diff --git a/csrc/libtorch_stable/persistent_topk.cuh b/csrc/libtorch_stable/persistent_topk.cuh
index be9aaf5c19..63deab6015 100644
--- a/csrc/libtorch_stable/persistent_topk.cuh
+++ b/csrc/libtorch_stable/persistent_topk.cuh
@@ -1179,6 +1179,18 @@ __device__ void radix_topk(const float* __restrict__ row_input,
       }
     }
 
+    // The arrival publication below is made by thread 0
+    // ALONE, and `red_release`'s `fence.acq_rel.gpu` orders only the issuing
+    // thread's own prior accesses.  Without this barrier thread 0 could signal
+    // arrival while other warps of this CTA had not yet merged their bins into
+    // `current_hist`, or (in CTA 0) had not finished zeroing `next_hist`.  A
+    // peer CTA that observes the completed arrival count then leaves its own
+    // `wait_ge` -- whose `__syncthreads()` is AFTER arrival, so it orders
+    // nothing here -- and reads a half-written histogram, which changes the
+    // pivot.  The barrier must be between the producing stores and the leader's
+    // publication; program order in one thread is not cross-thread ordering.
+    __syncthreads();
+
     if (tx == 0) {
       red_release(&state->arrival_counter, 1);
     }