diff --git a/backends/vulkan/serialization/vulkan_graph_builder.py b/backends/vulkan/serialization/vulkan_graph_builder.py
index 477e54a2d76..a23fd244954 100644
--- a/backends/vulkan/serialization/vulkan_graph_builder.py
+++ b/backends/vulkan/serialization/vulkan_graph_builder.py
@@ -262,6 +262,9 @@ def get_or_create_value_for(self, arg: _Argument):
             raise RuntimeError(f"Cannot create value for arg of type {type(arg)}")
 
     def process_placeholder_node(self, node: Node) -> None:
+        # ignores any tensors that don't get used in any ops
+        if len(node.users) == 0:
+            return
         ids = self.create_node_value(node)
         if not self.is_param_node(node):
             if isinstance(ids, int):