--- a/ggml/include/ggml-backend.h
+++ b/ggml/include/ggml-backend.h
@@ -260,6 +260,8 @@
     // Load all known backends from dynamic libraries
     GGML_API void               ggml_backend_load_all(void);
     GGML_API void               ggml_backend_load_all_from_path(const char * dir_path);
+    // Searchi: explicit CPU-only startup must never load or probe GPU modules.
+    GGML_API void               ggml_backend_load_cpu_only_from_path(const char * dir_path);
 
     //
     // Backend scheduler
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-backend-reg.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-backend-reg.cpp
@@ -575,6 +575,17 @@
     ggml_backend_load_all_from_path(nullptr);
 }
 
+void ggml_backend_load_cpu_only_from_path(const char * dir_path) {
+#ifdef NDEBUG
+    const bool silent = true;
+#else
+    const bool silent = false;
+#endif
+    // Only CPU variants in the owned executable directory. No GPU registry
+    // probes, working-directory discovery or GGML_BACKEND_PATH injection.
+    ggml_backend_load_best("cpu", silent, dir_path);
+}
+
 void ggml_backend_load_all_from_path(const char * dir_path) {
 #ifdef NDEBUG
     bool silent = true;