diff --git a/common/arg.cpp b/common/arg.cpp
index 0c652da52..ede118d19 100644
--- a/common/arg.cpp
+++ b/common/arg.cpp
@@ -298,6 +298,27 @@ static void common_params_print_usage(common_params_context & ctx_arg) {
     print_options(specific_options);
 }
 
+static std::vector<ggml_backend_dev_t> parse_device_list(const std::string & value) {
+    std::vector<ggml_backend_dev_t> devices;
+    auto dev_names = string_split<std::string>(value, ',');
+    if (dev_names.empty()) {
+        throw std::invalid_argument("no devices specified");
+    }
+    if (dev_names.size() == 1 && dev_names[0] == "none") {
+        devices.push_back(nullptr);
+    } else {
+        for (const auto & device : dev_names) {
+            auto * dev = ggml_backend_dev_by_name(device.c_str());
+            if (!dev || ggml_backend_dev_type(dev) != GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_GPU) {
+                throw std::invalid_argument(string_format("invalid device: %s", device.c_str()));
+            }
+            devices.push_back(dev);
+        }
+        devices.push_back(nullptr);
+    }
+    return devices;
+}
+
 bool common_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, common_params & params, llama_example ex, void(*print_usage)(int, char **)) {
     auto ctx_arg = common_params_parser_init(params, ex, print_usage);
     const common_params params_org = ctx_arg.params; // the example can modify the default params
@@ -1314,21 +1335,10 @@ common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_ex
     ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_NUMA"));
     add_opt(common_arg(
         {"-dev", "--device"}, "<dev1,dev2,..>",
-        "comma-separated list of devices to use for offloading\n"
+        "comma-separated list of devices to use for offloading (none = don't offload)\n"
         "use --list-devices to see a list of available devices",
         [](common_params & params, const std::string & value) {
-            auto devices = string_split<std::string>(value, ',');
-            if (devices.empty()) {
-                throw std::invalid_argument("no devices specified");
-            }
-            for (const auto & device : devices) {
-                auto * dev = ggml_backend_dev_by_name(device.c_str());
-                if (!dev || ggml_backend_dev_type(dev) != GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_GPU) {
-                    throw std::invalid_argument(string_format("invalid device: %s", device.c_str()));
-                }
-                params.devices.push_back(dev);
-            }
-            params.devices.push_back(nullptr);
+            params.devices = parse_device_list(value);
         }
     ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_DEVICES"));
     add_opt(common_arg(
@@ -2074,21 +2084,10 @@ common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_ex
     ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SPECULATIVE, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
     add_opt(common_arg(
         {"-devd", "--device-draft"}, "<dev1,dev2,..>",
-        "comma-separated list of devices to use for offloading the draft model\n"
+        "comma-separated list of devices to use for offloading the draft model (none = don't offload)\n"
         "use --list-devices to see a list of available devices",
         [](common_params & params, const std::string & value) {
-            auto devices = string_split<std::string>(value, ',');
-            if (devices.empty()) {
-                throw std::invalid_argument("no devices specified");
-            }
-            for (const auto & device : devices) {
-                auto * dev = ggml_backend_dev_by_name(device.c_str());
-                if (!dev || ggml_backend_dev_type(dev) != GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_GPU) {
-                    throw std::invalid_argument(string_format("invalid device: %s", device.c_str()));
-                }
-                params.speculative.devices.push_back(dev);
-            }
-            params.speculative.devices.push_back(nullptr);
+            params.speculative.devices = parse_device_list(value);
         }
     ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SPECULATIVE, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
     add_opt(common_arg(