diff --git a/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py b/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py
index 5549965c..4465d494 100644
--- a/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py
+++ b/python/mxnet/module/base_module.py
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ def init_params(self, initializer=Uniform(0.01), arg_params=None, aux_params=Non
         """
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
-    def set_params(self, arg_params, aux_params):
+    def set_params(self, arg_params, aux_params, allow_missing=False, force_init=True):
         """Assign parameter and aux state values.
 
         Parameters
@@ -461,9 +461,15 @@ def set_params(self, arg_params, aux_params):
             Dictionary of name to value (`NDArray`) mapping.
         aux_params : dict
             Dictionary of name to value (`NDArray`) mapping.
+        allow_missing : bool
+            If true, params could contain missing values, and the initializer will be
+            called to fill those missing params.
+        force_init : bool
+            If true, will force re-initialize even if already initialized.
+
         """
         self.init_params(initializer=None, arg_params=arg_params, aux_params=aux_params,
-                         allow_missing=False, force_init=True)
+                         allow_missing=allow_missing, force_init=force_init)
 
     def save_params(self, fname):
         """Save model parameters to file.
diff --git a/python/mxnet/module/module.py b/python/mxnet/module/module.py
index 3156ac98..e327a6b4 100644
--- a/python/mxnet/module/module.py
+++ b/python/mxnet/module/module.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ def init_params(self, initializer=Uniform(0.01), arg_params=None, aux_params=Non
         def _impl(name, arr, cache):
             """Internal helper for parameter initialization"""
             if cache is not None:
-                if cache.has_key(name):
+                if name in cache:
                     cache_arr = cache[name]
 
                     # just in case the cached array is just the target itself
@@ -177,7 +177,8 @@ def _impl(name, arr, cache):
                         cache_arr.copyto(arr)
                 else:
                     assert allow_missing
-                    initializer(name, arr)
+                    if initializer != None:
+                        initializer(name, arr)
             else:
                 initializer(name, arr)