diff --git a/src/search_type/image_search.py b/src/search_type/image_search.py
index e04bbe49..10d429c3 100644
--- a/src/search_type/image_search.py
+++ b/src/search_type/image_search.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def initialize_model(search_config: ImageSearchConfig):
     encoder = load_model(
         model_dir  = search_config.model_directory,
         model_name = search_config.encoder,
-        model_type = SentenceTransformer)
+        model_type = search_config.encoder_type or SentenceTransformer)
 
     return encoder
 
diff --git a/src/search_type/text_search.py b/src/search_type/text_search.py
index 53eb3c3d..5fd04470 100644
--- a/src/search_type/text_search.py
+++ b/src/search_type/text_search.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def initialize_model(search_config: TextSearchConfig):
     bi_encoder = load_model(
         model_dir  = search_config.model_directory,
         model_name = search_config.encoder,
-        model_type = SentenceTransformer,
+        model_type = search_config.encoder_type or SentenceTransformer,
         device=f'{state.device}')
 
     # The cross-encoder re-ranks the results to improve quality
diff --git a/src/utils/helpers.py b/src/utils/helpers.py
index 2285018d..38181ad6 100644
--- a/src/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/src/utils/helpers.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Standard Packages
 from pathlib import Path
+from importlib import import_module
 import sys
 from os.path import join
 from collections import OrderedDict
@@ -44,17 +45,18 @@ def merge_dicts(priority_dict: dict, default_dict: dict):
     return merged_dict
 
 
-def load_model(model_name, model_dir, model_type, device:str=None):
+def load_model(model_name: str, model_type, model_dir=None, device:str=None):
     "Load model from disk or huggingface"
     # Construct model path
     model_path = join(model_dir, model_name.replace("/", "_")) if model_dir is not None else None
 
     # Load model from model_path if it exists there
+    model_type_class = get_class_by_name(model_type) if isinstance(model_type, str) else model_type
     if model_path is not None and resolve_absolute_path(model_path).exists():
-        model = model_type(get_absolute_path(model_path), device=device)
+        model = model_type_class(get_absolute_path(model_path), device=device)
     # Else load the model from the model_name
     else:
-        model = model_type(model_name, device=device)
+        model = model_type_class(model_name, device=device)
         if model_path is not None:
             model.save(model_path)
 
@@ -66,6 +68,12 @@ def is_pyinstaller_app():
     return getattr(sys, 'frozen', False) and hasattr(sys, '_MEIPASS')
 
 
+def get_class_by_name(name: str) -> object:
+    "Returns the class object from name string"
+    module_name, class_name = name.rsplit('.', 1)
+    return getattr(import_module(module_name), class_name)
+
+
 class LRU(OrderedDict):
     def __init__(self, *args, capacity=128, **kwargs):
         self.capacity = capacity
diff --git a/src/utils/rawconfig.py b/src/utils/rawconfig.py
index 165be0d1..5ed3a9eb 100644
--- a/src/utils/rawconfig.py
+++ b/src/utils/rawconfig.py
@@ -50,10 +50,12 @@ class ContentConfig(ConfigBase):
 class TextSearchConfig(ConfigBase):
     encoder: str
     cross_encoder: str
+    encoder_type: Optional[str]
     model_directory: Optional[Path]
 
 class ImageSearchConfig(ConfigBase):
     encoder: str
+    encoder_type: Optional[str]
     model_directory: Optional[Path]
 
 class SearchConfig(ConfigBase):