diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/models.py b/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
index 7ef22cf5f0..c05bccbf08 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/models.py
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ def load_tokenizer(cfg):
         tokenizer.add_special_tokens({"pad_token": "[PAD]"})
         os.environ["TOKENIZERS_PARALLELISM"] = "false"
 
+    if cfg.is_mistral_derived_model:
+        tokenizer.padding_side = "left"
+
     if cfg.special_tokens:
         for k, val in cfg.special_tokens.items():
             tokenizer.add_special_tokens(