diff --git a/kernel-builder/src/pyproject/templates/torch/noarch/_ops.py b/kernel-builder/src/pyproject/templates/torch/noarch/_ops.py
index e8d30b5ff..5e487141d 100644
--- a/kernel-builder/src/pyproject/templates/torch/noarch/_ops.py
+++ b/kernel-builder/src/pyproject/templates/torch/noarch/_ops.py
@@ -4,11 +4,8 @@ def get_backend() -> str:
     """Detect the backend by inspecting torch."""
     import torch
 
-    if hasattr(torch.backends, "tpu"):
-        # torch_tpu sets torch.backends.tpu when it is imported (via
-        # torch's device-backend autoload), regardless of whether TPU
-        # hardware is present — analogous to torch.version.cuda being
-        # set on CUDA builds without a GPU.
+    acc = torch.accelerator.current_accelerator() if hasattr(torch, "accelerator") else None
+    if acc is not None and acc.type == "tpu":
         return "tpu"
     elif hasattr(torch, "neuron"):
         # Needs to be sorted before specific Torch builds, since Neuron
diff --git a/kernels/src/kernels/backends.py b/kernels/src/kernels/backends.py
index cd4473421..b8e20a8a6 100644
--- a/kernels/src/kernels/backends.py
+++ b/kernels/src/kernels/backends.py
@@ -217,12 +217,8 @@ def _backend() -> Backend:
     if has_torch:
         import torch
 
-        if hasattr(torch.backends, "tpu"):
-            # torch_tpu sets torch.backends.tpu when it is imported (via
-            # torch's device-backend autoload), regardless of whether TPU
-            # hardware is present — analogous to torch.version.cuda being
-            # set on CUDA builds without a GPU. The hardware-gated
-            # torch.tpu namespace only appears on hosts with TPU devices.
+        acc = torch.accelerator.current_accelerator() if hasattr(torch, "accelerator") else None
+        if acc is not None and acc.type == "tpu":
             return TPU()
         elif hasattr(torch, "neuron"):
             # Needs to be sorted before specific Torch builds, since Neuron