diff --git a/nmma/utils/gitlab.py b/nmma/utils/gitlab.py
index 997068b5..96689280 100644
--- a/nmma/utils/gitlab.py
+++ b/nmma/utils/gitlab.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 from os.path import exists
 from pathlib import Path
 from os import makedirs
-
 import requests
 from requests.exceptions import ConnectionError
 from yaml import load
@@ -14,11 +13,19 @@
 
 MODELS = {}
 
+try:
+    from mpi4py import MPI
+    mpi_enabled = True
+except ImportError:
+    mpi_enabled = False
 
 def download_and_decompress(file_info):
     download(file_info)
     decompress(file_info[1])
 
+def mpi_barrier(comm):
+    if mpi_enabled:
+        comm.Barrier()
 
 def download_models_list(models_home=None):
     # first we load the models list from gitlab
@@ -29,7 +36,6 @@ def download_models_list(models_home=None):
     with open(Path(models_home, "models.yaml"), "wb") as f:
         f.write(r.content)
 
-
 def load_models_list(models_home=None):
 
     models_home = get_models_home(models_home)
@@ -96,7 +102,6 @@ def load_models_list(models_home=None):
 
     return models, downloaded_if_missing is False
 
-
 def refresh_models_list(models_home=None):
     global MODELS
     models_home = get_models_home(models_home)
@@ -110,7 +115,6 @@ def refresh_models_list(models_home=None):
         raise ValueError(f"Could not load models list: {str(e)}")
     return models
 
-
 def get_model(
     models_home=None,
     model_name=None,
@@ -184,15 +188,32 @@ def get_model(
         [f"{base_url}/{core_model_name}.{core_format}"] if not filters_only else []
     ) + [f"{base_url}/{model_name}/{f}.{filter_format}" for f in filters]
 
+    comm = None
+    if mpi_enabled:
+        try:
+            comm = MPI.COMM_WORLD
+        except Exception as e:
+            print("MPI could not be initialized:", e)
+            comm = None
+
+    rank = 0
+    if comm:
+        try:
+            rank = comm.Get_rank()
+        except Exception as e:
+            print("Error getting MPI rank:", e)
+
     missing = [(f"{u}", f"{f}") for u, f in zip(urls, filepaths) if not f.exists()]
     if len(missing) > 0:
         if not download_if_missing:
             raise OSError("Data not found and `download_if_missing` is False")
 
-        print(f"downloading {len(missing)} files for model {model_name}:")
-        with ThreadPoolExecutor(
-            max_workers=min(len(missing), max(cpu_count(), 8))
-        ) as executor:
-            executor.map(download_and_decompress, missing)
+        if rank == 0 or not comm:
+            print(f"downloading {len(missing)} files for model {model_name}:")
+            with ThreadPoolExecutor(
+                max_workers=min(len(missing), max(cpu_count(), 8))
+            ) as executor:
+                executor.map(download_and_decompress, missing)
+        mpi_barrier(comm)
 
     return [str(f) for f in filepaths], filters + skipped_filters
diff --git a/nmma/utils/models.py b/nmma/utils/models.py
index e6afe3d7..2aa73efa 100644
--- a/nmma/utils/models.py
+++ b/nmma/utils/models.py
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 from .models_tools import SOURCES, get_models_home, get_parser  # noqa
 
+try:
+    from mpi4py import MPI
+    mpi_enabled = True
+except ImportError:
+    mpi_enabled = False
+
+def mpi_barrier(comm):
+    if mpi_enabled:
+        comm.Barrier()
 
 def refresh_models_list(models_home=None, source=None):
 
@@ -37,6 +46,21 @@ def get_model(
     source=None,
 ):
 
+    comm = None
+    if mpi_enabled:
+        try:
+            comm = MPI.COMM_WORLD
+        except Exception as e:
+            print("MPI could not be initialized:", e)
+            comm = None
+
+    rank = 0
+    if comm:
+        try:
+            rank = comm.Get_rank()
+        except Exception as e:
+            print("Error getting MPI rank:", e)
+
     if source is None:
         source = SOURCES[0]
     if source not in ["gitlab"]:
@@ -48,13 +72,15 @@ def get_model(
             if source == "gitlab":
                 from .gitlab import get_model
 
-            files, filters = get_model(
-                models_home=models_home,
-                model_name=model_name,
-                filters=filters,
-                download_if_missing=download_if_missing,
-                filters_only=filters_only,
-            )
+            if rank == 0 or not MPI.Is_initialized():
+                files, filters = get_model(
+                    models_home=models_home,
+                    model_name=model_name,
+                    filters=filters,
+                    download_if_missing=download_if_missing,
+                    filters_only=filters_only,
+                )
+            mpi_barrier(comm)
             break
         except Exception as e:
             print(f"Error while getting model from {source}: {str(e)}")
@@ -111,5 +137,3 @@ def main(args=None):
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()
-
-# python nmma/utils/models.py --model="Bu2019lm" --filters=ztfr,ztfg,ztfi --svd-path='./svdmodels' --source='gitlab'