diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 190ae66bc..4a6ef1dac 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -120,4 +120,9 @@ if(LLAMA_GRPC_BUILD_TESTS)
     target_include_directories(tts_request_options_test PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
     target_compile_features(tts_request_options_test PRIVATE cxx_std_17)
     add_test(NAME tts_request_options_test COMMAND tts_request_options_test)
+
+    add_executable(thread_params_test thread_params_test.cpp thread_params.h)
+    target_include_directories(thread_params_test PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
+    target_compile_features(thread_params_test PRIVATE cxx_std_17)
+    add_test(NAME thread_params_test COMMAND thread_params_test)
 endif()
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile
index 5d238969a..6a9d98a5e 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-LLAMA_VERSION?=84e908c625fb60992b4cdef8180fb12fa9b4c4bf
+LLAMA_VERSION?=0021a77de0a8966059dc94548fb3b96654e0bb12
 LLAMA_REPO?=https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp
 
 CMAKE_ARGS?=
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/grpc-server.cpp b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/grpc-server.cpp
index 82080c644..171ae0483 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/grpc-server.cpp
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/grpc-server.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 #include "arg.h"
 #include "chat-auto-parser.h"
 #include "llama_compat.h" // fork-skew switches, generated by prepare.sh
+#include "thread_params.h"
 #include "message_content.h"
 #include "passthrough_options.h"
 #include "tts_request_options.h"
@@ -1412,6 +1413,12 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
             passthrough_draft_gpu_layers);
     }
 
+    // The library initializer now creates both threadpools before the server
+    // can apply llama_context's fallback for the -1 batch-thread sentinel.
+    params.cpuparams_batch.n_threads = llama_grpc::resolve_batch_threads(
+        params.cpuparams_batch.n_threads,
+        params.cpuparams.n_threads);
+
 #ifndef LOCALAI_LLAMA_CPP_NO_SCORE_TASK
     // Score-task suffix forking: reserve seq ids (and recurrent-state cells)
     // beyond the slots so one scoring call decodes all candidate tails in a
@@ -3595,9 +3602,15 @@ public:
         // Populate the response with metrics
         response->set_slot_id(0);
         response->set_prompt_json_for_slot("");
+#if LOCALAI_HAS_SERVER_METRICS
+        response->set_tokens_per_second(res_metrics->metrics.prompt_bucket.n_per_second());
+        response->set_tokens_generated(res_metrics->metrics.predict.count);
+        response->set_prompt_tokens_processed(res_metrics->metrics.prompt.count);
+#else
         response->set_tokens_per_second(res_metrics->n_prompt_tokens_processed ? 1.e3 / res_metrics->t_prompt_processing * res_metrics->n_prompt_tokens_processed : 0.);
         response->set_tokens_generated(res_metrics->n_tokens_predicted_total);
         response->set_prompt_tokens_processed(res_metrics->n_prompt_tokens_processed_total);
+#endif
 
 
         return grpc::Status::OK;
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0001-add-server-task-type-score.patch b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0001-add-server-task-type-score.patch
index 905248ecb..f056d47ce 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0001-add-server-task-type-score.patch
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0001-add-server-task-type-score.patch
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ index 3b5f6a1..d0e18e6 100644
      bool has_next_token = true;
      bool has_new_line   = false;
      bool truncated      = false;
-@@ -351,6 +378,10 @@ struct server_slot {
+@@ -341,6 +368,10 @@ struct server_slot {
          }
          generated_tokens.clear();
          generated_token_probs.clear();
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ index 3b5f6a1..d0e18e6 100644
 +        score_divergence = -1;
          json_schema = json();
 
-         // clear speculative decoding stats
+         task_prev = std::move(task);
 @@ -2271,6 +2302,229 @@ private:
          queue_results.send(std::move(res));
      }
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ index 3b5f6a1..d0e18e6 100644
 
