diff --git a/src/header/TransferBench.hpp b/src/header/TransferBench.hpp
index 9f4589c..34511ba 100644
--- a/src/header/TransferBench.hpp
+++ b/src/header/TransferBench.hpp
@@ -1548,7 +1548,10 @@ namespace {
     if (IsCpuMemType(memType)) {
 
       // Set NUMA policy prior to call to hipHostMalloc
-      numa_set_preferred(deviceIdx);
+      // Skip memory-less NUMA nodes to avoid set_mempolicy EINVAL
+      if (deviceIdx < 0 || numa_bitmask_isbitset(numa_get_mems_allowed(), deviceIdx)) {
+        numa_set_preferred(deviceIdx);
+      }
 
       // Allocate host-pinned memory (should respect NUMA mem policy)
       int flags = 0;