diff --git a/deepmd/pt/model/network/mlp.py b/deepmd/pt/model/network/mlp.py
index 31162fe80e..6ef6c7f733 100644
--- a/deepmd/pt/model/network/mlp.py
+++ b/deepmd/pt/model/network/mlp.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import torch
 import torch.nn as nn
+import torch.nn.functional as F
 
 from deepmd.pt.utils import (
     env,
@@ -202,20 +203,16 @@ def forward(
         ori_prec = xx.dtype
         if not env.DP_DTYPE_PROMOTION_STRICT:
             xx = xx.to(self.prec)
-        yy = (
-            torch.matmul(xx, self.matrix) + self.bias
-            if self.bias is not None
-            else torch.matmul(xx, self.matrix)
-        )
+        yy = F.linear(xx, self.matrix.t(), self.bias)
+        # some activation functions are in-place, prevent further modification on `yy`; needs to be cloned
         yy = self.activate(yy).clone()
-        yy = yy * self.idt if self.idt is not None else yy
+        if self.idt is not None:
+            yy *= self.idt
         if self.resnet:
             if xx.shape[-1] == yy.shape[-1]:
                 yy += xx
             elif 2 * xx.shape[-1] == yy.shape[-1]:
                 yy += torch.concat([xx, xx], dim=-1)
-            else:
-                yy = yy
         if not env.DP_DTYPE_PROMOTION_STRICT:
             yy = yy.to(ori_prec)
         return yy