diff --git a/tools/server/server-task.cpp b/tools/server/server-task.cpp
index 33de2e4d9ca..a2e0b326aa7 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-task.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-task.cpp
@@ -2090,8 +2090,20 @@ bool server_prompt_cache::load(server_prompt & prompt, const server_tokens & tok
     if (it_best != states.end()) {
         SRV_INF(" - found better prompt with f_keep = %.3f, sim = %.3f\n", f_keep_best, sim_best);
 
+        // Restore the cached state into the live context WITHOUT consuming the
+        // cache entry. The previous behaviour moved the entry out of `states`
+        // and freed its serialized bytes on every match. That is wrong for an
+        // alternating multi-conversation workload: when the incoming prompt
+        // only partially matches the entry (a different conversation that
+        // shares a long prefix), update_slots() may still decide it cannot
+        // reuse the restored KV and reset to a full re-prefill — but by then
+        // the entry has already been erased, so when the original conversation
+        // comes back its state is gone and it pays a full re-prefill too.
+        // Keeping the entry lets both conversations hit the cache on their
+        // respective turns. Entries are still bounded by update()'s size/token
+        // eviction; this only removes the on-match deletion.
         {
-            auto & data = it_best->data.main;
+            const auto & data = it_best->data.main;
 
             const size_t size = data.size();
             const size_t n = llama_state_seq_set_data_ext(ctx_tgt, data.data(), size, id_slot, 0);
@@ -2100,13 +2112,10 @@ bool server_prompt_cache::load(server_prompt & prompt, const server_tokens & tok
 
                 return false;
             }
-
-            data.clear();
-            data.shrink_to_fit();
         }
 
         {
-            auto & data = it_best->data.drft;
+            const auto & data = it_best->data.drft;
 
             if (!data.empty()) {
                 GGML_ASSERT(ctx_dft);
@@ -2118,15 +2127,17 @@ bool server_prompt_cache::load(server_prompt & prompt, const server_tokens & tok
 
                     return false;
                 }
-
-                data.clear();
-                data.shrink_to_fit();
             }
         }
 
-        prompt = std::move(*it_best);
-
-        states.erase(it_best);
+        // Copy tokens + checkpoints into the slot's prompt, leaving the cached
+        // entry intact. Do NOT copy data.main / data.drft into prompt.data: the
+        // KV bytes are now live in ctx_tgt/ctx_dft, and prompt_save() asserts
+        // prompt.data.size() == 0 before it serializes a fresh save from the
+        // live context. server_tokens has a deleted copy ctor, hence clone().
+        prompt.tokens      = it_best->tokens.clone();
+        prompt.data        = {};
+        prompt.checkpoints = it_best->checkpoints;
     }
 
