diff --git a/mmengine/runner/runner.py b/mmengine/runner/runner.py
index bd6757a844..d66262c559 100644
--- a/mmengine/runner/runner.py
+++ b/mmengine/runner/runner.py
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ def from_cfg(cls, cfg: ConfigType) -> 'Runner':
             load_from=cfg.get('load_from'),
             resume=cfg.get('resume', False),
             launcher=cfg.get('launcher', 'none'),
-            env_cfg=cfg.get('env_cfg'),  # type: ignore
+            env_cfg=cfg.get('env_cfg', dict(dist_cfg=dict(backend='nccl'))),
             log_processor=cfg.get('log_processor'),
             log_level=cfg.get('log_level', 'INFO'),
             visualizer=cfg.get('visualizer'),