diff --git a/delphi/train/training.py b/delphi/train/training.py
index b56dea3b..575f9844 100644
--- a/delphi/train/training.py
+++ b/delphi/train/training.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import torch
+from huggingface_hub import HfApi
 from tqdm import tqdm
 from transformers import AutoTokenizer
 
@@ -27,14 +28,15 @@ def setup_training(config: TrainingConfig):
     logging.info("Setting up training...")
     os.makedirs(config.out_dir, exist_ok=True)
 
-    # torch misc - TODO: check if this is actually needed
     torch.backends.cuda.matmul.allow_tf32 = True  # allow tf32 on matmul
     torch.backends.cudnn.allow_tf32 = True  # allow tf32 on cudnn
 
-    # determinism
     setup_determinism(config.torch_seed)
 
-    # wandb setup
+    if config.out_repo:
+        api = HfApi()
+        api.create_repo(config.out_repo, exist_ok=True)
+
     if config.wandb:
         init_wandb(config)
 
diff --git a/delphi/train/utils.py b/delphi/train/utils.py
index b76d2058..240d2dcd 100644
--- a/delphi/train/utils.py
+++ b/delphi/train/utils.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 from .config import TrainingConfig
 from .run_context import RunContext
-from .shuffle import shuffle_list
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -228,7 +227,6 @@ def save_results(
     if config.out_repo:
         try:
             api = HfApi()
-            api.create_repo(config.out_repo, exist_ok=True)
             api.create_branch(config.out_repo, branch=iter_name, exist_ok=True)
             api.upload_folder(
                 folder_path=results_path,