diff --git a/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py b/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py
index 3be24d7fb34..3f5b7a12433 100644
--- a/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py
+++ b/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ def new_kv_cache_spec(
     page_size_padded=None,
     sliding_window=None,
     attention_chunk_size=None,
+    indexes_kv_by_block_stride=False,
 ):
     return FullAttentionSpec(
         block_size=block_size,
@@ -126,6 +127,7 @@ def new_kv_cache_spec(
         page_size_padded=page_size_padded,
         sliding_window=sliding_window,
         attention_chunk_size=attention_chunk_size,
+        indexes_kv_by_block_stride=indexes_kv_by_block_stride,
     )
 
 
@@ -136,6 +138,7 @@ def new_sliding_window_spec(
     dtype=torch.float32,
     page_size_padded=None,
     sliding_window=1,
+    indexes_kv_by_block_stride=False,
 ):
     return SlidingWindowSpec(
         block_size=block_size,
@@ -144,6 +147,7 @@ def new_sliding_window_spec(
         dtype=dtype,
         page_size_padded=page_size_padded,
         sliding_window=sliding_window,
+        indexes_kv_by_block_stride=indexes_kv_by_block_stride,
     )
 
 
@@ -1799,16 +1803,38 @@ def test_get_kv_cache_config_one_worker():
         ],
     )
 
-    # different hidden size that cannot be aligned by using different block size
+    # different hidden size that cannot be aligned by using different block size,
+    # but can be aligned by padding the smaller physical page.
+    swa_spec = new_sliding_window_spec(head_size=96, indexes_kv_by_block_stride=True)
     kv_cache_specs_hybrid = {
-        "layer_1": new_kv_cache_spec(head_size=64),
-        "layer_2": new_sliding_window_spec(head_size=96),
+        "layer_1": new_kv_cache_spec(head_size=64, indexes_kv_by_block_stride=True),
+        "layer_2": swa_spec,
     }
 
-    with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
-        get_kv_cache_configs(
-            vllm_config, [kv_cache_specs_hybrid], [mem_per_block_per_layer * 2 * 32]
-        )[0]
+    kv_cache_config_hybrid = get_kv_cache_configs(
+        vllm_config, [kv_cache_specs_hybrid], [mem_per_block_per_layer * 2 * 32]
+    )[0]
+    padded_page_size = swa_spec.page_size_bytes
+    assert kv_cache_config_hybrid == KVCacheConfig(
+        num_blocks=42,
+        kv_cache_tensors=[
+            KVCacheTensor(size=padded_page_size * 42, shared_by=["layer_1", "layer_2"]),
+        ],
+        kv_cache_groups=[
+            KVCacheGroupSpec(
+                ["layer_1"],
+                new_kv_cache_spec(
+                    head_size=64,
+                    page_size_padded=padded_page_size,
+                    indexes_kv_by_block_stride=True,
+                ),
+            ),
+            KVCacheGroupSpec(
+                ["layer_2"],
+                new_sliding_window_spec(head_size=96, indexes_kv_by_block_stride=True),
+            ),
+        ],
+    )
 
     # Test num_gpu_blocks_override
     vllm_config.cache_config.num_gpu_blocks_override = 16
@@ -2322,6 +2348,75 @@ def test_check_enough_kv_cache_memory_respects_num_gpu_blocks_override():
         get_kv_cache_configs(vllm_config, [kv_cache_specs], [large_available_memory])
 
