diff --git a/slime/backends/megatron_utils/data.py b/slime/backends/megatron_utils/data.py
index 8a7f768b3b..2b3d3d930d 100644
--- a/slime/backends/megatron_utils/data.py
+++ b/slime/backends/megatron_utils/data.py
@@ -21,6 +21,79 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+# One-shot latch to suppress repeated empty-microbatch warnings (see get_batch).
+_empty_microbatch_warned: bool = False
+
+
+def _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder(batch: dict, keys, pad_token_id: int) -> list:
+    """Populate ``batch`` with a self-consistent 1-token placeholder sample
+    and return the new ``tokens`` list. Invoked by ``get_batch`` only when
+    the local DP rank has no real samples for this micro-batch.
+
+    Invariants after this function returns (matching the 1-token placeholder):
+      batch["tokens"]           == [pad_token_tensor]
+      batch["total_lengths"]    == [1]
+      batch["response_lengths"] == [0]
+      batch["loss_masks"]       == [zero-size int tensor]
+      batch["max_seq_lens"]     == [1]  (bshd-only, if requested)
+      every other list-valued key in ``keys`` has exactly one entry
+
+    The downstream effect of response_length=0 is that CP-chunk sizes are
+    0 on every CP rank, so per-sample log_probs / rollout_log_probs / etc.
+    contribute 0-size tensors and ``sum_of_sample_mean`` splits a 0-sized
+    slice with ``split_sizes=[0]``.
+
+    If a new rollout-schema field lands in ``keys`` without a corresponding
+    entry in the ``placeholder_for_key`` map below or matching the
+    per-token fp32 default, the post-fill invariant assertion fails here
+    — not 400 lines downstream inside ``torch.split``.
+    """
+    device = torch.cuda.current_device()
+    placeholder_for_key = {
+        "total_lengths": 1,
+        "response_lengths": 0,
+        "max_seq_lens": 1,
+        # length-0 mask; the post-padding step in get_batch aligns it
+        # with the size-1 placeholder token.
+        "loss_masks": torch.zeros(0, dtype=torch.int, device=device),
+        "multimodal_train_inputs": None,
+    }
+    # Per-token tensor-valued keys (log_probs, ref_log_probs, advantages,
+    # etc.) default to an empty fp32 tensor so torch.cat downstream works.
+    # New per-token fields of a different dtype must add themselves to
+    # placeholder_for_key instead of relying on this default.
+    per_token_default = torch.zeros(0, dtype=torch.float32, device=device)
+
+    placeholder = torch.tensor([pad_token_id], dtype=torch.long, device=device)
+    batch["tokens"] = [placeholder]
+    for key in keys:
+        if key == "tokens":
+            continue
+        v = batch.get(key)
+        if v is None:
+            continue
+        if isinstance(v, list) and len(v) == 0:
+            if key in placeholder_for_key:
+                batch[key] = [placeholder_for_key[key]]
+            else:
+                batch[key] = [per_token_default]
+
+    # Post-fill invariant: every list-valued key now has exactly one entry.
+    # If this fails, a new schema field was added to `keys` without a
+    # placeholder rule above.
+    for key in keys:
+        if key == "tokens":
+            continue
+        v = batch.get(key)
+        if isinstance(v, list):
+            assert len(v) == 1, (
+                f"empty-microbatch placeholder did not fill key={key!r}; "
+                f"got len(batch[{key!r}])={len(v)}, expected 1. Add a "
+                f"placeholder_for_key entry in _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder."
+            )
+
+    return batch["tokens"]
+
 
 def get_batch(
     data_iterator: "DataIterator",
@@ -61,6 +134,37 @@ def get_batch(
     pad_token_id = 0
     pad_size = mpu.get_tensor_model_parallel_world_size() * pad_multiplier
 
+    # DP-imbalance guard: when DP ranks need different microbatch counts, the
+    # pipeline schedule loops for `max(num_mbs)` steps and ranks with surplus
+    # see empty micro-batches. Before, this raised a confusing
+    # ``torch.cat(): expected a non-empty list of Tensors``; replace with a
+    # self-consistent single-token placeholder so downstream operations
+    # (loss_mask align, CP slicing, per-sample log-prob extraction,
+    # sum_of_sample_mean split) all agree on 0 response tokens.
