diff --git a/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp b/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp
index 0b9cd1005b..18aaabd0d3 100644
--- a/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp
+++ b/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp
@@ -416,10 +416,17 @@ TransferSubmitter::TransferSubmitter(TransferEngine& engine,
       memcpy_pool_(std::make_unique<MemcpyWorkerPool>()),
       fileread_pool_(std::make_unique<FilereadWorkerPool>(backend)),
       transfer_metric_(transfer_metric) {
-    // Read MC_STORE_MEMCPY environment variable, default to false (disabled)
+    // Read MC_STORE_MEMCPY environment variable.
+    // When not set, auto-detect based on transport type:
+    //   - TCP-only environment: enable memcpy (avoids TCP loopback overhead)
+    //   - RDMA/other transports: disable memcpy (RDMA is more efficient)
     const char* env_value = std::getenv("MC_STORE_MEMCPY");
     if (env_value == nullptr) {
-        memcpy_enabled_ = false;  // Default: disabled
+        memcpy_enabled_ = engine_.isTcpOnly();
+        LOG(INFO) << "MC_STORE_MEMCPY not set, auto-detected: "
+                  << (memcpy_enabled_ ? "TCP-only environment, memcpy enabled"
+                                      : "non-TCP transport available, memcpy "
+                                        "disabled");
     } else {
         std::string env_str(env_value);
         // Convert to lowercase for case-insensitive comparison
diff --git a/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/multi_transport.h b/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/multi_transport.h
index 2666da4fe8..c556541bcd 100644
--- a/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/multi_transport.h
+++ b/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/multi_transport.h
@@ -55,6 +55,14 @@ class MultiTransport {
 
     Transport *getTransport(const std::string &proto);
 
+    /**
+     * @brief Check if TCP is the only installed transport.
+     *
+     * When only TCP transport is available (no RDMA, NVLink, etc.),
+     * local memcpy is preferred over TCP loopback for same-host transfers.
+     */
+    bool isTcpOnly() const;
+
     std::vector<Transport *> listTransports();
 
     void *getBaseAddr();
diff --git a/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine.h b/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine.h
index a825355746..65bc87417a 100644
--- a/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine.h
+++ b/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine.h
@@ -150,6 +150,14 @@ class TransferEngine {
 
     Transport* getTransport(const std::string& proto);
 
+    /**
+     * @brief Check if TCP is the only installed transport.
+     *
+     * When only TCP transport is available (no RDMA, NVLink, etc.),
+     * local memcpy is preferred over TCP loopback for same-host transfers.
+     */
+    bool isTcpOnly() const;
+
     int syncSegmentCache(const std::string& segment_name = "");
 
     std::shared_ptr<TransferMetadata> getMetadata();
diff --git a/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine_impl.h b/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine_impl.h
index 72a5a59161..4016d82297 100644
--- a/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine_impl.h
+++ b/mooncake-transfer-engine/include/transfer_engine_impl.h
@@ -334,6 +334,8 @@ class TransferEngineImpl {
         return multi_transports_->getTransport(proto);
     }
 
+    bool isTcpOnly() const { return multi_transports_->isTcpOnly(); }
+
     int syncSegmentCache(const std::string& segment_name = "") {
         return metadata_->syncSegmentCache(segment_name);
     }
diff --git a/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/multi_transport.cpp b/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/multi_transport.cpp
index c6fee5566e..812ce82102 100644
--- a/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/multi_transport.cpp
+++ b/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/multi_transport.cpp
@@ -461,6 +461,10 @@ Transport* MultiTransport::getTransport(const std::string& proto) {
     return transport_map_[proto].get();
 }
 
+bool MultiTransport::isTcpOnly() const {
+    return transport_map_.size() == 1 && transport_map_.count("tcp") == 1;
+}
+
 std::vector<Transport*> MultiTransport::listTransports() {
     std::vector<Transport*> transport_list;
     for (auto& entry : transport_map_)
diff --git a/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/transfer_engine.cpp b/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/transfer_engine.cpp
index aecc6d2ea8..4800c00535 100644
--- a/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/transfer_engine.cpp
+++ b/mooncake-transfer-engine/src/transfer_engine.cpp
@@ -179,6 +179,8 @@ Transport* TransferEngine::getTransport(const std::string& proto) {
     return impl_->getTransport(proto);
 }
 
+bool TransferEngine::isTcpOnly() const { return impl_->isTcpOnly(); }
+
 int TransferEngine::syncSegmentCache(const std::string& segment_name) {
     return impl_->syncSegmentCache(segment_name);
 }
@@ -578,6 +580,15 @@ Transport* TransferEngine::getTransport(const std::string& proto) {
         return impl_->getTransport(proto);
 }
 
+bool TransferEngine::isTcpOnly() const {
+    if (use_tent_)
+        // TENT already rejects TCP loopback transfers when MC_STORE_MEMCPY
+        // is disabled, so auto-enabling memcpy is unnecessary in TENT mode.
+        return false;
+    else
+        return impl_->isTcpOnly();
+}
+
 int TransferEngine::syncSegmentCache(const std::string& segment_name) {
     if (use_tent_)
         return 0;