 
+def test_unify_kv_cache_page_size_uses_padding_for_non_divisible_sizes():
+    """DFlash drafters can have a smaller head size than the target model.
+
+    For example, MiMo uses 192-dim target KV heads while its DFlash draft uses
+    128-dim KV heads. The resulting page sizes are 3:2 rather than an integer
+    block-size multiple, so the smaller page must be padded instead.
+    """
+    # Both layers' backends opt into the padded-page strided view (e.g.
+    # FlashAttention / its DiffKV subclass), so padding is allowed.
+    target_spec = new_kv_cache_spec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=192,
+        dtype=torch.bfloat16,
+        indexes_kv_by_block_stride=True,
+    )
+    draft_spec = new_sliding_window_spec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=128,
+        dtype=torch.bfloat16,
+        sliding_window=1024,
+        indexes_kv_by_block_stride=True,
+    )
+
+    unified_specs = kv_cache_utils.unify_kv_cache_spec_page_size(
+        {
+            "target_attn": target_spec,
+            "draft_attn": draft_spec,
+        }
+    )
+
+    assert unified_specs["target_attn"] == target_spec
+    unified_draft_spec = unified_specs["draft_attn"]
+    assert unified_draft_spec.block_size == draft_spec.block_size
+    assert unified_draft_spec.real_page_size_bytes == draft_spec.real_page_size_bytes
+    assert unified_draft_spec.page_size_padded == target_spec.page_size_bytes
+    assert unified_draft_spec.page_size_bytes == target_spec.page_size_bytes
+
+
+def test_unify_kv_cache_page_size_padding_requires_backend_support():
+    """Padding is gated on the backend declaring ``indexes_kv_by_block_stride``.
+
+    A backend that does not support the strided padded-page view must raise
+    rather than silently padding (and misreading KV at runtime).
+    """
+    target_spec = new_kv_cache_spec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=192,
+        dtype=torch.bfloat16,
+        indexes_kv_by_block_stride=True,
+    )
+    # The non-divisible draft layer needs padding but its backend does not
+    # support the strided padded-page view -> must raise, not silently pad.
+    draft_spec = new_sliding_window_spec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=128,
+        dtype=torch.bfloat16,
+        sliding_window=1024,
+        indexes_kv_by_block_stride=False,
+    )
+    specs = {"target_attn": target_spec, "draft_attn": draft_spec}
+
+    with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+        kv_cache_utils.unify_kv_cache_spec_page_size(specs)
+
+
 def test_unify_hybrid_kv_cache_specs():
     # 1. has_full_attention and has_sliding_window
     before_spec_1 = new_kv_cache_spec()
diff --git a/tests/v1/worker/test_attn_utils.py b/tests/v1/worker/test_attn_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7e65d650f7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/v1/worker/test_attn_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright contributors to the vLLM project
+
+import torch
+
+from vllm.v1.kv_cache_interface import FullAttentionSpec, KVQuantMode
+from vllm.v1.worker.gpu.attn_utils import _reshape_kv_cache
+from vllm.v1.worker.utils import AttentionGroup
+
+
+class FakeFlashAttentionBackend:
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_kv_cache_shape(
+        num_blocks: int,
+        block_size: int,
+        num_kv_heads: int,
+        head_size: int,
+        cache_dtype_str: str = "auto",
+    ) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+        return (num_blocks, 2, block_size, num_kv_heads, head_size)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_kv_cache_stride_order(
+        include_num_layers_dimension: bool = False,
+    ) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+        assert not include_num_layers_dimension
+        return (0, 1, 2, 3, 4)
+
+
+class FakeHNDFlashAttentionBackend(FakeFlashAttentionBackend):
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_kv_cache_stride_order(
+        include_num_layers_dimension: bool = False,
+    ) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+        assert not include_num_layers_dimension
+        return (0, 1, 3, 2, 4)
+
+
+def test_reshape_padded_flash_attention_kv_cache_strides_by_page():
+    num_blocks = 3
+    spec = FullAttentionSpec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=2,
+        dtype=torch.float32,
+        page_size_padded=384,
+    )
+    assert spec.real_page_size_bytes == 256
+
+    raw_tensors = {
+        "layer": torch.zeros(spec.page_size_bytes * num_blocks, dtype=torch.int8)
+    }
+    attn_groups = [
+        AttentionGroup(
+            backend=FakeFlashAttentionBackend,
+            layer_names=["layer"],
+            kv_cache_spec=spec,
+            kv_cache_group_id=0,
+        )
+    ]
+
+    kv_cache = _reshape_kv_cache(
+        attn_groups,
+        raw_tensors,
+        "auto",
+        [spec.block_size],
+        {},
+    )["layer"]
+
+    assert kv_cache.shape == (num_blocks, 2, 16, 1, 2)
+    assert kv_cache.stride(0) == spec.page_size_bytes // 4
+    assert kv_cache.stride(1) == spec.real_page_size_bytes // 2 // 4
+    assert kv_cache[1, 0].storage_offset() == spec.page_size_bytes // 4
+    assert (
+        kv_cache[1, 1].storage_offset()