                      // make a checkpoint of the parts of the memory that cannot be rolled back.
                      // checkpoints are created only if:
-@@ -3523,10 +3799,17 @@ private:
+@@ -3444,9 +3720,16 @@ private:
                          // embedding requires all tokens in the batch to be output;
                          // MTP also wants logits at every prompt position so the
                          // streaming hook can mirror t_h_nextn into ctx_dft.
@@ -404,16 +404,12 @@ index 3b5f6a1..d0e18e6 100644
 +                            slot.prompt.n_tokens() + 1 <  slot.task->n_tokens();
                          add_ok &= batch.add(slot.id,
                              cur_tok,
-                             slot.prompt.tokens.pos_next(),
--                            slot.need_embd());
-+                            slot.need_embd() || need_score_logit);
+                             /* pos       = */ slot.prompt.tokens.pos_next(),
+-                            /* output    = */ slot.need_embd(),
++                            /* output    = */ slot.need_embd() || need_score_logit,
+                             /* is_prompt = */ true);
                          slot.prompt.tokens.push_back(cur_tok);
-
-                         slot.n_prompt_tokens_processed++;
-@@ -3541,6 +3824,32 @@ private:
-                             }
-                         }
-
+@@ -3454,2 +3737,28 @@ private:
 +                        // score tasks: break at the shared-prompt boundary so the checkpoint
 +                        // below lands exactly there — the other candidates of the same
 +                        // scoring call re-process only their own tokens. Also break at the
@@ -440,9 +436,8 @@ index 3b5f6a1..d0e18e6 100644
 +                            }
 +                        }
 +
-                         // process the last few tokens of the prompt separately in order to allow for a checkpoint to be created.
-                         // create checkpoints that many tokens before the end of the prompt:
-                         //  - 4 + n_ubatch
+                         // break at the last user message, or at user messages at least min step past the last checkpoint
+                         if (do_checkpoint && spans.is_user_start(slot.prompt.n_tokens())) {
 @@ -3573,6 +3882,15 @@ private:
                      const bool is_user_start = spans.is_user_start(n_tokens_start);
                      const bool is_last_user_message = n_tokens_start == last_user_pos;
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0002-add-server-task-type-tts.patch b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0002-add-server-task-type-tts.patch
index 566a62cfe..6681b04e8 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0002-add-server-task-type-tts.patch
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0002-add-server-task-type-tts.patch
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
      }
 
      auto result = common_speculative_get_output_limits(
-@@ -211,6 +213,30 @@ struct server_slot {
+@@ -212,6 +214,30 @@ struct server_slot {
      mtmd_context * mctx = nullptr;
      mtmd::batch_ptr mbatch = nullptr;
 
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
      // speculative decoding
      common_speculative * spec;
 
-@@ -400,6 +426,8 @@ struct server_slot {
+@@ -391,6 +417,8 @@ struct server_slot {
 
          // clear multimodal state
          mbatch.reset();
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
      }
 
      void init_sampler() const {
-@@ -941,6 +969,14 @@ public:
+@@ -829,6 +857,14 @@ public:
      mtmd_context * mctx = nullptr;
      const llama_vocab * vocab = nullptr;
 
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
      server_queue    queue_tasks;
      server_response queue_results;
 
-@@ -1394,6 +1430,10 @@ private:
+@@ -1288,6 +1324,10 @@ private:
              slot.mctx                   = mctx;
              slot.prompt.tokens.has_mtmd = mctx != nullptr;
 
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
              SLT_TRC(slot, "new slot, n_ctx = %d\n", slot.n_ctx);
 
              slot.callback_on_release = [this](int id_slot) {
-@@ -1847,6 +1887,28 @@ private:
+@@ -1748,6 +1788,28 @@ private:
 
          SLT_DBG(slot, "launching slot : %s\n", safe_json_to_str(slot.to_json()).c_str());
 
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
          // initialize samplers
          if (task.need_sampling()) {
              try {
-@@ -1864,6 +1926,9 @@ private:
+@@ -1765,6 +1827,9 @@ private:
              // TODO: getting pre sampling logits is not yet supported with backend sampling
              use_backend_sampling &= !need_pre_sample_logits;
 
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
              // TODO: tmp until backend sampling is fully implemented
              if (use_backend_sampling) {
                  llama_set_sampler(ctx_tgt, slot.id, common_sampler_get(slot.smpl.get()));
-@@ -1879,9 +1944,13 @@ private:
+@@ -1783,9 +1848,13 @@ private:
 
          slot.task = std::make_unique<const server_task>(std::move(task));
 
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
 
          // reset server kill-switch counter
          n_empty_consecutive = 0;
-@@ -2158,6 +2227,18 @@ private:
+@@ -2050,6 +2119,18 @@ private:
          queue_results.send(std::move(res));
      }
 
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
      void send_final_response(server_slot & slot) {
          auto res = std::make_unique<server_task_result_cmpl_final>();
 
-@@ -2657,6 +2738,7 @@ private:
+@@ -2556,6 +2637,7 @@ private:
              case SERVER_TASK_TYPE_EMBEDDING:
              case SERVER_TASK_TYPE_RERANK:
              case SERVER_TASK_TYPE_SCORE:
@@ -468,10 +468,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
                  {
                      // special case: if input is provided via CLI, tokenize it first
                      // otherwise, no need to tokenize as it's already done inside the HTTP thread
-@@ -3092,6 +3174,14 @@ private:
-             abort_all_slots("pre_decode() failed: " + std::string(e.what()));
-         }
-
+@@ -3007,1 +3089,9 @@ private:
 +        // note: TTS slots bypass the shared batch entirely
 +        try {
 +            process_tts_slots();
@@ -481,9 +478,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
 +        }
 +
          GGML_ASSERT(batch.slot_batched || batch.size() == 0);
-
-         if (batch.slot_batched) {
-@@ -3162,10 +3252,77 @@ private:
+@@ -3074,10 +3164,77 @@ private:
          }
      }
 
