diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile
index a8d48b618..3bce117b3 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-LLAMA_VERSION?=b76b13379d3b7d67ab0bc424516bb6fd2522bd8e
+LLAMA_VERSION?=c0fd78626405c6d9b934efef0ec7291fcc20e3d6
 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 f8ba18f40..21e556bef 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/grpc-server.cpp
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/grpc-server.cpp
@@ -1212,6 +1212,24 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
 #endif
                 }
             }
+        } else if (!strcmp(optname, "lazy_mode") || !strcmp(optname, "lazy-mode") || !strcmp(optname, "lzm")) {
+            // On-demand reading of large tensors such as per-layer embeddings
+            // (upstream -lzm / --lazy-mode). Accepts on, auto or off; "on" needs mmap.
+#if LOCALAI_HAS_LAZY_MODE
+            if (optval != NULL) {
+                if (optval_str == "on") {
+                    params.lazy_mode = LLAMA_LAZY_MODE_ON;
+                } else if (optval_str == "auto") {
+                    params.lazy_mode = LLAMA_LAZY_MODE_AUTO;
+                } else if (optval_str == "off") {
+                    params.lazy_mode = LLAMA_LAZY_MODE_OFF;
+                } else {
+                    SRV_WRN("lazy_mode: ignoring invalid value '%s' (expected on, auto or off)\n", optval_str.c_str());
+                }
+            }
+#else
+            SRV_WRN("%s", "lazy_mode: this llama.cpp build has no lazy mode, ignoring\n");
+#endif
         } else if (!strcmp(optname, "n_cpu_moe")) {
             if (optval != NULL) {
                 try {
diff --git a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh
index cad79e2c3..82d13b4fa 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh
+++ b/backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh
@@ -122,6 +122,12 @@ if grep -q "moe_cache_size" llama.cpp/common/common.h; then
 else
     HAS_MOE_CACHE=0
 fi
+# On-demand tensor reading (--lazy-mode). Forks that branched earlier lack the field.
+if grep -q "llama_lazy_mode lazy_mode" llama.cpp/common/common.h; then
+    HAS_LAZY_MODE=1
+else
+    HAS_LAZY_MODE=0
+fi
 # Newer servers return template state separately from the request JSON.
 if grep -q "common_chat_session & out_session" llama.cpp/tools/server/server-common.h; then
     HAS_CHAT_SESSION=1
@@ -137,6 +143,7 @@ cat > llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/llama_compat.h <<EOF
 #define LOCALAI_HAS_MTMD_INIT_OPT ${HAS_MTMD_INIT_OPT}
 #define LOCALAI_HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER ${HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER}
 #define LOCALAI_HAS_MOE_CACHE ${HAS_MOE_CACHE}
+#define LOCALAI_HAS_LAZY_MODE ${HAS_LAZY_MODE}
 EOF
 
 set +e
diff --git a/docs/content/advanced/model-configuration.md b/docs/content/advanced/model-configuration.md
index b06e564ad..bea83b6f5 100644
--- a/docs/content/advanced/model-configuration.md
+++ b/docs/content/advanced/model-configuration.md
@@ -398,6 +398,26 @@ Leave memory for the KV cache, compute buffers, the operating system, and other
 Reduce `context_size` if the KV cache consumes too much memory.
 The [GPU auto-fit settings](#gpu-auto-fit-mode) provide a separate way to let llama.cpp choose the allocation.
 
+#### Lazy tensor loading
+
+Some models have very large tensors that are used sparsely, such as per-layer embeddings.
+The `lazy_mode` option (also `lazy-mode`) sets upstream `--lazy-mode`: it controls whether llama.cpp reads those tensors on demand instead of loading them all at startup.
+
+```yaml
+backend: llama-cpp
+options:
+  - lazy_mode:on
+```
+
+| Value | Behavior |
+|---|---|
+| `auto` | Default. Read on demand only the marked tensors larger than 4 GiB. |
+| `on` | Read on demand every marked tensor. Requires `mmap` (enabled by default). |
+| `off` | Load everything at startup. |
+
+An invalid value logs a warning and keeps the default.
+The option needs a llama.cpp build that has `--lazy-mode`.
+
 ### Sampling and Generation
 
 | Field | Type | Default | Description |