diff --git a/mmengine/runner/runner.py b/mmengine/runner/runner.py
index a833570e..9d364b34 100644
--- a/mmengine/runner/runner.py
+++ b/mmengine/runner/runner.py
@@ -658,6 +658,10 @@ class Runner:
     def build_model(self, model: Union[nn.Module, Dict]) -> nn.Module:
         """Build model.
 
+        If ``model`` is a dict, it will be used to build a nn.Module object
+        and initialize the weights if it has ``init_weights`` method.
+        Else, if ``model`` is a nn.Module object it will be returned directly.
+
         An example of ``model``::
 
             model = dict(type='ResNet')
@@ -673,7 +677,11 @@ class Runner:
         if isinstance(model, nn.Module):
             return model
         elif isinstance(model, dict):
-            return MODELS.build(model)
+            model = MODELS.build(model)
+            # init weights
+            if hasattr(model, 'init_weights'):
+                model.init_weights()
+            return model
         else:
             raise TypeError('model should be a nn.Module object or dict, '
                             f'but got {model}')
diff --git a/tests/test_runner/test_runner.py b/tests/test_runner/test_runner.py
index 25fbdbcf..0fdd8553 100644
--- a/tests/test_runner/test_runner.py
+++ b/tests/test_runner/test_runner.py
@@ -511,6 +511,25 @@ class TestRunner(TestCase):
         model = runner.build_model(dict(type='ToyModel1'))
         self.assertIsInstance(model, ToyModel1)
 
+        # test init weights
+        @MODELS.register_module()
+        class ToyModel2(ToyModel):
+
+            def __init__(self):
+                super().__init__()
+                self.initiailzed = False
+
+            def init_weights(self):
+                self.initiailzed = True
+
+        model = runner.build_model(dict(type='ToyModel2'))
+        self.assertTrue(model.initiailzed)
+
+        # test init weights with model object
+        _model = ToyModel2()
+        model = runner.build_model(_model)
+        self.assertFalse(model.initiailzed)
+
     def test_wrap_model(self):
         # TODO: test on distributed environment
         # custom model wrapper