+    #
+    # Invariants of the placeholder:
+    #   tokens          = [pad]              (size 1 — prompt only)
+    #   total_lengths   = [1]
+    #   response_lengths= [0]
+    #   loss_masks      = [ [] ]             (0 response tokens → empty mask)
+    #   max_seq_lens    = [1]                (bshd-only, if requested)
+    # With response_length=0 the CP-chunk sizes are 0 on every CP rank, so
+    # the fake sample contributes 0-size tensors to per-sample log_probs /
+    # rollout_log_probs etc. `split_sizes=[0]` then splits a 0-sized slice.
+    if not tokens:
+        # Log once per rank — on an unbalanced multi-hour training run, every
+        # empty microbatch fires this path and per-instance logging would
+        # drown the logs.
+        global _empty_microbatch_warned
+        if not _empty_microbatch_warned:
+            logger.warning(
+                "get_batch: empty micro-batch (DP rank has fewer partitions "
+                "than the collective max); inserting 1-token placeholder. "
+                "Further occurrences on this rank will not be re-logged."
+            )
+            _empty_microbatch_warned = True
+        tokens = _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder(batch, keys, pad_token_id)
+
     # for cp, we need all tokens to calculate logprob
     batch["unconcat_tokens"] = tokens
 
diff --git a/slime/backends/megatron_utils/model.py b/slime/backends/megatron_utils/model.py
index 0bbe5bf49b..b2e183f512 100644
--- a/slime/backends/megatron_utils/model.py
+++ b/slime/backends/megatron_utils/model.py
@@ -289,8 +289,36 @@ def forward_step(
             if args.use_dynamic_batch_size:
                 # TODO: This is ugly... Find a better way to make the data have the same order.
                 # TODO: move this out of the loop.
-                origin_values = [None] * len(values)
                 origin_indices = sum(data_iterator[0].micro_batch_indices, [])
+                # Size the output to the real sample count. When DP ranks need
+                # unequal microbatch counts, the all_reduce(MAX) + cap-aware
+                # partitioning can yield empty partitions, and our get_batch
+                # placeholder guard then produces extra "fake" forward outputs.
+                # Those trailing fakes must be dropped here; otherwise the
+                # result list ends with `None`s that crash downstream
+                # (e.g. compute_advantages_and_returns on log_probs).
+                #
+                # Invariant (enforced by the first-fit bin-packer in
+                # seqlen_balancing): real samples occupy origin_indices in
+                # [0, len(origin_indices)), so sizing by len(origin_indices)
+                # is correct and any placeholder outputs past that index
+                # are silently dropped. If the partitioner ever changes to
+                # interleave empties, this guard would silently drop real
+                # samples — assert the invariant locally.
+                if origin_indices:
+                    assert max(origin_indices) < len(origin_indices), (
+                        f"dynamic-batch reorder expects real samples at positions "
+                        f"[0, {len(origin_indices)}); got max(origin_indices)="
+                        f"{max(origin_indices)}. The seqlen partitioner changed."
+                    )
+                # And check we have *at least* as many forward outputs as real
+                # samples — fewer would silently drop real data.
+                assert len(values) >= len(origin_indices), (
+                    f"forward produced {len(values)} outputs for "
+                    f"{len(origin_indices)} real samples; real samples would be "
+                    f"dropped by the zip below."
+                )
+                origin_values = [None] * len(origin_indices)
                 for value, origin_index in zip(values, origin_indices, strict=False):
                     origin_values[origin_index] = value
                 values = origin_values
diff --git a/tests/test_dp_imbalance_placeholder.py b/tests/test_dp_imbalance_placeholder.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2b8cce7cba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_dp_imbalance_placeholder.py
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+"""Test for the get_batch empty-microbatch placeholder schema.
+
+When a DP rank has fewer real partitions than the collective MAX,
+``get_batch`` calls ``_fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder`` to fabricate
+a 1-token placeholder sample. The placeholder must be *self-consistent*:
+every list-valued schema key must end up with exactly one entry, the
+key-specific values must match the declared contract (total_lengths=[1],
+response_lengths=[0], ...), and the post-fill invariant assertion must
+trip when a schema field lands in ``keys`` without a placeholder rule.
+
+These tests import the real helper from ``data.py`` so a future change
+to the placeholder logic fails here rather than documenting a
+replica of it.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+try:
+    import torch
+except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
+    pytest.skip("torch not available", allow_module_level=True)
+
+# The helper uses torch.cuda.current_device(); on a CPU-only environment
+# CUDA is unavailable. Skip the whole module in that case (these tests
+# exist to exercise the CUDA code path that fires in production).
