diff --git a/tests/test_text_embeddings_config_validation.py b/tests/test_text_embeddings_config_validation.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd3627e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_text_embeddings_config_validation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import ast
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+def load_config_value_matches():
+    source_path = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "text_embeddings_connectors.py"
+    source = ast.parse(source_path.read_text())
+    helper = next(
+        node
+        for node in source.body
+        if isinstance(node, ast.FunctionDef) and node.name == "_config_value_matches"
+    )
+    module = ast.Module(body=[helper], type_ignores=[])
+    ast.fix_missing_locations(module)
+    namespace = {}
+    exec(compile(module, str(source_path), "exec"), namespace)
+    return namespace["_config_value_matches"]
+
+
+def test_text_encoder_norm_type_matches_both_casings():
+    matches = load_config_value_matches()
+
+    assert matches("per_token_rms", "per_token_rms")
+    assert matches("PER_TOKEN_RMS", "per_token_rms")
+
+
+def test_non_string_expectations_remain_strict():
+    matches = load_config_value_matches()
+
+    assert matches(False, False)
+    assert not matches("False", False)
diff --git a/text_embeddings_connectors.py b/text_embeddings_connectors.py
index a5a7688..a788b64 100644
--- a/text_embeddings_connectors.py
+++ b/text_embeddings_connectors.py
@@ -47,6 +47,13 @@ def _filter_sd(sd: dict, prefix: str) -> dict:
     return {k[len(prefix) :]: v for k, v in sd.items() if k.startswith(prefix)}
 
 
+def _config_value_matches(actual, expected_val) -> bool:
+    """Compare string config values case-insensitively while keeping other types strict."""
+    if isinstance(actual, str) and isinstance(expected_val, str):
+        return actual.casefold() == expected_val.casefold()
+    return actual == expected_val
+
+
 def _load_aggregate_embed(sd: dict, modality: str, dtype) -> nn.Linear:
     """Load an aggregate_embed Linear from the state dict.
 
@@ -359,7 +366,7 @@ def load_text_embeddings_pipeline(
         }
         for key, expected_val in _expected.items():
             actual = transformer_config.get(key)
-            assert actual == expected_val, (
+            assert _config_value_matches(actual, expected_val), (
                 f"Unexpected config for dual-aggregate model: "
                 f"{key}={actual!r}, expected {expected_val!r}"
             )