diff --git a/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/autoencoder_kl_qwenimage.py b/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/autoencoder_kl_qwenimage.py
index 87ac40659212..93cfa37ed0b7 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/autoencoder_kl_qwenimage.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/autoencoder_kl_qwenimage.py
@@ -673,6 +673,8 @@ class AutoencoderKLQwenImage(ModelMixin, ConfigMixin, FromOriginalModelMixin):
     """
 
     _supports_gradient_checkpointing = False
+    # Allow device_map strings
+    _no_split_modules: List[str] = []
 
     # fmt: off
     @register_to_config
diff --git a/src/diffusers/models/model_loading_utils.py b/src/diffusers/models/model_loading_utils.py
index 2e07f55e0064..44aa391db93f 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/models/model_loading_utils.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/models/model_loading_utils.py
@@ -95,7 +95,12 @@ def _determine_device_map(
                 "`accelerate` to properly deal with them (`pip install --upgrade accelerate`)."
             )
 
-        if device_map != "sequential":
+        # Support several strategies:
+        # - "sequential": respect user-provided max_memory (or detect) without balancing
+        if device_map == "sequential":
+            max_memory = get_max_memory(max_memory)
+        else:
+            # Includes: "balanced", "auto"
             max_memory = get_balanced_memory(
                 model,
                 dtype=torch_dtype,
@@ -103,12 +108,62 @@ def _determine_device_map(
                 max_memory=max_memory,
                 **device_map_kwargs,
             )
-        else:
-            max_memory = get_max_memory(max_memory)
 
         if hf_quantizer is not None:
             max_memory = hf_quantizer.adjust_max_memory(max_memory)
 
+        # Align with Transformers: add currently unused reserved memory on accelerators,
+        # then optionally apply a safety headroom.
+        try:
+            inferred = dict(max_memory) if max_memory is not None else {}
+            for device_name in list(inferred.keys()):
+                # Only consider accelerator devices; skip CPU
+                if device_name == "cpu":
+                    continue
+                unused_mem = 0
+                # device_name could be an int (preferred) or a string key.
+                dev_index = None
+                if isinstance(device_name, int):
+                    dev_index = device_name
+                elif isinstance(device_name, str):
+                    # parse patterns like "cuda:0" or "xpu:0"
+                    if ":" in device_name:
+                        try:
+                            dev_index = int(device_name.split(":", 1)[1])
+                        except Exception:
+                            dev_index = None
+                # query backend-specific reserved/allocated
+                try:
+                    if hasattr(torch, "xpu") and torch.xpu.is_available():
+                        if dev_index is not None:
+                            unused_mem = torch.xpu.memory_reserved(dev_index) - torch.xpu.memory_allocated(dev_index)
+                    elif torch.cuda.is_available():
+                        if dev_index is not None:
+                            unused_mem = torch.cuda.memory_reserved(dev_index) - torch.cuda.memory_allocated(dev_index)
+                except Exception:
+                    unused_mem = 0
+
+                if unused_mem and unused_mem > 0:
+                    inferred[device_name] = inferred.get(device_name, 0) + unused_mem
+
+                # Respect explicit user cap if provided with the same key.
+                if max_memory is not None and device_name in max_memory:
+                    inferred[device_name] = min(inferred[device_name], max_memory[device_name])
+
+            # Apply a slightly safer occupancy for 'auto' to reduce OOMs after 
+            if device_map == "auto":
+                for k in list(inferred.keys()):
+                    if k != "cpu":
+                        try:
+                            inferred[k] = int(inferred[k] * 0.85)
+                        except Exception:
+                            pass
+
+            max_memory = inferred
+        except Exception:
+            # If any backend call fails, proceed with the baseline max_memory
+            pass
+
         device_map_kwargs["max_memory"] = max_memory
         device_map = infer_auto_device_map(model, dtype=target_dtype, **device_map_kwargs)
 
diff --git a/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_loading_utils.py b/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_loading_utils.py
index 2c611aa2c033..4cebf7e79011 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_loading_utils.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_loading_utils.py
@@ -613,7 +613,8 @@ def _assign_components_to_devices(
 
 
 def _get_final_device_map(device_map, pipeline_class, passed_class_obj, init_dict, library, max_memory, **kwargs):
-    # TODO: seperate out different device_map methods when it gets to it.
+    # Only implement pipeline-level component balancing for "balanced".
+    # For other strategies, return as-is so sub-models (Transformers/Diffusers) can perform intra-module sharding.
     if device_map != "balanced":
         return device_map
     # To avoid circular import problem.
@@ -801,6 +802,7 @@ def load_sub_model(
     # To make default loading faster we set the `low_cpu_mem_usage=low_cpu_mem_usage` flag which is `True` by default.
     # This makes sure that the weights won't be initialized which significantly speeds up loading.
     if is_diffusers_model or is_transformers_model:
+        # Default forwarding of placement hints
         loading_kwargs["device_map"] = device_map
         loading_kwargs["max_memory"] = max_memory
         loading_kwargs["offload_folder"] = offload_folder
@@ -830,6 +832,22 @@ def load_sub_model(
         else:
             loading_kwargs["low_cpu_mem_usage"] = False
 
+        # Translate Diffusers-specific strategies for Transformers models:
+        # Transformers only accept: 'auto', 'balanced', 'balanced_low_0', 'sequential', device names, or dicts.
+
+        # For Diffusers models that don't implement `_no_split_modules`, they cannot accept string strategies
+        # (auto/balanced/etc.) for intra-module sharding. In that case, place the whole module on a single device.
+        if is_diffusers_model and isinstance(device_map, str) and device_map in {"auto", "balanced", "sequential"}:
+            try:
+                # class_obj is the class, not instance
+                supports_sharding = getattr(class_obj, "_no_split_modules", None) is not None
+            except Exception:
+                supports_sharding = False
+            if not supports_sharding:
+                # Prefer the primary accelerator if available; else CPU.
+                preferred = 0 if (hasattr(torch, "cuda") and torch.cuda.is_available()) else (0 if hasattr(torch, "xpu") and torch.xpu.is_available() else "cpu")
+                loading_kwargs["device_map"] = {"": preferred}
+
     if (
         quantization_config is not None
         and isinstance(quantization_config, PipelineQuantizationConfig)
diff --git a/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_utils.py b/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_utils.py
index d231989973e4..12a558aed825 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_utils.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/pipelines/pipeline_utils.py
@@ -108,7 +108,13 @@
 for library in LOADABLE_CLASSES:
     LIBRARIES.append(library)
 
-SUPPORTED_DEVICE_MAP = ["balanced"] + [get_device()]
+# Supported high-level device placement strategies for pipeline loading.
+# Strings here are forwarded to sub-model loaders which leverage Accelerate for sharding/offload.
+SUPPORTED_DEVICE_MAP = [
+    "balanced",          # pipeline-level component balancing (current behavior)
+    "sequential",        # fill devices in order (Accelerate semantics)
+    "auto",              # Accelerate best-effort automatic mapping
+] + [get_device()]
 
 logger = logging.get_logger(__name__)