+        == (spec.page_size_bytes + spec.real_page_size_bytes // 2) // 4
+    )
+
+
+def test_reshape_padded_hnd_flash_attention_kv_cache_strides_by_page():
+    num_blocks = 3
+    spec = FullAttentionSpec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=3,
+        head_size=2,
+        dtype=torch.float32,
+        page_size_padded=1024,
+    )
+    assert spec.real_page_size_bytes == 768
+
+    raw_tensors = {
+        "layer": torch.zeros(spec.page_size_bytes * num_blocks, dtype=torch.int8)
+    }
+    attn_groups = [
+        AttentionGroup(
+            backend=FakeHNDFlashAttentionBackend,
+            layer_names=["layer"],
+            kv_cache_spec=spec,
+            kv_cache_group_id=0,
+        )
+    ]
+
+    kv_cache = _reshape_kv_cache(
+        attn_groups,
+        raw_tensors,
+        "auto",
+        [spec.block_size],
+        {},
+    )["layer"]
+
+    assert kv_cache.shape == (num_blocks, 2, 16, 3, 2)
+    assert kv_cache.stride(0) == spec.page_size_bytes // 4
+    assert kv_cache.stride(1) == spec.real_page_size_bytes // 2 // 4
+    assert kv_cache.stride(2) == 2
+    assert kv_cache.stride(3) == spec.block_size * spec.head_size
+    assert kv_cache[1, 0].storage_offset() == spec.page_size_bytes // 4
+    assert (
+        kv_cache[1, 1].storage_offset()
+        == (spec.page_size_bytes + spec.real_page_size_bytes // 2) // 4
+    )
+    assert (
+        kv_cache[1, 1, 3, 2].storage_offset()
+        == (
+            spec.page_size_bytes
+            + spec.real_page_size_bytes // 2
+            + 3 * spec.head_size * 4
+            + 2 * spec.block_size * spec.head_size * 4
+        )
+        // 4
+    )
+
+
+class FakeDiffKVBackend:
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_kv_cache_shape(
+        num_blocks: int,
+        block_size: int,
+        num_kv_heads: int,
+        head_size: int,
+        cache_dtype_str: str = "auto",
+    ) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+        return (num_blocks, block_size, num_kv_heads, head_size * 2)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_kv_cache_stride_order(
+        include_num_layers_dimension: bool = False,
+    ) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+        assert not include_num_layers_dimension
+        return (0, 1, 2, 3)
+
+
+def test_reshape_padded_diff_kv_cache_does_not_infer_kv_dim():
+    num_blocks = 3
+    spec = FullAttentionSpec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=2,
+        dtype=torch.float32,
+        page_size_padded=384,
+    )
+
+    raw_tensors = {
+        "layer": torch.zeros(spec.page_size_bytes * num_blocks, dtype=torch.int8)
+    }
+    attn_groups = [
+        AttentionGroup(
+            backend=FakeDiffKVBackend,
+            layer_names=["layer"],
+            kv_cache_spec=spec,
+            kv_cache_group_id=0,
+        )
+    ]
+
+    kv_cache = _reshape_kv_cache(
+        attn_groups,
+        raw_tensors,
+        "auto",
+        [spec.block_size],
+        {},
+    )["layer"]
+
+    assert kv_cache.shape == (num_blocks, 16, 1, 4)
+    assert kv_cache.stride(0) == spec.page_size_bytes // 4
+    assert kv_cache.stride(1) == 4
+
+
+class FakePerTokenScaleBackend:
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_kv_cache_shape(
+        num_blocks: int,
+        block_size: int,
+        num_kv_heads: int,
+        head_size: int,
+        cache_dtype_str: str = "auto",
+    ) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+        return (num_blocks, 2, block_size, num_kv_heads, head_size + 4)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_kv_cache_stride_order(
+        include_num_layers_dimension: bool = False,
+    ) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+        assert not include_num_layers_dimension
+        return (0, 1, 2, 3, 4)
+
+
+def test_reshape_padded_quantized_kv_cache_preserves_scale_stride():
+    num_blocks = 3
+    spec = FullAttentionSpec(
+        block_size=16,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=4,
+        dtype=torch.int8,
+        kv_quant_mode=KVQuantMode.INT8_PER_TOKEN_HEAD,
+        page_size_padded=384,
+    )
+    assert spec.real_page_size_bytes == 128
+    assert spec.page_size_bytes == 384
+
+    raw_tensors = {
+        "layer": torch.zeros(spec.page_size_bytes * num_blocks, dtype=torch.int8)
+    }
+    attn_groups = [
+        AttentionGroup(
+            backend=FakePerTokenScaleBackend,
+            layer_names=["layer"],
+            kv_cache_spec=spec,
+            kv_cache_group_id=0,
+        )
+    ]
+
+    kv_cache = _reshape_kv_cache(
+        attn_groups,
+        raw_tensors,
+        "int8_per_token_head",
+        [spec.block_size],
+        {},
+    )["layer"]
+
+    assert kv_cache.shape == (num_blocks, 2, 16, 1, 8)
+    assert kv_cache.stride(0) == spec.page_size_bytes
+    assert kv_cache.stride(1) == 16 * 1 * 8
+    assert kv_cache[1, 1].storage_offset() == spec.page_size_bytes + 16 * 1 * 8
diff --git a/vllm/v1/attention/backend.py b/vllm/v1/attention/backend.py
index 03a203a1bcf..ebf607b65a7 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/attention/backend.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/attention/backend.py
@@ -201,6 +201,38 @@ class AttentionBackend(ABC):
 
         return min(s.base if isinstance(s, MultipleOf) else s for s in supported_sizes)
 
+    @classmethod
+    def indexes_kv_by_block_stride(cls) -> bool:
+        """Whether the backend reads KV pages by the runtime block stride.
+
+        True when ``num_blocks`` is the outermost physical dimension of the KV
+        cache, so the backend tolerates a non-contiguous block dim. This gates
+        page size padding and cross-layer uniform KV layout.
+
+        Returns:
+            True if the backend's physical KV layout is num-blocks-first. False
+            otherwise, including when the backend does not define a layered
+            stride order.
+        """
+        try:
+            kv_cache_stride_order = cls.get_kv_cache_stride_order(
+                include_num_layers_dimension=False
+            )
+            layered_kv_cache_stride_order = cls.get_kv_cache_stride_order(
+                include_num_layers_dimension=True
+            )
+        except (AttributeError, NotImplementedError):
+            return False
+
+        # Check that attention backend includes a layers dimension.
+        if len(layered_kv_cache_stride_order) != len(kv_cache_stride_order) + 1:
+            return False
+
+        # stride_order[0] == 0 means num_layers stays first in physical
+        # layout (identity permutation), so indexing by block stride is
+        # not supported.
+        return layered_kv_cache_stride_order[0] != 0
+
     @classmethod
     def is_mla(cls) -> bool:
         return False
diff --git a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
index 4e1d28d7d5d..95b8fba4ccf 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from vllm.utils.math_utils import cdiv, round_up
 from vllm.utils.mem_utils import format_gib
 from vllm.utils.torch_utils import get_dtype_size
 from vllm.v1.kv_cache_interface import (
+    AttentionSpec,
     ChunkedLocalAttentionSpec,
     FullAttentionSpec,
     HiddenStateCacheSpec,
@@ -1029,9 +1030,14 @@ def unify_kv_cache_spec_page_size(
 ) -> dict[str, KVCacheSpec]:
     """
     Unify the page size of the given KVCacheSpec. If the page size of all layers
-    are the same, return the original KVCacheSpec. If not same, unify the page
-    size by increasing the block size of layers with smaller page size. Raise
-    NotImplementedError if failed to unify the page size.
+    are the same, return the original KVCacheSpec. If not same, first try to
+    unify page size by increasing the block size of layers with smaller page
+    size. If a smaller attention page does not evenly divide the maximum page
+    size, keep its logical block size and pad its physical page instead --- but
+    only for attention layers whose backend opts in via
+    ``AttentionSpec.indexes_kv_by_block_stride`` (the padded page is read through
+    a strided view, which not every backend handles). Raise NotImplementedError
+    if failed to unify the page size.
 
     Args:
         kv_cache_spec: The KVCacheSpec of each attention layer in the model
@@ -1051,14 +1057,23 @@ def unify_kv_cache_spec_page_size(
             new_kv_cache_spec[layer_name] = layer_spec
         else:
             layer_page_size = layer_spec.page_size_bytes
-            if max_page_size % layer_page_size != 0:
+            if max_page_size % layer_page_size == 0:
+                ratio = max_page_size // layer_page_size
+                new_block_size = layer_spec.block_size * ratio
+                new_spec = replace(layer_spec, block_size=new_block_size)
+            elif (
+                isinstance(layer_spec, AttentionSpec)
+                and layer_spec.indexes_kv_by_block_stride
+            ):
+                new_spec = replace(layer_spec, page_size_padded=max_page_size)
+            else:
                 raise NotImplementedError(
-                    "The page size of the layer is not divisible by the "
-                    "maximum page size. Cannot unify by adjusting block_size."
+                    f"Layer {layer_name}: page size is not divisible by the "
+                    "maximum page size and cannot be padded. Padding is only "
+                    "supported for attention layers whose backend indexes KV "
+                    "pages by the block stride (indexes_kv_by_block_stride is "
+                    "True)."
                 )
-            ratio = max_page_size // layer_page_size
-            new_block_size = layer_spec.block_size * ratio
-            new_spec = replace(layer_spec, block_size=new_block_size)
             assert new_spec.page_size_bytes == max_page_size
             new_kv_cache_spec[layer_name] = new_spec
     return new_kv_cache_spec
diff --git a/vllm/v1/kv_cache_interface.py b/vllm/v1/kv_cache_interface.py
index 2e779b2c2a4..5a2a5c5e298 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/kv_cache_interface.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/kv_cache_interface.py
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ class AttentionSpec(KVCacheSpec):
     dtype: torch.dtype
     kv_quant_mode: KVQuantMode = KVQuantMode.NONE
     page_size_padded: int | None = None
+    indexes_kv_by_block_stride: bool = False
 
     @property
     def page_size_bytes(self) -> int:
@@ -283,6 +284,7 @@ class FullAttentionSpec(AttentionSpec):
             dtype=specs[0].dtype,
             kv_quant_mode=specs[0].kv_quant_mode,
             page_size_padded=specs[0].page_size_padded,
+            indexes_kv_by_block_stride=specs[0].indexes_kv_by_block_stride,
             sliding_window=cls.merge_window_sizes(sliding_window),
             attention_chunk_size=cls.merge_window_sizes(attention_chunk_size),
             # If any layer in the group is non-causal, treat the group as
@@ -403,13 +405,16 @@ class MLAAttentionSpec(FullAttentionSpec):
         cache_dtype_str_set = set(spec.cache_dtype_str for spec in specs)
         compress_ratio_set = set(spec.compress_ratio for spec in specs)
         model_version_set = set(spec.model_version for spec in specs)
+        block_stride_set = set(spec.indexes_kv_by_block_stride for spec in specs)
         assert (
             len(cache_dtype_str_set) == 1
             and len(compress_ratio_set) == 1
             and len(model_version_set) == 1
+            and len(block_stride_set) == 1
         ), (
             "All attention layers in the same KV cache group must use the same "
-            "quantization method, compress ratio, and model version."
+            "quantization method, compress ratio, model version, and KV block "
+            "stride indexing."
         )
         return cls(
             block_size=specs[0].block_size,
@@ -418,6 +423,7 @@ class MLAAttentionSpec(FullAttentionSpec):
             dtype=specs[0].dtype,
             kv_quant_mode=specs[0].kv_quant_mode,
             page_size_padded=specs[0].page_size_padded,
+            indexes_kv_by_block_stride=block_stride_set.pop(),
             cache_dtype_str=cache_dtype_str_set.pop(),
             compress_ratio=compress_ratio_set.pop(),
             model_version=model_version_set.pop(),
@@ -584,15 +590,17 @@ class SlidingWindowMLASpec(SlidingWindowSpec):
         compress_ratio_set = set(spec.compress_ratio for spec in specs)
         model_version_set = set(spec.model_version for spec in specs)
         sliding_window_set = set(spec.sliding_window for spec in specs)
+        block_stride_set = set(spec.indexes_kv_by_block_stride for spec in specs)
         assert (
             len(cache_dtype_str_set) == 1
             and len(compress_ratio_set) == 1
             and len(model_version_set) == 1
             and len(sliding_window_set) == 1
+            and len(block_stride_set) == 1
         ), (
             "All attention layers in the same KV cache group must use the same "
-            "quantization method, compress ratio, model version and sliding "
-            "window size."
+            "quantization method, compress ratio, model version, sliding "
+            "window size, and KV block stride indexing."
         )
         return cls(
             block_size=specs[0].block_size,
@@ -600,6 +608,7 @@ class SlidingWindowMLASpec(SlidingWindowSpec):
             head_size=specs[0].head_size,
             dtype=specs[0].dtype,
             page_size_padded=specs[0].page_size_padded,
+            indexes_kv_by_block_stride=block_stride_set.pop(),
             sliding_window=sliding_window_set.pop(),
             cache_dtype_str=cache_dtype_str_set.pop(),
             compress_ratio=compress_ratio_set.pop(),
@@ -711,6 +720,7 @@ class SinkFullAttentionSpec(FullAttentionSpec):
             dtype=specs[0].dtype,
             kv_quant_mode=specs[0].kv_quant_mode,
             page_size_padded=specs[0].page_size_padded,
+            indexes_kv_by_block_stride=specs[0].indexes_kv_by_block_stride,
             sliding_window=cls.merge_window_sizes(sliding_window),
             attention_chunk_size=cls.merge_window_sizes(attention_chunk_size),
             non_causal=any(spec.non_causal for spec in specs),
diff --git a/vllm/v1/worker/gpu/attn_utils.py b/vllm/v1/worker/gpu/attn_utils.py
index 7b85e6fa316..737feb7d277 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/worker/gpu/attn_utils.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/worker/gpu/attn_utils.py
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright contributors to the vLLM project
 from collections.abc import Iterable, Sequence
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import dataclass, replace
 from math import prod
 from typing import Any, cast
 
 import torch
 
-from vllm.config import VllmConfig, get_layers_from_vllm_config
+from vllm.config import (
+    VllmConfig,
+    get_layers_from_vllm_config,
+    set_current_vllm_config,
+)
 from vllm.model_executor.layers.attention import Attention
 from vllm.model_executor.layers.attention_layer_base import AttentionLayerBase
 from vllm.utils.torch_utils import get_dtype_size
@@ -47,6 +51,13 @@ def get_kv_cache_spec(vllm_config: VllmConfig) -> dict[str, KVCacheSpec]:
             continue
         # Skip modules that don't need KV cache (eg encoder-only attention)
         if spec := attn_module.get_kv_cache_spec(vllm_config):
+            if isinstance(spec, AttentionSpec):
+                backend = attn_module.get_attn_backend()
+                # indexes_kv_by_block_stride() -> get_kv_cache_stride_order() ->
+                # get_kv_cache_layout() needs the current vLLM config.
+                with set_current_vllm_config(vllm_config):
+                    indexes = backend.indexes_kv_by_block_stride()
+                spec = replace(spec, indexes_kv_by_block_stride=indexes)
             kv_cache_spec[layer_name] = spec
     return kv_cache_spec
 
@@ -180,6 +191,62 @@ def _allocate_kv_cache(
     return kv_cache_raw_tensors
 
 
+def _reshape_attention_kv_cache(
+    kv_raw_tensor: torch.Tensor,
+    kv_cache_spec: AttentionSpec,
+    kv_cache_shape: tuple[int, ...],
+    kv_cache_stride_order: tuple[int, ...],
+    num_blocks: int,
+    packing: tuple[int, int] | None,
+) -> torch.Tensor:
+    permuted_kv_cache_shape = tuple(kv_cache_shape[i] for i in kv_cache_stride_order)
+    inv_order = [
+        kv_cache_stride_order.index(i) for i in range(len(kv_cache_stride_order))
+    ]
+    dtype = kv_cache_spec.dtype
+
+    if packing is not None:
+        offset, block_stride = packing
+        assert inv_order[0] == 0
+        page_bytes = prod(kv_cache_shape[1:]) * get_dtype_size(dtype)
+        kv_cache = (
+            kv_raw_tensor.view(-1, block_stride)[:, offset : offset + page_bytes]
+            .view(dtype)
+            .view(kv_cache_shape)
+        )
+    elif kv_cache_spec.page_size_padded is not None:
+        # Use a strided view to skip the padding between physical pages.
+        #
+        # Only num-blocks-first layouts are supported (the block dimension is
+        # dim 0 of the unpermuted shape). kv-first layouts such as ROCm's
+        # ``(2, num_blocks, ...)`` are intentionally not supported here. For a
+        # num-blocks-first layout the only stride that must change is the block
+        # stride: every other (contiguous) stride already steps within the
+        # unpadded region of a page, so no further adjustment is needed.
+        assert kv_cache_shape[0] == num_blocks, (
+            "Padded KV pages require a num-blocks-first KV cache layout (got "
+            f"shape {kv_cache_shape} with num_blocks={num_blocks}); "
+            "kv-first layouts are not supported."
+        )
+        dtype_size = get_dtype_size(kv_cache_spec.dtype)
+        page_stride = kv_cache_spec.page_size_bytes // dtype_size
+
+        num_blocks_dim = inv_order[0]
+        strides = list(torch.empty(permuted_kv_cache_shape).stride())
+        strides[num_blocks_dim] = page_stride
+
+        kv_cache = torch.as_strided(
+            kv_raw_tensor.view(dtype),
+            size=permuted_kv_cache_shape,
+            stride=tuple(strides),
+        )
+    else:
+        # No padding — safe to use a contiguous view.
+        kv_cache = kv_raw_tensor.view(dtype).view(permuted_kv_cache_shape)
+
+    return kv_cache.permute(*inv_order)
+
+
 def _reshape_kv_cache(
     attn_groups: Sequence[AttentionGroup],
     kv_cache_raw_tensors: dict[str, torch.Tensor],
@@ -248,45 +315,14 @@ def _reshape_kv_cache(
                 except (AttributeError, NotImplementedError):
                     kv_cache_stride_order = tuple(range(len(kv_cache_shape)))
 
-                kv_cache_shape = tuple(kv_cache_shape[i] for i in kv_cache_stride_order)
-                inv_order = [
-                    kv_cache_stride_order.index(i)
-                    for i in range(len(kv_cache_stride_order))
-                ]
-
-                dtype = kv_cache_spec.dtype
-                if packing is not None:
-                    offset, block_stride = packing
-                    assert inv_order[0] == 0
-                    page_bytes = prod(kv_cache_shape[1:]) * get_dtype_size(dtype)
-                    kv_cache = (
-                        kv_raw_tensor.view(-1, block_stride)[
-                            :, offset : offset + page_bytes
-                        ]
-                        .view(dtype)
-                        .view(kv_cache_shape)
-                    )
-                elif kv_cache_spec.page_size_padded is not None:
-                    # Use strided view to handle page_size_bytes that
-                    # include padding. This follows the same pattern as
-                    # MambaSpec handling in gpu_model_runner.py.
-                    # NOTE: This assumes kv_cache_shape[0] == num_blocks
-                    # (i.e. the first physical dimension is the block
-                    # index), which holds for all current backends
-                    # (MLA, FlashAttention, TritonAttention, etc.).
-                    dtype_size = get_dtype_size(dtype)
-                    page_stride = kv_cache_spec.page_size_bytes // dtype_size
-                    strides = list(torch.empty(kv_cache_shape).stride())
-                    strides[inv_order[0]] = page_stride
-                    kv_cache = torch.as_strided(
-                        kv_raw_tensor.view(dtype),
-                        size=kv_cache_shape,
-                        stride=tuple(strides),
-                    )
-                else:
-                    # No padding — safe to use a contiguous view.
-                    kv_cache = kv_raw_tensor.view(dtype).view(kv_cache_shape)
-                kv_caches[layer_name] = kv_cache.permute(*inv_order)
+                kv_caches[layer_name] = _reshape_attention_kv_cache(
+                    kv_raw_tensor,
+                    kv_cache_spec,
+                    kv_cache_shape,
+                    kv_cache_stride_order,
+                    kernel_num_blocks,
+                    packing,
+                )
 
             elif isinstance(kv_cache_spec, MambaSpec):
                 has_mamba = True
diff --git a/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py b/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py
index b554542e65d..0b72870fc4d 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ from contextlib import contextmanager
 from copy import copy, deepcopy
 from dataclasses import dataclass, replace
 from functools import reduce
-from math import prod
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, NamedTuple, TypeAlias, cast
 
 import numpy as np
@@ -203,6 +202,7 @@ from vllm.v1.worker.cp_utils import (
 )
 from vllm.v1.worker.dp_utils import coordinate_batch_across_dp
 from vllm.v1.worker.ec_connector_model_runner_mixin import ECConnectorModelRunnerMixin
+from vllm.v1.worker.gpu.attn_utils import _reshape_attention_kv_cache
 from vllm.v1.worker.gpu.pool.late_interaction_runner import LateInteractionRunner
 from vllm.v1.worker.gpu_input_batch import CachedRequestState, InputBatch
 from vllm.v1.worker.gpu_ubatch_wrapper import UBatchWrapper
@@ -7125,62 +7125,20 @@ class GPUModelRunner(
                         kv_cache_spec.head_size,
                         cache_dtype_str=self.cache_config.cache_dtype,
                     )
-                    dtype = kv_cache_spec.dtype
                     try:
                         kv_cache_stride_order = attn_backend.get_kv_cache_stride_order()
                         assert len(kv_cache_stride_order) == len(kv_cache_shape)
                     except (AttributeError, NotImplementedError):
                         kv_cache_stride_order = tuple(range(len(kv_cache_shape)))
-                    # The allocation respects the backend-defined stride order
-                    # to ensure the semantic remains consistent for each
-                    # backend. We first obtain the generic kv cache shape and
-                    # then permute it according to the stride order which could
-                    # result in a non-contiguous tensor.
-                    kv_cache_shape = tuple(
-                        kv_cache_shape[i] for i in kv_cache_stride_order
+                    raw_tensor = kv_cache_raw_tensors[layer_name]
+                    kv_caches[layer_name] = _reshape_attention_kv_cache(
+                        raw_tensor,
+                        kv_cache_spec,
+                        kv_cache_shape,
+                        kv_cache_stride_order,
+                        kernel_num_blocks,
+                        packing,
                     )
-                    # Maintain original KV shape view.
-                    inv_order = [
-                        kv_cache_stride_order.index(i)
-                        for i in range(len(kv_cache_stride_order))
-                    ]
-
-                    if packing is not None:
-                        offset, block_stride = packing
-                        assert inv_order[0] == 0
-                        page_bytes = prod(kv_cache_shape[1:]) * get_dtype_size(dtype)
-                        kv_cache = (
-                            kv_cache_raw_tensors[layer_name]
-                            .view(-1, block_stride)[:, offset : offset + page_bytes]
-                            .view(dtype)
-                            .view(kv_cache_shape)
-                        )
-                    elif kv_cache_spec.page_size_padded is not None:
-                        # Use strided view to handle page_size_bytes that
-                        # include padding. This follows
-                        # the same pattern as MambaSpec handling below.
-                        # NOTE: This assumes kv_cache_shape[0] == num_blocks
-                        # (i.e. the first physical dimension is the block
-                        # index), which holds for MLA backends but NOT for
-                        # standard attention backends whose shape starts with
-                        # a K/V dimension of size 2.
-                        dtype_size = get_dtype_size(dtype)
-                        page_stride = kv_cache_spec.page_size_bytes // dtype_size
-                        strides = list(torch.empty(kv_cache_shape).stride())
-                        strides[inv_order[0]] = page_stride
-                        kv_cache = torch.as_strided(
-                            kv_cache_raw_tensors[layer_name].view(dtype),
-                            size=kv_cache_shape,
-                            stride=tuple(strides),
-                        )
-                    else:
-                        # No padding — safe to use a contiguous view.
-                        kv_cache = (
-                            kv_cache_raw_tensors[layer_name]
-                            .view(dtype)
-                            .view(kv_cache_shape)
-                        )
-                    kv_caches[layer_name] = kv_cache.permute(*inv_order)
 
                 elif isinstance(kv_cache_spec, MambaSpec):
                     has_mamba = True
@@ -7265,7 +7223,7 @@ class GPUModelRunner(
 
         # Try creating KV caches optimized for kv-connector transfers
         cache_dtype = self.cache_config.cache_dtype
-        if self.use_uniform_kv_cache(self.attn_groups, cache_dtype):
+        if self.use_uniform_kv_cache(self.attn_groups):
             kv_caches, cross_layers_kv_cache, attn_backend = (
                 self.allocate_uniform_kv_caches(
                     kv_cache_config,
@@ -7515,6 +7473,13 @@ class GPUModelRunner(
                 continue
             # Skip modules that don't need KV cache (eg encoder-only attention)
             if spec := attn_module.get_kv_cache_spec(self.vllm_config):
+                if isinstance(spec, AttentionSpec):
+                    backend = attn_module.get_attn_backend()
+                    # indexes_kv_by_block_stride() -> get_kv_cache_stride_order()
+                    # -> get_kv_cache_layout() needs the current vLLM config.
+                    with set_current_vllm_config(self.vllm_config):
+                        indexes = backend.indexes_kv_by_block_stride()
+                    spec = replace(spec, indexes_kv_by_block_stride=indexes)
                 kv_cache_spec[layer_name] = spec
 
         return kv_cache_spec
diff --git a/vllm/v1/worker/kv_connector_model_runner_mixin.py b/vllm/v1/worker/kv_connector_model_runner_mixin.py
index 797e59c0290..c2c54e647df 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/worker/kv_connector_model_runner_mixin.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/worker/kv_connector_model_runner_mixin.py
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ class KVConnectorModelRunnerMixin:
     @staticmethod
     def use_uniform_kv_cache(
         attn_groups: list[list[AttentionGroup]],
-        cache_dtype: CacheDType,
     ) -> bool:
         """
         Determines whether a uniform KV layout should be used.
@@ -128,9 +127,9 @@ class KVConnectorModelRunnerMixin:
             have the same page size.
         2. A KV connector is configured, and the KV connector instance prefers
             to use this layout (prefer_cross_layer_blocks() returns True)
-        2. The flash attention backend supports this layout
-            (get_kv_cache_stride_order(True) includes a placement for a
-            num_layers dimension)
+        3. The attention backend indexes KV by the block stride
+            (kv_cache_spec.indexes_kv_by_block_stride), i.e. num_blocks is the
+            outermost physical dim so per-block all-layers data is contiguous.
 
         Note that the actual placement of the num_layers dimensions
         in the unified layers tensors will be determined by the attention
@@ -140,7 +139,6 @@ class KVConnectorModelRunnerMixin:
 
         Args:
             attn_groups: The list of attention groups for this model
-            cache_dtype: The KV cache dtype
         Returns:
             True if we should use a uniform KV cache layout.
         """
@@ -157,30 +155,7 @@ class KVConnectorModelRunnerMixin:
         kv_cache_spec = attn_group.kv_cache_spec
         if not isinstance(kv_cache_spec, AttentionSpec):
             return False
-
-        attn_backend = attn_group.backend
-        kv_cache_shape = attn_backend.get_kv_cache_shape(
-            1234,
-            kv_cache_spec.block_size,
-            kv_cache_spec.num_kv_heads,
-            kv_cache_spec.head_size,
-            cache_dtype_str=cache_dtype,
-        )
-
-        try:
-            kv_cache_stride_order = attn_backend.get_kv_cache_stride_order(
-                include_num_layers_dimension=True
-            )
-        except (AttributeError, NotImplementedError):
-            return False
-
-        # check that attention backend includes a layers dimension
-        if len(kv_cache_stride_order) != len(kv_cache_shape) + 1:
-            return False
-
-        # stride_order[0] == 0 means num_layers stays first in physical
-        # layout (identity permutation), so cross-layer is unsupported.
-        return kv_cache_stride_order[0] != 0
+        return kv_cache_spec.indexes_kv_by_block_stride
 
     @staticmethod
     def allocate_uniform_kv_caches(