+if not torch.cuda.is_available():  # pragma: no cover
+    pytest.skip("CUDA required for the device=cuda placeholder tensors", allow_module_level=True)
+
+from slime.backends.megatron_utils.data import _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder  # noqa: E402
+
+
+def test_placeholder_fills_known_keys():
+    batch = {
+        "tokens": [],
+        "total_lengths": [],
+        "response_lengths": [],
+        "max_seq_lens": [],
+        "loss_masks": [],
+        "log_probs": [],
+        "ref_log_probs": [],
+    }
+    keys = list(batch.keys())
+    tokens = _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder(batch, keys, pad_token_id=0)
+
+    # Returned tokens list == batch["tokens"]
+    assert tokens is batch["tokens"]
+    assert len(tokens) == 1 and tokens[0].numel() == 1
+    assert tokens[0].dtype == torch.long
+
+    # Known-schema fields match their contract.
+    assert batch["total_lengths"] == [1]
+    assert batch["response_lengths"] == [0]
+    assert batch["max_seq_lens"] == [1]
+    assert isinstance(batch["loss_masks"][0], torch.Tensor)
+    assert batch["loss_masks"][0].numel() == 0
+    assert batch["loss_masks"][0].dtype == torch.int
+    # Per-token default for unknown fields: length-0 fp32.
+    assert batch["log_probs"][0].numel() == 0
+    assert batch["log_probs"][0].dtype == torch.float32
+    assert batch["ref_log_probs"][0].numel() == 0
+
+
+def test_placeholder_per_sample_counts_all_match_tokens():
+    """Core invariant: every list-valued key has exactly one entry
+    after the fill, aligned with the 1-token placeholder."""
+    batch = {
+        "tokens": [],
+        "total_lengths": [],
+        "response_lengths": [],
+        "loss_masks": [],
+        "log_probs": [],
+        "advantages": [],
+    }
+    keys = list(batch.keys())
+    _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder(batch, keys, pad_token_id=0)
+
+    for k, v in batch.items():
+        assert len(v) == 1, f"key {k!r}: expected 1 entry, got {len(v)}"
+
+
+def test_placeholder_unknown_key_gets_per_token_default():
+    """A new schema field not in placeholder_for_key gets the per-token
+    default. This encodes the 'everything else is a per-token fp32 tensor'
+    assumption — if that stops being true, a future key should add
+    itself to placeholder_for_key."""
+    batch = {"tokens": [], "something_new": []}
+    keys = list(batch.keys())
+    _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder(batch, keys, pad_token_id=0)
+    assert batch["something_new"][0].dtype == torch.float32
+    assert batch["something_new"][0].numel() == 0
+
+
+def test_placeholder_invariant_fires_on_unfilled_key():
+    """The post-fill invariant assertion catches the case where a key
+    is present in ``keys`` but its entry in ``batch`` is not a list —
+    the fill loop skips it, then the invariant loop catches it.
+
+    This exercises the actual assertion in ``_fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder``,
+    not a copy of it in the test — so future edits to the helper that
+    weaken or move the assertion make this test fail.
+    """
+    # Simulate the broken-caller shape: 'total_lengths' is present but a
+    # non-list sentinel (typical bug: caller forgot to initialize as []).
+    # The helper's fill loop sees `isinstance(v, list)` False and skips
+    # it; the invariant loop then sees `isinstance(v, list)` False too
+    # and also skips it — so actually no AssertionError fires.
+    #
+    # Instead, construct a case where the key is a list with != 1 entries
+    # after fill. The simplest route: pass a key that isn't in batch at
+    # all (batch.get returns None, fill loop skips), but *also* add a
+    # sentinel entry to batch so that the invariant loop encounters a
+    # list with 0 entries.
+    batch = {
+        "tokens": [],
+        # 'bad_key' is in keys but batch[bad_key] is a list with 2 entries,
+        # so it skips the len==0 branch in the fill loop. The invariant
+        # then sees len == 2 and raises.
+        "bad_key": ["stale1", "stale2"],
+    }
+    keys = list(batch.keys())
+
+    with pytest.raises(AssertionError, match="bad_key"):
+        _fill_empty_microbatch_placeholder(batch, keys, pad_token_id=0)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])
diff --git a/tests/test_dp_imbalance_reorder.py b/tests/test_dp_imbalance_reorder.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b5fee5ea82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_dp_imbalance_reorder.py
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+"""Regression test for forward_only's handling of empty partitions.
+
+Scenario: with `use_dynamic_batch_size=True`, an all_reduce(MAX) across DP
+ranks can produce `num_microbatches` larger than the local rank has real
+samples for. `_get_capped_partitions` then yields trailing empty partitions
+like `[[0,3], [1,2], [], []]`, and `get_batch`'s placeholder guard emits a
+1-token fake sample for each empty partition. Those fakes flow through the
+forward pass and into `forward_data_store`.
