diff --git a/expose.cpp b/expose.cpp
index c58ad8fa8..7507f6341 100644
--- a/expose.cpp
+++ b/expose.cpp
@@ -402,4 +402,13 @@ extern "C"
     {
         return gpttype_clear_state_kv(true);
     }
+
+    void set_environment_variable(const char * identifier, const char * value)
+    {
+        #ifdef _WIN32
+            _putenv_s(identifier, value);
+        #else
+            setenv(identifier, value, 1);
+        #endif
+    }
 }
diff --git a/koboldcpp.py b/koboldcpp.py
index 17c8dc5e5..21e19f2a0 100644
--- a/koboldcpp.py
+++ b/koboldcpp.py
@@ -989,7 +989,8 @@ def set_backend_props(inputs):
 
     if "GGML_VK_VISIBLE_DEVICES" not in os.environ:
         if args.usevulkan: # is an empty array if using vulkan without defined gpu
-            os.environ["GGML_VK_VISIBLE_DEVICES"] = ','.join([str(g) for g in args.usevulkan])
+            vulkangpus = ','.join([str(g) for g in args.usevulkan])
+            handle.set_environment_variable("GGML_VK_VISIBLE_DEVICES".encode("UTF-8"),vulkangpus.encode("UTF-8"))
 
     # set universal flags
     inputs.devices_override = (args.device if args.device else "").encode("UTF-8")