diff --git a/run-recipe.py b/run-recipe.py
index ffa8506..f130dda 100755
--- a/run-recipe.py
+++ b/run-recipe.py
@@ -462,12 +462,13 @@ def generate_launch_script(recipe: dict[str, Any], overrides: dict[str, Any], is
     # (not needed for solo; no-ray uses PyTorch distributed instead)
     if is_solo or no_ray:
         import re
-        # Remove the entire line containing --distributed-executor-backend
-        # This handles multi-line commands with backslash continuations
+        # Remove just the flag and its value, not the whole line
+        command = re.sub(r'--distributed-executor-backend\s+\S+', '', command)
+        # Remove lines that are now empty or just a backslash continuation
         lines_list = command.split('\n')
         filtered_lines = [
-            line for line in lines_list 
-            if '--distributed-executor-backend' not in line
+            line for line in lines_list
+            if line.strip() not in ('', '\\')
         ]
         command = '\n'.join(filtered_lines)