diff --git a/examples/rpc/rpc-server.cpp b/examples/rpc/rpc-server.cpp
index 7c15d2aa4acfb..62d8282501768 100644
--- a/examples/rpc/rpc-server.cpp
+++ b/examples/rpc/rpc-server.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 #include "ggml-metal.h"
 #endif
 
+#ifdef GGML_USE_SYCL
+#include "ggml-sycl.h"
+#endif
+
 #include "ggml-rpc.h"
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #  include <windows.h>
@@ -79,6 +83,12 @@ static ggml_backend_t create_backend() {
     if (!backend) {
         fprintf(stderr, "%s: ggml_backend_metal_init() failed\n", __func__);
     }
+#elif GGML_USE_SYCL
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s: using SYCL backend\n", __func__);
+    backend = ggml_backend_sycl_init(0); // init device 0
+    if (!backend) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s: ggml_backend_sycl_init() failed\n", __func__);
+    }
 #endif
 
     // if there aren't GPU Backends fallback to CPU backend