@@ -561,7 +556,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
              if (slot.state == SLOT_STATE_GENERATING && slot.prompt.n_tokens() + 1 >= slot.n_ctx) {
                  if (!params_base.ctx_shift) {
                      // this check is redundant (for good)
-@@ -3238,7 +3395,7 @@ private:
+@@ -3150,7 +3307,7 @@ private:
 
          // determine which slots are generating and drafting
          iterate(slots, [&](server_slot & slot) {
@@ -570,7 +565,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
                  return;
              }
 
-@@ -3370,7 +3527,7 @@ private:
+@@ -3284,7 +3441,7 @@ private:
                      return; // batch is full, skip remaining slots
                  }
 
@@ -579,7 +574,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
                      return;
                  }
 
-@@ -4379,6 +4536,8 @@ server_context_meta server_context::get_meta() const {
+@@ -4433,6 +4590,8 @@ server_context_meta server_context::get_meta() const {
          /* has_inp_image          */ impl->chat_params.allow_image,
          /* has_inp_audio          */ impl->chat_params.allow_audio,
          /* has_inp_video          */ impl->chat_params.allow_video,
@@ -588,7 +583,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
          /* json_ui_settings       */ impl->json_ui_settings,
          /* slot_n_ctx             */ impl->get_slot_n_ctx(),
          /* pooling_type           */ llama_pooling_type(impl->ctx_tgt),
-@@ -4458,6 +4617,11 @@ std::unique_ptr<server_res_generator> server_routes::handle_completions_impl(
+@@ -4512,6 +4671,11 @@ std::unique_ptr<server_res_generator> server_routes::handle_completions_impl(
 
      res->set_req(&req); // will also set spipe if needed
 
@@ -600,7 +595,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
      int32_t sse_ping_interval = params.sse_ping_interval;
 
      try {
-@@ -5435,6 +5599,150 @@ void server_routes::init_routes() {
+@@ -5399,6 +5563,150 @@ void server_routes::init_routes() {
          return res;
      };
 
@@ -776,7 +771,7 @@ diff --git a/tools/server/server-task.cpp b/tools/server/server-task.cpp
 index 1ee677553..939630b8b 100644
 --- a/tools/server/server-task.cpp
 +++ b/tools/server/server-task.cpp
-@@ -1523,6 +1523,17 @@ json server_task_result_rerank::to_json() {
+@@ -1497,6 +1497,17 @@ json server_task_result_rerank::to_json() {
      };
  }
 
@@ -832,7 +827,7 @@ index 5bedf1987..e6ca67a65 100644
                  return true;
              default:
                  return false;
-@@ -514,5 +520,15 @@ struct server_task_result_embd : server_task_result {
+@@ -494,5 +500,15 @@ struct server_task_result_embd : server_task_result {
      json to_json_oaicompat();
  };
 
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh
index 4df276fb8..e658a940a 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ cp -r passthrough_options_test.cpp llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/
 # regression test.
 cp -r tts_request_options.h llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/
 cp -r tts_request_options_test.cpp llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/
+# Thread-count default normalization and its standalone regression test.
+cp -r thread_params.h llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/
+cp -r thread_params_test.cpp llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/
 # Parent-death watcher (included by grpc-server.cpp) and its standalone unit
 # test (run via backend/cpp/run-unit-tests.sh; also buildable under ctest).
 cp -r parent_watch.h llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/
@@ -53,10 +56,16 @@ else
     echo "==> llama.cpp predates the load-mode enum, using the legacy mmap/mlock/direct-io booleans"
     LEGACY_LOAD_MODE=1
 fi
+if grep -q "server_metrics metrics;" llama.cpp/tools/server/server-task.h; then
+    HAS_SERVER_METRICS=1
+else
+    HAS_SERVER_METRICS=0
+fi
 cat > llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/llama_compat.h <<EOF
 // Generated by backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh. Do not edit.
 #pragma once
 #define LOCALAI_LEGACY_LOAD_MODE ${LEGACY_LOAD_MODE}
+#define LOCALAI_HAS_SERVER_METRICS ${HAS_SERVER_METRICS}
 EOF
 
 set +e
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/thread_params.h b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/thread_params.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f2295a585
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/thread_params.h
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <cstdint>
+
+namespace llama_grpc {
+
+inline int32_t resolve_batch_threads(int32_t batch_threads, int32_t inference_threads) {
+    return batch_threads < 0 ? inference_threads : batch_threads;
+}
+
+} // namespace llama_grpc
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/thread_params_test.cpp b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/thread_params_test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e4aadd9ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/thread_params_test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#include "thread_params.h"
+
+#include <cstdio>
+
+int main() {
+    if (llama_grpc::resolve_batch_threads(-1, 4) != 4) {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "default batch threads did not inherit inference threads\n");
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if (llama_grpc::resolve_batch_threads(2, 4) != 2) {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "explicit batch threads were overwritten\n");
+        return 1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}