diff --git a/tools/pre_commit/check_forbidden_imports.py b/tools/pre_commit/check_forbidden_imports.py
index ac7d8b096ec4..365b2f5bb771 100644
--- a/tools/pre_commit/check_forbidden_imports.py
+++ b/tools/pre_commit/check_forbidden_imports.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ class ForbiddenImport:
             "vllm/transformers_utils/config.py",
             "vllm/model_executor/models/registry.py",
             "vllm/compilation/caching.py",
+            "vllm/env_override.py",
             "vllm/compilation/piecewise_backend.py",
             "vllm/distributed/utils.py",
             "vllm/distributed/parallel_state.py",
diff --git a/vllm/env_override.py b/vllm/env_override.py
index 5358568fc180..432300f4cf55 100644
--- a/vllm/env_override.py
+++ b/vllm/env_override.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def _maybe_set_cuda_compatibility_path():
 import torch
 
 from vllm.logger import init_logger
-from vllm.utils.torch_utils import is_torch_equal
+from vllm.utils.torch_utils import is_torch_equal, is_torch_equal_or_newer
 
 logger = init_logger(__name__)
 
@@ -490,3 +490,45 @@ def _patch_get_raw_stream_if_needed():
 
     PythonWrapperCodegen.memory_plan_reuse = memory_plan_reuse_patched
     GraphLowering._update_scheduler = _update_scheduler_patched
+
+# ===================================================
+# torch <2.12 GraphCaptureOutput.get_runtime_env monkeypatch
+# ===================================================
+# PyTorch's AOT compile path omits builtins from used_globals, causing
+# 'Missing required external references' errors for refs like 'type'.
+# (which happens in transformers code)
+# This mirrors the fix in https://github.com/pytorch/pytorch/pull/177558
+# and can be removed once torch >=2.12 is the minimum supported version.
+
+if not is_torch_equal_or_newer("2.12.0"):
+    import builtins as _builtins
+    import pickle
+
+    from torch._dynamo.convert_frame import GraphCaptureOutput
+
+    _original_get_runtime_env = GraphCaptureOutput.get_runtime_env
+
+    def _safe_builtins_dict(builtins_dict: dict) -> dict:
+        """Filter a builtins dict to only picklable entries for serialization."""
+        result = {}
+        for k, v in builtins_dict.items():
+            try:
+                pickle.dumps(v)
+                result[k] = v
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+        return result
+
+    def _patched_get_runtime_env(self):  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def]
+        runtime_env = _original_get_runtime_env(self)
+        for ref in runtime_env.external_refs:
+            if ref not in runtime_env.used_globals:
+                if ref.startswith("__builtins_dict__") and ref in self.f_globals:
+                    runtime_env.used_globals[ref] = _safe_builtins_dict(
+                        self.f_globals[ref]
+                    )
+                elif hasattr(_builtins, ref):
+                    runtime_env.used_globals[ref] = getattr(_builtins, ref)
+        return runtime_env
+
+    GraphCaptureOutput.get_runtime_env = _patched_get_runtime_env