diff --git a/src/llama-memory-recurrent.cpp b/src/llama-memory-recurrent.cpp
index 6283393ff38..d6cd5f66ace 100644
--- a/src/llama-memory-recurrent.cpp
+++ b/src/llama-memory-recurrent.cpp
@@ -541,10 +541,65 @@ bool llama_memory_recurrent::resize(uint32_t new_mem_size) {
     cells.resize(new_mem_size);
     size = new_mem_size;
 
+    uint32_t used_new = 0;
+    for (auto & cell : cells) {
+        cell.tail = -1;
+
+        for (auto it = cell.seq_id.begin(); it != cell.seq_id.end();) {
+            if (*it < 0 || (uint32_t) *it >= size) {
+                LLAMA_LOG_WARN("%s: dropping seq_id %d after resize %u -> %u\n",
+                        __func__, *it, old_size, new_mem_size);
+                it = cell.seq_id.erase(it);
+            } else {
+                ++it;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (cell.seq_id.empty()) {
+            cell.pos  = -1;
+            cell.src  = -1;
+            cell.src0 = -1;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        if (cell.src >= (int32_t) size) {
+            LLAMA_LOG_WARN("%s: clearing out-of-range src %d after resize %u -> %u\n",
+                    __func__, cell.src, old_size, new_mem_size);
+            cell.src = -1;
+        }
+        if (cell.src0 >= (int32_t) size) {
+            LLAMA_LOG_WARN("%s: clearing out-of-range src0 %d after resize %u -> %u\n",
+                    __func__, cell.src0, old_size, new_mem_size);
+            cell.src0 = -1;
+        }
+
+        used_new++;
+    }
+
+    for (uint32_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
+        for (llama_seq_id seq_id : cells[i].seq_id) {
+            cells[seq_id].tail = i;
+        }
+    }
+
+    used = used_new;
+    if (size == 0) {
+        head = 0;
+        n    = 0;
+        rs_z = -1;
+    } else {
+        head = std::min(head, size - 1);
+        n    = std::min(n, size);
+        if (rs_z >= (int32_t) size) {
+            rs_z = -1;
+        }
+    }
+
     const size_t memory_size_r = size_r_bytes();
     const size_t memory_size_s = size_s_bytes();
-    LLAMA_LOG_INFO("%s: resized %u -> %u cells, R: %7.2f MiB, S: %7.2f MiB\n", __func__,
+    LLAMA_LOG_INFO("%s: resized %u -> %u cells, used=%u, head=%u, n=%u, rs_z=%d, R: %7.2f MiB, S: %7.2f MiB\n", __func__,
             old_size, new_mem_size,
+            used, head, n, rs_z,
             (float)memory_size_r / (1024.0f * 1024.0f),
             (float)memory_size_s / (1024.0f * 1024.0f));
 
@@ -1346,5 +1401,21 @@ ggml_tensor * llama_memory_recurrent_context::get_s_l(int32_t il) const {
 }
 
 int32_t llama_memory_recurrent_context::s_copy(int i) const {
-    return  mem->cells[i + mem->head].src0;
+    const int32_t cell_idx = (int32_t) mem->head + i;
+    const int32_t fallback = get_rs_z() >= 0 ? get_rs_z() : 0;
+
+    if (cell_idx < 0 || (uint32_t) cell_idx >= mem->size) {
+        LLAMA_LOG_WARN("%s: source cell index out of range: i=%d head=%u size=%u, using zero state %d\n",
+            __func__, i, mem->head, mem->size, fallback);
+        return fallback;
+    }
+
+    const int32_t src = mem->cells[cell_idx].src0;
+    if (src < 0 || (uint32_t) src >= mem->size) {
+        LLAMA_LOG_WARN("%s: recurrent source row out of range: i=%d cell=%d src=%d size=%u, using zero state %d\n",
+            __func__, i, cell_idx, src, mem->size, fallback);
+        return fallback;
+    }
+
+    return src;
 }
diff --git a/tools/server/server-context.cpp b/tools/server/server-context.cpp
index c1f2116b7d5..b8f9734fed9 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-context.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-context.cpp
@@ -752,6 +752,35 @@ struct server_context_impl {
         prompt_cache->update();
     }
 
+    void recurrent_shrink_for_prefill(const char * reason) {
+        if (!recurrent_expanded || !needs_reeval || n_seq_max_full <= n_parallel_user) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        for (const server_slot & slot : slots) {
+            if (slot.is_processing() || slot.has_draft_backup) {
+                SRV_DBG("not shrinking recurrent state for prefill (%s): slot %d processing=%d has_backup=%d\n",
+                        reason, slot.id, slot.is_processing(), slot.has_draft_backup);
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
+        auto * mem = llama_get_memory(ctx);
+        for (const server_slot & slot : slots) {
+            const llama_seq_id seq_backup = slot.id + n_parallel_user;
+            llama_memory_seq_rm(mem, seq_backup, -1, -1);
+        }
+
+        if (llama_memory_recurrent_shrink(mem, n_parallel_user)) {
+            recurrent_expanded = false;
+            SRV_INF("shrunk recurrent state to %d cells for prefill (%s, removed %d backup cells)\n",
+                    n_parallel_user, reason, n_seq_max_full - n_parallel_user);
+        } else {
+            SRV_ERR("failed to shrink recurrent state to %d cells for prefill (%s)\n",
+                    n_parallel_user, reason);
+        }
+    }
+
     void handle_sleeping_state(bool new_state) {
         GGML_ASSERT(sleeping != new_state);
         if (new_state) {
@@ -1289,6 +1318,8 @@ struct server_context_impl {
         }
 
         if (ret) {
+            recurrent_shrink_for_prefill("before prompt cache save/load");
+
             const auto & tokens = ret->prompt.tokens;
 
             update_cache = update_cache && prompt_cache;
@@ -2791,6 +2822,11 @@ struct server_context_impl {
                                     if (!do_reset) {
                                         // restore the context checkpoint
                                         const size_t checkpoint_size = it->data.size();
+                                        SLT_DBG(slot,
+                                                "restoring context checkpoint data=%.3f MiB ring=%.3f MiB recurrent_expanded=%d n_parallel_user=%d n_seq_max_full=%d\n",
+                                                (float) it->data.size() / 1024 / 1024,
+                                                (float) it->ring_data.size() / 1024 / 1024,
+                                                recurrent_expanded, n_parallel_user, n_seq_max_full);
                                         const size_t n = llama_state_seq_set_data_ext(ctx, it->data.data(), checkpoint_size, slot.id, LLAMA_STATE_SEQ_FLAGS_PARTIAL_ONLY);
 
                                         if (n != checkpoint_size) {