diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d3c8f5c4e1672..84db9b385009e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 - Changed `resolve_training_type_plugins` to allow setting `num_nodes` and `sync_batchnorm` from `Trainer` setting ([7026](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/7026))
 
 
+- Changed `model.state_dict()` in `CheckpointConnector` to allow `training_type_plugin` to customize the model's `state_dict()` ([7474](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/7474))
+
+
 ### Deprecated
 
 
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/accelerators/accelerator.py b/pytorch_lightning/accelerators/accelerator.py
index a05f0c31c9abd..8bf34229a9742 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/accelerators/accelerator.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/accelerators/accelerator.py
@@ -420,6 +420,12 @@ def optimizer_state(self, optimizer: Optimizer) -> Dict[str, Tensor]:
         """
         return getattr(self.training_type_plugin, 'optimizer_state', lambda x: x.state_dict())(optimizer)
 
+    def lightning_module_state_dict(self) -> Dict[str, Union[Any, Tensor]]:
+        """
+        Returns state of model. Allows for syncing/collating model state from processes in custom plugins.
+        """
+        return self.training_type_plugin.lightning_module_state_dict()
+
     def on_save(self, checkpoint: Dict[str, Union[Any, Tensor]]) -> Dict[str, Union[Any, Tensor]]:
         return self.training_type_plugin.on_save(checkpoint)
 
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/training_type_plugin.py b/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/training_type_plugin.py
index ede5717258040..4abbb4dbb7c05 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/training_type_plugin.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/training_type_plugin.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Generator, Iterable, Optional, Tuple, TypeVar, Union
 
 import torch
+from torch import Tensor
 from torch.nn import Module
 from torch.optim import Optimizer
 from torch.utils.data import DataLoader
@@ -241,6 +242,11 @@ def update_global_step(self, total_batch_idx: int, current_global_step: int) ->
         """
         return current_global_step + 1
 
+    def lightning_module_state_dict(self) -> Dict[str, Union[Any, Tensor]]:
+        """Returns model state."""
+        model = self.lightning_module
+        return model.state_dict()
+
     def save_checkpoint(self, checkpoint: Dict[str, Any], filepath: str) -> None:
         """Save model/training states as a checkpoint file through state-dump and file-write.
 
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py
index 1f61b33a74b9c..1181c4f3efd1e 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ def dump_checkpoint(self, weights_only: bool = False) -> dict:
             'epoch': current_epoch,
             'global_step': global_step,
             'pytorch-lightning_version': pytorch_lightning.__version__,
-            'state_dict': model.state_dict(),
+            'state_dict': self.trainer.accelerator.lightning_module_state_dict(),
         }
 
         if not weights_only: