diff --git a/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp b/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp
index a8939e481ce7..bf0913c366a6 100644
--- a/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp
+++ b/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ llama_kv_cache::llama_kv_cache(
             : nullptr;
         if (k_idx) {
             ggml_format_name(k_idx, "cache_k_idx_l%d", il);
+            msa_strict_slots = (n_stream == n_seq_max);
         }
 
         std::vector<ggml_tensor *> k_idx_stream;
@@ -1025,6 +1026,11 @@ llama_kv_cache::slot_info llama_kv_cache::find_slot(const llama_ubatch & ubatch,
 
         uint32_t head_cur = v_heads[seq_to_stream[seq_id]];
 
+        // MSA block selection assumes slot == logical position (append-only streams), which Head-based placement can technically violate after tail trims
+        if (msa_strict_slots) {
+            head_cur = 0;
+        }
+
         // if we have enough unused cells before the current head ->
         //   better to start searching from the beginning of the cache, hoping to fill it
         if (head_cur > cells.get_used() + 2*n_tokens) {
@@ -1142,6 +1148,15 @@ void llama_kv_cache::apply_ubatch(const slot_info & sinfo, const llama_ubatch &
 
             const auto idx = sinfo.idxs[s][ii];
 
+            if (msa_strict_slots && (llama_pos) idx != ubatch.pos[i]) {
+                LLAMA_LOG_ERROR("%s: MSA slot/position invariant violated: "
+                        "writing pos %d into cell %u (stream %u). The indexer cache "
+                        "would desync and block selection would silently corrupt. "
+                        "This is a bug, please report it with reproduction steps.\n",
+                        __func__, ubatch.pos[i], idx, sinfo.strm[s]);
+                GGML_ABORT("MSA: slot != pos");
+            }
+
             if (!cells.is_empty(idx)) {
                 assert(cells.seq_count(idx) == 1);
 
diff --git a/src/llama-kv-cache.h b/src/llama-kv-cache.h
index e5afa20101be..d5a92f4405b5 100644
--- a/src/llama-kv-cache.h
+++ b/src/llama-kv-cache.h
@@ -263,6 +263,9 @@ class llama_kv_cache : public llama_memory_i {
     // env: LLAMA_KV_CACHE_DEBUG
     int debug = 0;
 
+    // set when a k_idx (indexer) cache exists and the stream layout supports MSA (single seq, or one stream per seq)
+    bool msa_strict_slots = false;
+
     // this is the SWA type of the cache - not to be confused with the model SWA type
     const llama_swa_type swa_type = LLAMA_SWA_TYPE_NONE;