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SYS · ONLINEUPTIME · 100%2026 · operator-owned
RUNLOCALAI · v38
Errors / Driver issues / PyTorch CUDA error: driver version is insufficient for CUDA runtime
Driver issues
Verified by owner

PyTorch CUDA error: driver version is insufficient for CUDA runtime

RuntimeError: CUDA error: CUDA driver version is insufficient for CUDA runtime version
By Fredoline Eruo · Last verified May 8, 2026

Cause

PyTorch was built against a newer CUDA toolkit than your installed NVIDIA driver supports. Each driver has a maximum CUDA runtime version it can run; nvidia-smi's "CUDA Version" header shows that maximum, NOT the installed toolkit version.

Common scenario: pip install torch pulled the latest cu126 wheel; your driver is 535 (max CUDA 12.2). The wheel's runtime won't talk to the older driver.

Solution

1. Read the actual driver and runtime versions:

nvidia-smi  # "CUDA Version" = max runtime supported
python -c "import torch; print(torch.version.cuda)"  # actual runtime PyTorch wants

2. Easier path: downgrade PyTorch to match your driver:

pip uninstall torch torchvision -y

# Driver supports up to CUDA 12.1 → install cu121 wheel
pip install torch torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu121

PyTorch publishes wheels for CUDA 11.8, 12.1, 12.4, 12.6, 12.8.

3. Harder path: update the driver. Linux:

# Ubuntu — pick latest stable
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-560
sudo reboot

Windows: download from nvidia.com/Download. WSL2 users update the Windows host driver, not anything inside WSL.

4. Confirm after the fix:

python -c "import torch; print(torch.cuda.is_available())"  # True

Related errors

  • CUDA driver version is insufficient for CUDA runtime version
  • nvidia-smi: command not found
  • WSL2: nvidia-smi works but PyTorch sees no CUDA / libcuda.so missing
  • WSL2 GPU not detected — nvidia-smi missing or empty
  • Docker container can't see GPU — nvidia-container-toolkit missing

Did this fix it?

If your case was different, email support@runlocalai.co with what you saw and we'll update the page. If it worked but took different commands on your platform, we want to know that too.