diff --git a/pkg/system/capabilities.go b/pkg/system/capabilities.go
index 034f1d011..9e74a2e8b 100644
--- a/pkg/system/capabilities.go
+++ b/pkg/system/capabilities.go
@@ -63,6 +63,17 @@ func (s *SystemState) CapabilityFilterDisabled() bool {
 	return s.getSystemCapabilities() == disableCapability
 }
 
+// ReportedCapability returns the raw detected capability string (e.g. "metal",
+// "nvidia-cuda-12", "default") with no map-membership fallback applied.
+//
+// Why this exists alongside Capability: Capability resolves against a caller
+// supplied map and falls back to "default" then "cpu" when the detected value
+// is absent. Model meta entries express fallback through candidate ordering
+// instead, so they need the undecorated value.
+func (s *SystemState) ReportedCapability() string {
+	return s.getSystemCapabilities()
+}
+
 func (s *SystemState) Capability(capMap map[string]string) string {
 	reportedCapability := s.getSystemCapabilities()
 
diff --git a/pkg/system/capabilities_test.go b/pkg/system/capabilities_test.go
index 1bb13b647..117e3ffdb 100644
--- a/pkg/system/capabilities_test.go
+++ b/pkg/system/capabilities_test.go
@@ -164,3 +164,28 @@ var _ = Describe("CapabilityFilterDisabled", func() {
 		Expect(s.IsBackendCompatible("cpu-whisperx", "quay.io/cpu")).To(BeTrue())
 	})
 })
+
+var _ = Describe("ReportedCapability", func() {
+	var previous string
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		previous = os.Getenv("LOCALAI_FORCE_META_BACKEND_CAPABILITY")
+	})
+
+	AfterEach(func() {
+		Expect(os.Setenv("LOCALAI_FORCE_META_BACKEND_CAPABILITY", previous)).To(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("returns the forced capability verbatim without map fallback", func() {
+		Expect(os.Setenv("LOCALAI_FORCE_META_BACKEND_CAPABILITY", "nvidia-cuda-12")).To(Succeed())
+		state := &SystemState{}
+		Expect(state.ReportedCapability()).To(Equal("nvidia-cuda-12"))
+	})
+
+	It("does not fall back to default when the capability is unusual", func() {
+		Expect(os.Setenv("LOCALAI_FORCE_META_BACKEND_CAPABILITY", "metal")).To(Succeed())
+		state := &SystemState{}
+		Expect(state.ReportedCapability()).To(Equal("metal"))
+		Expect(state.ReportedCapability()).NotTo(Equal("default"))
+	})
+})