diff --git a/tests/policies/pi0_pi05/test_pi05_rtc.py b/tests/policies/pi0_pi05/test_pi05_rtc.py
index cca191024..c5a54b25a 100644
--- a/tests/policies/pi0_pi05/test_pi05_rtc.py
+++ b/tests/policies/pi0_pi05/test_pi05_rtc.py
@@ -140,6 +140,25 @@ def test_pi05_rtc_initialization():
     print("✓ PI0.5 RTC initialization: Test passed")
 
 
+@require_cuda
+def test_pi05_rtc_initialization_without_rtc_config():
+    """Test PI0.5 policy can initialize without RTC config."""
+    set_seed(42)
+
+    config = PI05Config(max_action_dim=7, max_state_dim=14, dtype="float32")
+
+    # Instantiate policy
+    policy = PI05Policy(config)
+
+    # Verify RTC processor is not initialized
+    assert hasattr(policy, "rtc_processor")
+    assert policy.rtc_processor is None
+    assert policy.model.rtc_processor is None
+    assert policy._rtc_enabled() is False
+
+    print("✓ PI0.5 RTC initialization without RTC config: Test passed")
+
+
 @require_cuda
 def test_pi05_rtc_inference_with_prev_chunk():
     """Test PI0.5 policy inference with RTC and previous chunk."""
diff --git a/tests/policies/smolvla/test_smolvla_rtc.py b/tests/policies/smolvla/test_smolvla_rtc.py
index 1f5a7a524..f14bbf2f6 100644
--- a/tests/policies/smolvla/test_smolvla_rtc.py
+++ b/tests/policies/smolvla/test_smolvla_rtc.py
@@ -134,6 +134,25 @@ def test_smolvla_rtc_initialization():
     print("✓ SmolVLA RTC initialization: Test passed")
 
 
+@require_cuda
+def test_smolvla_rtc_initialization_without_rtc_config():
+    """Test SmolVLA policy can initialize without RTC config."""
+    set_seed(42)
+
+    config = SmolVLAConfig(max_action_dim=7, chunk_size=50)
+
+    # Instantiate policy
+    policy = SmolVLAPolicy(config)
+
+    # Verify RTC processor is not initialized
+    assert hasattr(policy, "rtc_processor")
+    assert policy.rtc_processor is None
+    assert policy.model.rtc_processor is None
+    assert policy._rtc_enabled() is False
+
+    print("✓ SmolVLA RTC initialization without RTC config: Test passed")
+
+
 @require_cuda
 @pytest.mark.skipif(True, reason="Requires pretrained SmolVLA model weights")
 def test_smolvla_rtc_inference_with_prev_chunk():