt:
@@ -150,7 +149,6 @@ lightning_module:
         num_targets: 1
         otf_graph: true
         regress_stress: true
-        scale_file: /scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
       hidden_dim: 512
       property_embeddings: {}
       property_embeddings_adapt:
diff --git a/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet.py b/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet.py
index 0e500ad9..51dbe649 100644
--- a/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet.py
+++ b/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet.py
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 Adapted from https://github.com/FAIR-Chem/fairchem/blob/main/src/fairchem/core/models/gemnet/gemnet.py.
 """
 
+import warnings
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Optional, Tuple
 
 # import numpy as np
@@ -37,6 +39,23 @@
 from mattergen.common.utils.globals import MODELS_PROJECT_ROOT, get_device, get_pyg_device
 from mattergen.common.utils.lattice_score import edge_score_to_lattice_score_frac_symmetric
 
+DEFAULT_SCALE_FILE = MODELS_PROJECT_ROOT / "common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json"
+LEGACY_SCALE_FILE = Path("/scratch/amlt_code/mattergen/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json")
+
+
+def resolve_scale_file(scale_file: str | Path | None) -> str:
+    if scale_file is None:
+        return str(DEFAULT_SCALE_FILE)
+    if Path(scale_file) == LEGACY_SCALE_FILE:
+        warnings.warn(
+            "The checkpoint contains a legacy internal scale_file path; using the packaged "
+            "gemnet-dT.json instead.",
+            DeprecationWarning,
+            stacklevel=2,
+        )
+        return str(DEFAULT_SCALE_FILE)
+    return str(scale_file)
+
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class ModelOutput:
@@ -206,13 +225,13 @@ def __init__(
         otf_graph: bool = False,
         output_init: str = "HeOrthogonal",
         activation: str = "swish",
+        scale_file: str | Path | None = None,
         max_cell_images_per_dim: int = 5,
         encoder_mode: bool = False,  #
         **kwargs,
     ):
         super().__init__()
-        scale_file = f"{MODELS_PROJECT_ROOT}/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json"
-        assert scale_file is not None, "`scale_file` is required."
+        scale_file = resolve_scale_file(scale_file)
 
         self.encoder_mode = encoder_mode
         self.num_targets = num_targets
diff --git a/mattergen/common/tests/gemnet_test.py b/mattergen/common/tests/gemnet_test.py
index ee8ce64d..7c48bb56 100644
--- a/mattergen/common/tests/gemnet_test.py
+++ b/mattergen/common/tests/gemnet_test.py
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
     lattice_params_to_matrix_torch,
 )
 from mattergen.common.utils.eval_utils import make_structure
-from mattergen.common.utils.globals import MODELS_PROJECT_ROOT
 
 ### UTILS ###
 
@@ -37,7 +36,6 @@ def get_model(**kwargs) -> GemNetT:
         emb_size_trip=4,
         emb_size_bil_trip=4,
         otf_graph=True,
-        scale_file=f"{MODELS_PROJECT_ROOT}/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json",
         **kwargs,
     )
 
diff --git a/mattergen/conf/lightning_module/diffusion_module/model/mattergen.yaml b/mattergen/conf/lightning_module/diffusion_module/model/mattergen.yaml
index b3f190b3..db8e8d1d 100644
--- a/mattergen/conf/lightning_module/diffusion_module/model/mattergen.yaml
+++ b/mattergen/conf/lightning_module/diffusion_module/model/mattergen.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ gemnet:
   num_blocks: 4
   regress_stress: true
   otf_graph: true
-  scale_file: ${oc.env:PROJECT_ROOT}/common/gemnet/gemnet-dT.json
 denoise_atom_types: true
 atom_type_diffusion: mask
 property_embeddings_adapt: {}