diff --git a/fairscale/nn/data_parallel/fully_sharded_data_parallel.py b/fairscale/nn/data_parallel/fully_sharded_data_parallel.py
index f5c024d5b..09648894c 100644
--- a/fairscale/nn/data_parallel/fully_sharded_data_parallel.py
+++ b/fairscale/nn/data_parallel/fully_sharded_data_parallel.py
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ def _cast_buffers(
     @property
     def params_with_grad(self) -> List[Parameter]:
         """[p for p in self.parameters() if p.grad is not None]"""
-        return [p for p in self.parameters() if p.grad is not None]
+        return [p for p in self.parameters() if (p.grad is not None or p.main_grad is not None)]
 
     @torch.no_grad()
     def clip_grad_norm_(
@@ -1714,6 +1714,14 @@ def _post_backward_hook(self, param: Parameter, *unused: Any) -> None:
         # Switch to FP32 shard after backward.
         self._use_fp32_param_shard([param])
 
+        if self.fp32_reduce_scatter:
+            if getattr(param, "unsharded_main_grad", None) is None:
+                param.unsharded_main_grad = param.grad.to(torch.float32)
+            else:
+                param.unsharded_main_grad.add_(param.grad.data)
+
+            param.grad = None
+
         if not self._require_backward_grad_sync:
             return
 
@@ -1721,15 +1729,19 @@ def _post_backward_hook(self, param: Parameter, *unused: Any) -> None:
         # reductions in post_backward stream.
         self._streams["post_backward"].wait_stream(torch.cuda.current_stream())
         with torch.cuda.stream(self._streams["post_backward"]):
-            orig_grad_data = param.grad.data
 
             if self.fp32_reduce_scatter:
                 # Cast grad to FP32.
-                param.grad.data = param.grad.data.float()
+                orig_grad_data = param.unsharded_main_grad.data
+            else:
+                orig_grad_data = param.grad.data
 
             if self.gradient_predivide_factor > 1:
                 # Average grad by world_size for consistency with PyTorch DDP.
-                param.grad.data.div_(self.gradient_predivide_factor)
+                if getattr(param, "unsharded_main_grad", None) is not None:
+                    param.unsharded_main_grad.data.div_(self.gradient_predivide_factor)
+                else:
+                    param.grad.data.div_(self.gradient_predivide_factor)
 
             if param._is_sharded:
                 assert self._reducer is not None
@@ -1737,7 +1749,13 @@ def _post_backward_hook(self, param: Parameter, *unused: Any) -> None:
                 # param._saved_grad_shard. If this FSDP module was called multiple times it's possible that multiple
                 # gradient reductions will happen in an undefined order. But addition commutes, so this order doesn't
                 # matter, neglecting rounding.
-                grad = param.grad.data
+                if getattr(param, "unsharded_main_grad", None) is not None:
+                    grad = param.unsharded_main_grad.data
+                    param.unsharded_main_grad = None
+                else:
+                    grad = param.grad.data
+                    param.grad = None
+
                 # Clear grad on the tensor, so any repeated gradient computations do not interfere with this reduction.
                 #
                 # The effect on memory consumption is not usually significant. No extra memory is allocated if this
@@ -1749,7 +1767,6 @@ def _post_backward_hook(self, param: Parameter, *unused: Any) -> None:
                 # This ensures the `default` stream will wait for the `post_backward` stream to complete the last
                 # reduction for this module, before scheduling additional reduction work. Then at most there are two
                 # unsharded gradients allocated; one for a pending reduction, and one for gradient computation.
-                param.grad = None
                 callback_fn = functools.partial(self._post_reduction_hook, param)
                 self._reducer.reduce_scatter_async(
                     grad, group=self.process_group_reduce_scatter, callback_fn=callback_fn
@@ -1759,7 +1776,10 @@ def _post_backward_hook(self, param: Parameter, *unused: Any) -> None:
                 # world_size == 1. This could be relaxed in the future, in which
                 # case grads should be all-reduced here.
                 assert self.world_size == 1
-                self._post_reduction_hook(param, param.grad)
+                if getattr(param, "unsharded_main_grad", None) is not None:
+                    self._post_reduction_hook(param, param.unsharded_main_grad)
+                else:
+                    self._post_reduction_hook(param, param.grad)
 
             # After _post_backward_hook returns, orig_grad_data will eventually
             # go out of scope, at which point it could otherwise be freed for
@@ -1785,7 +1805,7 @@ def _post_reduction_hook(self, param: Parameter, reduced_grad: torch.Tensor) ->
         # non-blocking. The downside is a bit more D2H transfer in that case.
         if self.fp32_reduce_scatter:
             orig_param_grad_data = reduced_grad.data
-            reduced_grad.data = reduced_grad.data.to(dtype=param.data.dtype)
+            # reduced_grad.data = reduced_grad.data.to(dtype=param.data.dtype)
             # Don't let this memory get reused until after the transfer.
             orig_param_grad_data.record_stream(torch.cuda.current_stream())
 
@@ -1799,6 +1819,8 @@ def _post_reduction_hook(self, param: Parameter, reduced_grad: torch.Tensor) ->
                 ), f"{param._saved_grad_shard.shape} vs {reduced_grad.shape}"
                 param._saved_grad_shard.data += reduced_grad.data
             reduced_grad = param._saved_grad_shard.data
+        elif (param.grad is None) and self.fp32_reduce_scatter:
+            param.main_grad = reduced_grad.data
 
         # Optionally move gradients to CPU, typically used if one is running the optimizer on the CPU. Once the full
         # backwards pass completes, we will set `.grad` to the CPU copy.
@@ -1887,7 +1909,7 @@ def _finalize_parameters(fsdp_module: FullyShardedDataParallel) -> None:
                     if p.shape != p._saved_grad_shard.shape:
                         self._use_fp32_param_shard([p])
                     if p._saved_grad_shard.dtype != p.dtype:
-                        p.grad = p._saved_grad_shard.to(p.dtype)
+                        p.main_grad = p._saved_grad_shard
                     else:
                         p.grad = p._saved_grad_shard