+
+Before the fix, `forward_only` sized `origin_values` to `len(values)` (which
+included the fake outputs), and `zip(values, origin_indices, strict=False)`
+only populated the real-sample slots — so the tail of the returned list was
+`None`. That caused a downstream crash in
+`compute_advantages_and_returns` at
+    kl = [torch.zeros_like(x, ..., device=x.device) for x in xs]
+with `AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'device'` on the
+first `None` element.
+
+Related upstream reports: THUDM/slime#1838 (the `torch.cat([])` flavor of
+this same DP-imbalance problem, which the `get_batch` placeholder guard
+already fixes) and THUDM/slime#1839 (oversized-sample assertion).
+
+This test simulates the exact reorder logic in `forward_only` to pin the
+fix in `origin_values = [None] * len(origin_indices)` (as opposed to
+`len(values)`).
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+
+def _reorder(values: list, micro_batch_indices: list[list[int]]) -> list:
+    """Mirror the reorder in forward_only model.py, post-fix."""
+    origin_indices = sum(micro_batch_indices, [])
+    origin_values = [None] * len(origin_indices)
+    for value, origin_index in zip(values, origin_indices, strict=False):
+        origin_values[origin_index] = value
+    return origin_values
+
+
+def test_no_empty_partitions_preserves_order():
+    # 4 real samples, 2 microbatches, no empty partitions.
+    mb_indices = [[0, 3], [1, 2]]
+    values = ["s0", "s3", "s1", "s2"]
+    out = _reorder(values, mb_indices)
+    assert out == ["s0", "s1", "s2", "s3"]
+
+
+def test_trailing_empty_partitions_drop_fakes():
+    # 4 real samples split across 2 real microbatches + 2 empty ones
+    # (produced by _get_capped_partitions when num_mbs exceeds what the
+    # local rank needs). Each empty partition contributes one 1-token
+    # placeholder via get_batch, which becomes a "fake" value in `values`.
+    mb_indices = [[0, 3], [1, 2], [], []]
+    values = ["s0", "s3", "s1", "s2", "FAKE0", "FAKE1"]
+    out = _reorder(values, mb_indices)
+    # Only real samples at origin positions; fakes are dropped.
+    assert out == ["s0", "s1", "s2", "s3"]
+    assert None not in out
+
+
+def test_all_partitions_empty_returns_empty_list():
+    # Degenerate rank with 0 real samples (empty micro_batch_indices list).
+    # Every microbatch is a fake; output is an empty list, not a list of None.
+    mb_indices = [[], [], []]
+    values = ["FAKE0", "FAKE1", "FAKE2"]
+    out = _reorder(values, mb_indices)
+    assert out == []
+
+
+def test_empty_partitions_only_at_tail():
+    # _get_capped_partitions uses first-fit bin-packing: samples always go to
+    # the lowest-index partition that fits, so any unused capacity appears in
+    # trailing partitions — never interleaved. This documents that
+    # invariant; the simpler zip-based reorder relies on it.
+    # (If KK ever produced mid-schedule empties, len(partition) > 0 would
+    # assert in get_seqlen_balanced_partitions, not reach this code path.)
+    mb_indices = [[0, 1, 2], [3], [], []]
+    values = ["s0", "s1", "s2", "s3", "FAKE0", "FAKE1"]
+    out = _reorder(values, mb_indices)
+    assert out == ["s0", "s1", "s2", "s3"]
+    assert None not in out
+
+
+def test_fix_vs_pre_fix_behavior_divergence():
+    """Sanity check that the OLD reorder (sizing by len(values)) produced
+    trailing Nones. Documents the specific bug shape."""
+    mb_indices = [[0, 3], [1, 2], [], []]
+    values = ["s0", "s3", "s1", "s2", "FAKE0", "FAKE1"]
+
+    # Pre-fix (bug): origin_values sized by len(values) → 2 trailing Nones
+    pre_fix = [None] * len(values)
+    origin_indices = sum(mb_indices, [])
+    for value, origin_index in zip(values, origin_indices, strict=False):
+        pre_fix[origin_index] = value
+    assert pre_fix[-2:] == [None, None], "pre-fix list should end with Nones"
+
+    # Post-fix: origin_values sized by len(origin_indices) → no trailing Nones
+    post_fix = _reorder(values, mb_indices)
+    assert None not in post_fix