diff --git a/returnn/torch/engine.py b/returnn/torch/engine.py
index bc5c35b27c..629e00d0a1 100644
--- a/returnn/torch/engine.py
+++ b/returnn/torch/engine.py
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ def __init__(self, config: Config):
         torch_distributed = config.typed_value("torch_distributed")
         if torch_distributed is not None:
             self._use_torch_distributed = True
-            self._torch_distributed_class = torch_distributed.get("class", None)
-            self._torch_distributed_options = torch_distributed.get("options", None)
+            self._torch_distributed_class = torch_distributed.get("class", DistributedDataParallel)
+            self._torch_distributed_options = torch_distributed.get("options", {})
 
             import returnn.torch.distributed