diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/core/saving.py b/pytorch_lightning/core/saving.py
index bed26fa756..97c4f87cae 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/core/saving.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/core/saving.py
@@ -150,11 +150,11 @@ class ModelIO(object):
         # override the hparams with values that were passed in
         checkpoint[cls.CHECKPOINT_HYPER_PARAMS_KEY].update(kwargs)
 
-        model = cls._load_model_state(checkpoint, strict=strict, *args, **kwargs)
+        model = cls._load_model_state(checkpoint, *args, strict=strict, **kwargs)
         return model
 
     @classmethod
-    def _load_model_state(cls, checkpoint: Dict[str, Any], strict: bool = True, *cls_args, **cls_kwargs):
+    def _load_model_state(cls, checkpoint: Dict[str, Any], *cls_args, strict: bool = True, **cls_kwargs):
         cls_spec = inspect.getfullargspec(cls.__init__)
         cls_init_args_name = inspect.signature(cls.__init__).parameters.keys()
         # pass in the values we saved automatically