diff --git a/megatron/core/transformer/transformer_layer.py b/megatron/core/transformer/transformer_layer.py
index 3fa91068769..8c564a71487 100644
--- a/megatron/core/transformer/transformer_layer.py
+++ b/megatron/core/transformer/transformer_layer.py
@@ -324,6 +324,10 @@ def __init__(
             name (str | None): module instance name passed top-down from its paranet module
         """
         self.submodules_config = submodules
+        # GraphableMegatronModule may create a local CUDA graph manager during super().__init__().
+        # Dense layers need a default before that hook runs, while MoETransformerLayer sets this
+        # to True before entering this constructor.
+        self.is_moe_layer = getattr(self, "is_moe_layer", False)
         super().__init__(config=config, vp_stage=vp_stage)
 
         if pg_collection is None:
@@ -548,7 +552,7 @@ def create_mcore_cudagraph_manager(self, config):
             CudaGraphModule.mlp in self.config.cuda_graph_modules
             and self.submodules_config.mlp != IdentityOp
         ):
-            # Cudagraphing MoE layers are supposed handled by MoeTransforerLayer
+            # Cudagraphing MoE layers is handled by MoETransformerLayer.
             assert not self.is_moe_layer
             self.cudagraph_manager = CudaGraphManager(config)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/transformer/test_cuda_graphs.py b/tests/unit_tests/transformer/test_cuda_graphs.py
index f387e58953e..b54ba1d3c01 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/transformer/test_cuda_graphs.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/transformer/test_cuda_graphs.py
@@ -450,6 +450,26 @@ def test_gpu_cudagraph(self):
                 .fwd_graph
             )
 
+    @pytest.mark.skipif(
+        not (HAVE_TE and is_te_min_version("1.5.0")),
+        reason="use_te_rng_tracker requires TransformerEngine version >= 1.5",
+    )
+    def test_dense_mlp_scope_constructs(self):
+        config = TransformerConfig(
+            num_layers=8,
+            hidden_size=64,
+            num_attention_heads=4,
+            use_cpu_initialization=True,
+            cuda_graph_impl="local",
+            cuda_graph_modules=[CudaGraphModule.mlp],
+        )
+
+        block = TransformerBlock(config, get_gpt_layer_with_transformer_engine_spec())
+
+        assert block.layers
+        assert all(not layer.is_moe_layer for layer in block.layers)
+        assert all(isinstance(layer.cudagraph_manager, CudaGraphManager) for layer in block.layers)
+
 
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
     not (HAVE_TE and is_te_min_version("1.5.0")),