     return true;
diff --git a/tools/server/tests/unit/test_prompt_cache_reuse.py b/tools/server/tests/unit/test_prompt_cache_reuse.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d3890fc628c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/server/tests/unit/test_prompt_cache_reuse.py
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+import os
+import tempfile
+import pytest
+from utils import *
+
+server = ServerPreset.tinyllama2()
+
+
+class LogReader:
+    def __init__(self, path):
+        self.path = path
+        self.pos = 0
+
+    def drain(self):
+        with open(self.path, errors="ignore") as f:
+            f.seek(self.pos)
+            content = f.read()
+            self.pos = f.tell()
+        return content
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def create_server():
+    global server
+    server = ServerPreset.tinyllama2()
+    # single slot: a conversation that is not currently loaded lives ONLY
+    # in the prompt cache, which is what exposes the consume-on-load bug.
+    server.n_slots = 1
+    server.n_predict = 4
+    server.temperature = 0.0
+    server.server_slots = True
+    server.cache_ram = 100
+    # force every slot reuse through the prompt cache (save + load) instead
+    # of the in-place LCP-similarity reuse, so load() is actually exercised.
+    server.slot_prompt_similarity = 0
+    # isolate the cache save/load to get_available_slot (the idle-slot
+    # clearing path would add another save and muddy the scenario).
+    server.no_cache_idle_slots = True
+    server.debug = True
+    fd, server.log_path = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix='.log')
+    os.close(fd)
+    yield
+
+
+# A and C share a long common prefix (so a request for C matches A's cached
+# entry, f_keep >= 0.25), then diverge. B is unrelated to both.
+COMMON_AC = (
+    "Once upon a time in a quiet village by the sea there lived an old "
+    "fisherman who every morning rowed his small wooden boat out past the "
+    "harbour wall to cast his nets beneath the pale light of the rising sun."
+)
+CONV_A = COMMON_AC + (
+    " On this particular day he caught a silver fish that spoke to him and "
+    "promised three wishes in exchange for its freedom and a safe return home."
+)
+CONV_C = COMMON_AC + (
+    " But the storm clouds gathered quickly that afternoon and the waves grew "
+    "tall and angry as the wind tore the sails and scattered the frightened gulls."
+)
+CONV_B = (
+    "In a bustling city far inland a young clockmaker tinkered late into the "
+    "night with brass gears and tiny springs trying to build a machine that "
+    "could measure not the hours but the quiet weight of a person's memories."
+)
+# A continuation of A (strict superset). Used for A's return so that
+# n_past < task tokens and we avoid the identical-prompt path that, on
+# SWA / hybrid / recurrent models, cannot partially remove the final
+# token and would reset regardless of caching.
+CONV_A_CONT = CONV_A + (
+    " The fisherman closed his eyes and made his first wish very carefully."
+)
+
+
+def _total_prompt_tokens(res):
+    t = res.body["timings"]
+    return t["prompt_n"] + t["cache_n"]
+
+
+# A prompt-cache entry must survive being matched by a DIFFERENT conversation.
+# Regression test for load() consuming (erasing) the matched entry: with one
+# slot and three conversations, conversation A lives only in the cache while
+# conversation C — which shares A's prefix — is loaded. C's load must not
+# destroy A's entry, otherwise A pays a full re-prefill when it returns.
+def test_cache_entry_survives_cross_conversation_load():
+    global server
+    server.start()
+    log = LogReader(server.log_path)
+
+    # 1) Conversation A, cold. Capture its full token length.
+    res_a1 = server.make_request("POST", "/completion", data={
+        "prompt": CONV_A,
+        "cache_prompt": True,
+    })
+    assert res_a1.status_code == 200
+    assert res_a1.body["timings"]["cache_n"] == 0  # nothing cached yet
+    n_tokens_a = _total_prompt_tokens(res_a1)
+
+    # 2) Conversation B (unrelated). Selecting the slot saves A into the
+    #    cache; B does not match A, so A is parked in the cache untouched.
+    res_b = server.make_request("POST", "/completion", data={
+        "prompt": CONV_B,
+        "cache_prompt": True,
+    })
+    assert res_b.status_code == 200
+    assert "updating prompt cache" in log.drain()
+
+    # 3) Conversation C, which shares A's long prefix. Selecting the slot
+    #    saves B; loading C matches A's cached entry (f_keep >= 0.25). The
+    #    buggy behaviour erased A here; the fix keeps it.
+    res_c = server.make_request("POST", "/completion", data={
+        "prompt": CONV_C,
+        "cache_prompt": True,
+    })
+    assert res_c.status_code == 200
+    assert res_c.body["timings"]["cache_n"] > 0  # C reused A's shared prefix
+
+    # 4) Conversation A returns (as a strict superset, so n_past < task
+    #    tokens). It was only in the cache. With the fix its entry survived
+    #    step 3, so all of A is reused and only the new continuation is
+    #    processed. Without the fix A's entry was consumed in step 3 and
+    #    only the prefix A shares with C can be reused.
+    res_a2 = server.make_request("POST", "/completion", data={
+        "prompt": CONV_A_CONT,
+        "cache_prompt": True,
+    })
+    assert res_a2.status_code == 200
+    cache_n_a2 = res_a2.body["timings"]["cache_n"]
+
+    # The full original A prompt is reused from cache. Under the bug this
+    # would only be the A/C shared prefix, which is well below n_tokens_a.
+    assert cache_n_a2 >= n_tokens_a - 2
diff --git a/tools/server/tests/utils.py b/tools/server/tests/utils.py
index c5dba1c139f..2c4a2416a43 100644
--- a/tools/server/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tools/server/tests/utils.py
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ class ServerProcess:
     sleep_idle_seconds: int | None = None
     cache_ram: int | None = None
     no_cache_idle_slots: bool = False
+    slot_prompt_similarity: float | None = None
     log_path: str | None = None
     webui_mcp_proxy: bool = False
     backend_sampling: bool = False
@@ -251,6 +252,8 @@ def start(self, timeout_seconds: int = DEFAULT_HTTP_TIMEOUT) -> None:
             server_args.extend(["--cache-ram", self.cache_ram])
         if self.no_cache_idle_slots:
             server_args.append("--no-cache-idle-slots")
+        if self.slot_prompt_similarity is not None:
+            server_args.extend(["--slot-prompt-similarity", self.slot_prompt_similarity])
         if self.webui_mcp_proxy:
             server_args.append("--webui-mcp-proxy")
         if self.backend_sampling: