diff --git a/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/base.py b/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/base.py
index aabb4aa27918..d32bfe6cabbd 100644
--- a/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/base.py
+++ b/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/base.py
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 """Transformers modeling backend base class."""
 
-from collections.abc import Iterable
+from collections.abc import Callable, Iterable
 from itertools import chain
+from operator import attrgetter
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import regex as re
@@ -296,6 +297,15 @@ def _create_hf_to_vllm_mapper(self):
         # Apply mapping to quantization config if needed
         self._maybe_apply_model_mapping()
 
+    def _get_tie_word_embeddings(self):
+        """
+        Check if the model has tied word embeddings.
+        """
+        # Transformers v4 and v5 will store this in different places
+        tie_word_embeddings_v4 = getattr(self.text_config, "tie_word_embeddings", False)
+        tie_word_embeddings_v5 = getattr(self.config, "tie_word_embeddings", False)
+        return tie_word_embeddings_v4 or tie_word_embeddings_v5
+
     def pipeline_parallel(self):
         """
         Apply the model's pipeline parallelization plan.
@@ -311,11 +321,22 @@ def pipeline_parallel(self):
                 f"{type(self.model)} does not support pipeline parallel. {tip}"
             )
 
+        def attrsetter(attr: str) -> Callable[[object, object], None]:
+            """Set a possibly nested attribute, like the inverse of attrgetter."""
+            parent, _, name = attr.rpartition(".")
+
+            def setter(obj: object, value: object):
+                attr_parent = attrgetter(parent)(obj) if parent else obj
+                setattr(attr_parent, name, value)
+
+            return setter
+
         module_lists = []
         module_list_idx = None
         pp_plan = list(self.model._pp_plan.keys())
         for i, name in enumerate(pp_plan):
-            if isinstance(getattr(self.model, name), nn.ModuleList):
+            # attrgetter in case the module is nested (e.g. "text_model.layers")
+            if isinstance(attrgetter(name)(self.model), nn.ModuleList):
                 module_lists.append(name)
                 module_list_idx = i
 
@@ -330,11 +351,11 @@ def pipeline_parallel(self):
         # Layers before module list
         for name in pp_plan[:module_list_idx]:
             if self.pp_group.is_first_rank or (
-                getattr(self.text_config, "tie_word_embeddings", False)
-                and self.pp_group.is_last_rank
+                self._get_tie_word_embeddings() and self.pp_group.is_last_rank
             ):
                 continue
-            setattr(self.model, name, PPMissingLayer())
+            # attrsetter in case the module is nested (e.g. "text_model.embed_tokens")
+            attrsetter(name)(self.model, PPMissingLayer())
 
         # Module list
         start_layer, end_layer = get_pp_indices(
@@ -343,7 +364,8 @@ def pipeline_parallel(self):
             self.pp_group.world_size,
         )
         layers_name = pp_plan[module_list_idx]
-        layers = getattr(self.model, layers_name)
+        # attrgetter in case the module is nested (e.g. "text_model.layers")
+        layers = attrgetter(layers_name)(self.model)
         for i in range(len(layers)):
             if start_layer <= i and i < end_layer:
                 continue
@@ -353,7 +375,8 @@ def pipeline_parallel(self):
         for name in pp_plan[module_list_idx + 1 :]:
             # Modules that should be on last rank
             if not self.pp_group.is_last_rank:
-                setattr(self.model, name, PPMissingLayer())
+                # attrsetter in case the module is nested (e.g. "text_model.norm")
+                attrsetter(name)(self.model, PPMissingLayer())
 
     def recursive_replace(self):
         """Recursively replace modules in the model as needed.
diff --git a/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/causal.py b/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/causal.py
index d1efa6a11ee2..b6ceb2d67706 100644
--- a/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/causal.py
+++ b/vllm/model_executor/models/transformers/causal.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def __init__(self, *, vllm_config: "VllmConfig", prefix: str = ""):
 
         # Tell `Base.load_weights` to skip
         # `lm_head` if the model has tied word embeddings
-        tie_word_embeddings = getattr(self.text_config, "tie_word_embeddings", False)
+        tie_word_embeddings = self._get_tie_word_embeddings()
         if tie_word_embeddings:
             self.skip_prefixes.append("lm_head.")