diff --git a/metal/qwen4.metal b/metal/qwen4.metal
index 5da908a1..8cfcf8a2 100644
--- a/metal/qwen4.metal
+++ b/metal/qwen4.metal
@@ -2836,9 +2836,12 @@ static inline float qwen4_row_dot(device const char *row, device const float *x,
             const float dmin = (float)(*(device const half *)(blk + 82));
             const uint sc = blk[group];
             const float ds = d * (float)(sc & 0xFu), dm = dmin * (float)(sc >> 4);
-            /* the 8 quant bytes are 4-byte aligned (84-byte blocks) */
-            device const uint *qw = (device const uint *)(blk + 16 + q_base + l);
-            const uint q0 = qw[0] >> shift, q1 = qw[1] >> shift;
+            /* Q2_K requires half-aligned scales. A sliced row can start
+             * two bytes into a word, so read its codes with packed alignment. */
+            device const packed_uchar4 *qw =
+                (device const packed_uchar4 *)(blk + 16 + q_base + l);
+            const uint q0 = as_type<uint>(uchar4(qw[0])) >> shift;
+            const uint q1 = as_type<uint>(uchar4(qw[1])) >> shift;
             device const float *y = x + ib * 256 + group * 16 + l;
             for (uint i = 0; i < 4; i++) acc += (ds * (float)((q0 >> (8u * i)) & 3u) - dm) * y[i];
             for (uint i = 0; i < 4; i++) acc += (ds * (float)((q1 >> (8u * i)) & 3u) - dm) * y[4 + i];
diff --git a/tests/test_metal_qwen4_moe_down.m b/tests/test_metal_qwen4_moe_down.m
index a34678c8..3e844702 100644
--- a/tests/test_metal_qwen4_moe_down.m
+++ b/tests/test_metal_qwen4_moe_down.m
@@ -51,6 +51,16 @@ static NSString *between(NSString *s, NSString *begin, NSString *end) {
     if (b.location<=NSMaxRange(a)) fail(@"invalid source range");
     return [s substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(a.location,b.location-a.location)];
 }
+/* Production kernel definitions close at the start of a line. Copy each
+ * tested entry point independently of any intervening kernels. */
+static NSString *kernel_source(NSString *source, NSString *signature) {
+    NSRange start = [source rangeOfString:signature];
+    if (start.location == NSNotFound) fail(@"production kernel signature missing");
+    NSRange rest = NSMakeRange(NSMaxRange(start), source.length - NSMaxRange(start));
+    NSRange end = [source rangeOfString:@"\n}\n" options:0 range:rest];
+    if (end.location == NSNotFound) fail(@"production kernel definition incomplete");
+    return [source substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(start.location, NSMaxRange(end) - start.location)];
+}
 static NSString *production_source(NSString *repo, NSString *override) {
     NSString *q=read_source(override ?: [repo stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"metal/qwen4.metal"]);
     NSString *m=read_source([repo stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"metal/moe.metal"]);
@@ -59,7 +69,8 @@ static NSString *production_source(NSString *repo, NSString *override) {
     [s appendString:between(m,@"static constant uchar ds4_metal_ksigns_iq2xs[128]",@"#define kmask_iq2xs")];
     [s appendString:between(q,@"constant bool qwen4_expert_addresses ",@"/* --- small multi-output GEMV")];
     [s appendString:between(q,@"constant uint qwen4_mv_type ",@"/* mid[t][s][r] =")];
-    [s appendString:between(q,@"/* part[t][s][r] = down_row",@"/* MXFP4 routed down rows")];
+    [s appendString:kernel_source(q, @"kernel void kernel_qwen4_moe_down(")];
+    [s appendString:kernel_source(q, @"kernel void kernel_qwen4_moe_down_q2k(")];
     return s;
 }
 static uint64_t source_hash(NSString *s) {