diff --git a/chex/_src/variants.py b/chex/_src/variants.py
index cd90a2e..ea961ef 100644
--- a/chex/_src/variants.py
+++ b/chex/_src/variants.py
@@ -496,27 +496,28 @@ def _with_pmap(fn,
 
   # Set up a reduce function.
   if reduce_fn == "first_device_output":
-    # Avoid degraded performance under the new jax.pmap. See
-    # https://docs.jax.dev/en/latest/migrate_pmap.html#int-indexing-into-sharded-arrays.
-    if jax.config.jax_pmap_shmap_merge:
-      def reduce_fn(x):  # pylint: disable=function-redefined
-        def _reduce_leaf(leaf):
-          if (hasattr(leaf, "__getitem__") and
-              hasattr(leaf, "shape") and
-              leaf.shape):
-            if (not isinstance(leaf, jax.core.Tracer) and
-                hasattr(leaf, "addressable_shards") and
-                leaf.addressable_shards):
-              data = leaf.addressable_shards[0].data
-              return data if not data.shape[0] else data[0]
-
-            # Fallback for tracers or other indexable outputs.
-            return leaf if not leaf.shape[0] else leaf[0]
-          return leaf
-
-        return tree_map(_reduce_leaf, x)
-    else:
-      reduce_fn = lambda t: tree_map(lambda x: x[0], t)
+
+    def reduce_fn(x):  # pylint: disable=function-redefined
+      def _reduce_leaf(leaf):
+        if (
+            hasattr(leaf, "__getitem__")
+            and hasattr(leaf, "shape")
+            and leaf.shape
+        ):
+          if (
+              not isinstance(leaf, jax.core.Tracer)
+              and hasattr(leaf, "addressable_shards")
+              and leaf.addressable_shards
+          ):
+            data = leaf.addressable_shards[0].data
+            return data if not data.shape[0] else data[0]
+
+          # Fallback for tracers or other indexable outputs.
+          return leaf if not leaf.shape[0] else leaf[0]
+        return leaf
+
+      return tree_map(_reduce_leaf, x)
+
   elif reduce_fn == "identity" or reduce_fn is None:  # Identity.
     reduce_fn = lambda t: t
 
@@ -545,17 +546,13 @@ def wrapper(*args: pytypes.ArrayTree, **kwargs: pytypes.ArrayTree):
       raise ValueError("Number of available devices is less than required for "
                        f"test ({len(devices_)} < {n_devices_})")
 
-    if jax.config.jax_pmap_shmap_merge:
-      def bcast_fn(x):
-        x = jnp.asarray(x)
-        x = jnp.broadcast_to(x, (n_devices_,) + x.shape)
-        if not isinstance(x, jax.core.Tracer):
-          return jax.device_put_sharded(list(x), devices_)
-        return x
-    else:
-      bcast_fn = lambda x: jnp.broadcast_to(
-          x, (n_devices_,) + jnp.asarray(x).shape
-      )
+    def bcast_fn(x):
+      x = jnp.asarray(x)
+      x = jnp.broadcast_to(x, (n_devices_,) + x.shape)
+      if not isinstance(x, jax.core.Tracer):
+        return jax.device_put_sharded(list(x), devices_)
+      return x
+
     if broadcast_args_to_devices:
       args = [
           tree_map(bcast_fn, arg) if idx not in static_argnums else arg