diff --git a/llmfoundry/models/mpt/modeling_mpt.py b/llmfoundry/models/mpt/modeling_mpt.py
index cda9169b4c..06b64101c3 100644
--- a/llmfoundry/models/mpt/modeling_mpt.py
+++ b/llmfoundry/models/mpt/modeling_mpt.py
@@ -760,6 +760,7 @@ def forward(
         output_hidden_states: Optional[bool] = None,
         use_cache: Optional[bool] = None,
         inputs_embeds: Optional[torch.Tensor] = None,
+        position_ids: Optional[torch.LongTensor] = None,
     ) -> BaseModelOutputWithPast:
         return_dict = (
             return_dict if return_dict is not None else self.config.return_dict
@@ -856,12 +857,16 @@ def forward(
                 )
 
             if self.learned_pos_emb or (self.rope and self.rope_impl == 'hf'):
-                pos = torch.arange(
-                    past_position,
-                    S + past_position,
-                    dtype=torch.long,
-                    device=input_device,
-                ).unsqueeze(0)
+                if position_ids is None:
+                    pos = torch.arange(
+                        past_position,
+                        S + past_position,
+                        dtype=torch.long,
+                        device=input_device,
+                    ).unsqueeze(0)
+                else:
+                    pos = position_ids
+
                 if attention_mask is not None:
                     # adjust the position indices to account for padding tokens
                     pos = torch.clamp(
@@ -1128,6 +1133,7 @@ def forward(
         output_hidden_states: Optional[bool] = None,
         use_cache: Optional[bool] = None,
         inputs_embeds: Optional[torch.FloatTensor] = None,
+        position_ids: Optional[torch.LongTensor] = None,
     ) -> CausalLMOutputWithPast:
         return_dict = (
             return_dict if return_dict is not None else self.config.return_dict
@@ -1146,6 +1152,7 @@ def forward(
             output_hidden_states=output_hidden_states,
             use_cache=use_cache,
             inputs_embeds=inputs_embeds,
+            position_ids=position_ids,
         )
 
         if self.lm_head is not None:
@@ -1443,6 +1450,7 @@ def forward(self, batch: MutableMapping) -> CausalLMOutputWithPast:
             attention_mask=batch.get('attention_mask', None),
             sequence_id=batch.get('sequence_id', None),
             inputs_embeds=batch.get('inputs_embeds', None),
+            position_ids=batch.get('position_ids', None),
         )
 
     def loss(self, outputs: CausalLMOutputWithPast,
diff --git a/tests/models/test_model.py b/tests/models/test_model.py
index ac1bdacf4e..eeb6bf0d90 100644
--- a/tests/models/test_model.py
+++ b/tests/models/test_model.py
@@ -2941,3 +2941,37 @@ def test_hf_rotary_child_class_builds():
 
     assert torch.all(cos == cos_mp)
     assert torch.all(sin == sin_mp)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    'conf_path',
+    [
+        'scripts/train/yamls/pretrain/testing.yaml',
+    ],
+)
+def test_position_ids_fwd_pass(
+    request: pytest.FixtureRequest,
+    conf_path: str,
+    batch_size: int = 2,
+):
+    test_cfg, model, _ = _get_objs(request=request, conf_path=conf_path)
+    model.eval()
+
+    # run a forward where we do not pass the position_ids
+    batch = gen_random_batch(batch_size, test_cfg)
+    outputs = model(batch)
+    loss_no_ids = model.loss(outputs, batch)
+    assert isinstance(loss_no_ids, torch.Tensor)
+
+    # run a forward where we explicitly pass the position_ids
+    input_ids = batch['input_ids']
+    _, S = input_ids.size()
+    pos = torch.arange(0, S, dtype=torch.long,
+                       device=input_ids.device).unsqueeze(0)
+    batch['position_ids'] = pos
+
+    outputs = model(batch)
+    loss_ids = model.loss(outputs, batch)
+    assert isinstance(loss_ids, torch.Tensor)
+
+    assert torch.eq(loss_no_ids, loss_ids)
diff --git a/tests/models/test_mpt_gen.py b/tests/models/test_mpt_gen.py
index 379f4b34bd..134ca35ec0 100644
--- a/tests/models/test_mpt_gen.py
+++ b/tests/models/test_mpt_gen.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ def forward(
         output_hidden_states: Optional[bool] = None,
         use_cache: Optional[bool] = None,
         inputs_embeds: Optional[torch.FloatTensor] = None,
+        position_ids: Optional[torch.LongTensor] = None,
     ):
         result = super().forward(
             input_ids,
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ def forward(
             output_hidden_states,
             use_cache,
             inputs_embeds,
+            position_ids,
         )
         # Modify the logits to select the next token.
         if dist.get_global_rank() == 0: