diff --git a/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py b/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py
index 1489315ec2..6a0b6393a2 100644
--- a/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py
+++ b/tests/v1/core/test_kv_cache_utils.py
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ from vllm.v1.core.kv_cache_utils import (
     hash_block_tokens,
     init_none_hash,
     make_block_hash_with_group_id,
+    null_head_len,
     tensor_data,
     to_event_extra_keys,
 )
@@ -2156,3 +2157,20 @@ def test_wrapped_mamba_group_requires_block_zeroing():
     )
 
     assert config.needs_kv_cache_zeroing
+
+
+def test_null_head_len():
+    null = KVCacheBlock(0, is_null=True)
+    real = [KVCacheBlock(i) for i in range(1, 4)]
+    tables = [
+        [],
+        real,
+        [null] * 5,
+        [null] * 5 + real,
+        [null] * 2 + real[:1] + [null] * 3 + real[1:],  # not one contiguous head
+    ]
+    for table in tables:
+        expected = next((i for i, b in enumerate(table) if not b.is_null), len(table))
+        assert null_head_len(table) == expected
+    blocks = KVCacheBlocks(([null] * 4 + real, [null] + real[:1] + [null]))
+    assert blocks.get_unhashed_block_ids_all_groups() == [[1, 2, 3], [1]]
diff --git a/tests/v1/core/test_single_type_kv_cache_manager.py b/tests/v1/core/test_single_type_kv_cache_manager.py
index cd4581dcef..5f9f1abf4c 100644
--- a/tests/v1/core/test_single_type_kv_cache_manager.py
+++ b/tests/v1/core/test_single_type_kv_cache_manager.py
@@ -1012,3 +1012,35 @@ def test_predictor_matches_allocator_blocks_calculation_with_admission_cap():
             f"but allocator pulled {len(new_blocks)}"
         )
         total_computed = num_tokens
+
+
+def test_pop_blocks_for_free_trims_null_head():
+    block_size = 2
+    spec = SlidingWindowSpec(
+        block_size=block_size,
+        num_kv_heads=1,
+        head_size=1,
+        dtype=torch.float32,
+        sliding_window=4,
+    )
+    block_pool = BlockPool(
+        num_gpu_blocks=10, enable_caching=True, hash_block_size=block_size
+    )
+    manager = get_sliding_window_manager(spec, block_pool)
+    null = block_pool.null_block
+    real = block_pool.get_new_blocks(2)
+    manager.req_to_blocks["swa"] = [null] * 3 + real
+    manager.req_to_blocks["dense"] = dense = block_pool.get_new_blocks(2)
+
+    assert manager.pop_blocks_for_free("swa") == real
+    assert manager.pop_blocks_for_free("dense") is dense  # no null head, no copy
+    assert "swa" not in manager.req_to_blocks
+    assert all(b.ref_cnt == 1 for b in real + dense)
+
+    # The null block is never pooled, so touch / free_blocks leave it alone.
+    null_ref_cnt = null.ref_cnt
+    num_free_blocks = block_pool.get_num_free_blocks()
+    block_pool.touch([null])
+    block_pool.free_blocks([null])
+    assert null.ref_cnt == null_ref_cnt
+    assert block_pool.get_num_free_blocks() == num_free_blocks
diff --git a/vllm/v1/core/block_pool.py b/vllm/v1/core/block_pool.py
index 3b0102fe84..41839bd1f7 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/core/block_pool.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/core/block_pool.py
@@ -759,9 +759,11 @@ class BlockPool:
 
         """
         for block in blocks:
+            if block.is_null:
+                continue
             # ref_cnt=0 means this block is in the free list (i.e. eviction
             # candidate), so remove it.
-            if block.ref_cnt == 0 and not block.is_null:
+            if block.ref_cnt == 0:
                 self.free_block_queue.remove(block)
             block.ref_cnt += 1
             if self.metrics_collector:
@@ -785,11 +787,13 @@ class BlockPool:
         blocks_to_evict_first = []
         other_pools: dict[BlockPool, list[KVCacheBlock]] = {}
         for block in ordered_blocks:
+            if block.is_null:  # never pooled; its ref_cnt is not maintained
+                continue
             if block.pool is not None and block.pool is not self:
                 other_pools.setdefault(block.pool, []).append(block)
                 continue
             block.ref_cnt -= 1
-            if block.ref_cnt == 0 and not block.is_null:
+            if block.ref_cnt == 0:
                 if block.block_hash is None or not self.enable_caching:
                     # LIFO reuse of non-cached blocks for better GPU locality.
                     blocks_to_evict_first.append(block)
diff --git a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_manager.py b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_manager.py
index 4f472170a8..0ac1c38818 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_manager.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_manager.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from vllm.v1.core.kv_cache_coordinator import (
     get_kv_cache_coordinator,
 )
 from vllm.v1.core.kv_cache_metrics import KVCacheMetricsCollector
-from vllm.v1.core.kv_cache_utils import KVCacheBlock, KVCacheBlockCopy
+from vllm.v1.core.kv_cache_utils import KVCacheBlock, KVCacheBlockCopy, trim_null_head
 from vllm.v1.core.single_type_kv_cache_manager import MambaManager
 from vllm.v1.kv_cache_interface import (
     AttentionSpec,
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class KVCacheBlocks:
         return [
             [
                 block.block_id
-                for block in group
+                for block in trim_null_head(group)
                 if block.block_hash is None and not block.is_null
             ]
             for group in self.blocks
diff --git a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
index 5c51a8d131..aadc9cda57 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
@@ -8,7 +8,15 @@ import math
 import os
 from collections.abc import Callable, Iterable, Iterator, Sequence
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field, replace
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, NamedTuple, NewType, TypeAlias, overload
+from typing import (
+    TYPE_CHECKING,
+    Any,
+    NamedTuple,
+    NewType,
+    TypeAlias,
+    TypeVar,
+    overload,
+)
 
 from vllm import envs
 from vllm.config import VllmConfig
@@ -216,6 +224,32 @@ class KVCacheBlock:
         )
 
 
+def null_head_len(blocks: Sequence[KVCacheBlock]) -> int:
+    """Number of leading null blocks, e.g. a sliding-window table's skipped prefix."""
+    if not blocks or not blocks[0].is_null:
+        return 0
+    lo, hi = 1, len(blocks)
+    while lo < hi:
+        mid = (lo + hi) // 2
+        if blocks[mid].is_null:
+            lo = mid + 1
+        else:
+            hi = mid
+    # All null entries are one shared object, so count() checks the run at C speed.
+    if blocks[:lo].count(blocks[0]) == lo:
+        return lo
+    return next(i for i, b in enumerate(blocks) if not b.is_null)
+
+
+_BlockSeq = TypeVar("_BlockSeq", list[KVCacheBlock], Sequence[KVCacheBlock])
+
+
+def trim_null_head(blocks: _BlockSeq) -> _BlockSeq:
+    """``blocks`` without its leading null blocks; ``blocks`` itself if none."""
+    nhl = null_head_len(blocks)
+    return blocks[nhl:] if nhl else blocks
+
+
 class KVCacheBlockCopy(NamedTuple):
     src_block_id: int
     dst_block_id: int
diff --git a/vllm/v1/core/single_type_kv_cache_manager.py b/vllm/v1/core/single_type_kv_cache_manager.py
index 28a7a1106f..a583abb61e 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/core/single_type_kv_cache_manager.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/core/single_type_kv_cache_manager.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from vllm.v1.core.kv_cache_utils import (
     BlockHashWithGroupId,
     KVCacheBlock,
     resolve_block_hashes,
+    trim_null_head,
 )
 from vllm.v1.hisparse.block_pool import SharedEventQueueBlockPool
 from vllm.v1.kv_cache_interface import (
@@ -569,14 +570,15 @@ class SingleTypeKVCacheManager(ABC):
             request_id: The request ID.
 
         Returns:
-            The request's blocks in allocation order.
+            The request's blocks in allocation order, without the leading
+            null blocks (e.g. a sliding-window table's skipped prefix).
 
         """
         # Default to [] in case a request is freed (aborted) before alloc.
         req_blocks = self.req_to_blocks.pop(request_id, [])
         self.num_cached_block.pop(request_id, None)
         self._partial_hit_reqs.pop(request_id, None)
-        return req_blocks
+        return trim_null_head(req_blocks)
 
     def free(self, request_id: str) -> None:
         """Free the blocks for the request.
@@ -2538,7 +2540,7 @@ class HiSparseResidentManager(_HiSparseAuxiliaryManager):
         blocks = self.get_residency_row(request_id)
         self.residency_changes.pop(request_id, None)
         super().pop_blocks_for_free(request_id)
-        return blocks
+        return trim_null_head(blocks)
 
     def adopt_resident_page(
         self, request_id: str, block_idx: int, block: KVCacheBlock