diff --git a/nemo_automodel/components/checkpoint/addons.py b/nemo_automodel/components/checkpoint/addons.py
index 077bfb28b..ed8b94c38 100644
--- a/nemo_automodel/components/checkpoint/addons.py
+++ b/nemo_automodel/components/checkpoint/addons.py
@@ -308,6 +308,24 @@ def _extract_target_modules(model: nn.Module) -> list[str]:
                             final_target_modules.add(f"{expert_path}.{expert_id}.down_proj")
                     break
 
+    # When the model is a biencoder, LoRA target modules are discovered under
+    # the "lm_q." prefix (the biencoder query-encoder wrapper).  The standalone
+    # HF base model (LlamaBidirectionalModel) uses bare names without any
+    # wrapper prefix (e.g. "layers.0.self_attn.q_proj").  Strip "lm_q." so
+    # the saved adapter_config.json is compatible with merge_lora / HF PEFT.
+    adapter = getattr(model, "state_dict_adapter", None)
+    if adapter is not None:
+        from nemo_automodel.components.models.common.bidirectional import BiencoderStateDictAdapter
+
+        if isinstance(adapter, BiencoderStateDictAdapter):
+            remapped = set()
+            for name in final_target_modules:
+                if name.startswith("lm_q."):
+                    remapped.add(name[len("lm_q.") :])
+                else:
+                    remapped.add(name)
+            final_target_modules = remapped
+
     return sorted(list(final_target_modules))
 
 
diff --git a/nemo_automodel/components/models/common/bidirectional.py b/nemo_automodel/components/models/common/bidirectional.py
index 4ac525c51..b093dcf51 100644
--- a/nemo_automodel/components/models/common/bidirectional.py
+++ b/nemo_automodel/components/models/common/bidirectional.py
@@ -40,23 +40,33 @@ def __init__(self):
         self._uses_model_prefix = True
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _swap_key(key: str, src: str, dst: str, peft_prefix: str) -> Optional[str]:
+    def _swap_key(key: str, src: str, dst: str, peft_prefix: str, peft_dst: Optional[str] = None) -> Optional[str]:
         """Return *key* with *src* prefix replaced by *dst*, handling an optional PEFT wrapper.
 
+        Args:
+            peft_dst: Destination prefix for PEFT-wrapped keys.  Defaults to *dst*.
+
         Returns ``None`` when *key* doesn't match *src* (bare or PEFT-wrapped).
         """
         if key.startswith(src):
             return dst + key[len(src) :]
         peft_src = peft_prefix + src
         if key.startswith(peft_src):
-            return peft_prefix + dst + key[len(peft_src) :]
+            effective_dst = peft_dst if peft_dst is not None else dst
+            return peft_prefix + effective_dst + key[len(peft_src) :]
         return None
 
     def to_hf(self, state_dict: dict[str, Any], **kwargs) -> dict[str, Any]:
-        """Convert biencoder state dict to HF format (lm_q -> model)."""
+        """Convert biencoder state dict to HF format.
+
+        Base-model weights: ``lm_q.X`` → ``model.X``.
+        PEFT adapter weights: ``base_model.model.lm_q.X`` → ``base_model.model.X``
+        (strips ``lm_q.`` without adding ``model.`` so keys match the standalone
+        ``LlamaBidirectionalModel`` which extends ``LlamaModel`` directly).
+        """
         hf_state_dict = {}
         for key, value in state_dict.items():
-            new_key = self._swap_key(key, "lm_q.", "model.", self._PEFT_PREFIX)
+            new_key = self._swap_key(key, "lm_q.", "model.", self._PEFT_PREFIX, peft_dst="")
             if new_key is not None:
                 hf_state_dict[new_key] = value
         return hf_state_dict
@@ -67,14 +77,24 @@ def from_hf(
         device_mesh: Optional["DeviceMesh"] = None,
         **kwargs,
     ) -> dict[str, Any]:
-        """Convert HF state dict to biencoder format (model -> lm_q + lm_p)."""
+        """Convert HF state dict to biencoder format (model -> lm_q + lm_p).
+
+        Handles both bare keys (``model.X``) and PEFT keys (``base_model.model.X``).
+        """
         biencoder_state_dict = {}
         for key, value in hf_state_dict.items():
-            q_key = self._swap_key(key, "model.", "lm_q.", self._PEFT_PREFIX)
-            if q_key is not None:
-                p_key = self._swap_key(key, "model.", "lm_p.", self._PEFT_PREFIX)
-                biencoder_state_dict[q_key] = value
-                biencoder_state_dict[p_key] = value
+            if key.startswith(self._PEFT_PREFIX):
+                # PEFT format: base_model.model.X → base_model.model.lm_q.X
+                # Only restore to lm_q; lm_p shares parameters in shared-encoder
+                # mode and loading into lm_p would fail with FSDP DTensors.
+                suffix = key[len(self._PEFT_PREFIX) :]
+                biencoder_state_dict[self._PEFT_PREFIX + "lm_q." + suffix] = value
+            else:
+                q_key = self._swap_key(key, "model.", "lm_q.", self._PEFT_PREFIX)
+                if q_key is not None:
+                    p_key = self._swap_key(key, "model.", "lm_p.", self._PEFT_PREFIX)
+                    biencoder_state_dict[q_key] = value
+                    biencoder_state_dict[p_key] = value
         return biencoder_state_dict
 
     def convert_single_tensor_to_hf(self, fqn: str, tensor: Any, **kwargs) -> list[tuple[str, Any]]:
diff --git a/nemo_automodel/recipes/biencoder/train_biencoder.py b/nemo_automodel/recipes/biencoder/train_biencoder.py
index 27bdfde2f..020cb7eff 100644
--- a/nemo_automodel/recipes/biencoder/train_biencoder.py
+++ b/nemo_automodel/recipes/biencoder/train_biencoder.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
     build_step_scheduler,
     build_wandb,
 )
+from nemo_automodel.shared.te_patches import apply_te_patches
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -151,6 +152,7 @@ def setup(self):
         setup_logging()
 
         apply_cache_compatibility_patches()
+        apply_te_patches()
         self.rng = StatefulRNG(seed=self.cfg.get("seed", 42), ranked=True)
 
         self.dist_setup = setup_distributed(self.cfg, world_size=self.dist_env.world_size)
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/checkpoint/test_addons.py b/tests/unit_tests/checkpoint/test_addons.py
index 8836ba27e..ccd2e341e 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/checkpoint/test_addons.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/checkpoint/test_addons.py
@@ -213,4 +213,22 @@ def test_result_is_sorted(self):
         result = _extract_target_modules(model)
         assert result == sorted(result)
 
+    def test_biencoder_target_modules_remapped(self):
+        """Biencoder lm_q.* target modules have lm_q. prefix stripped."""
+        from nemo_automodel.components.models.common.bidirectional import BiencoderStateDictAdapter
+
+        model = _make_model_with_named_modules(
+            [
+                "lm_q.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A",
+                "lm_q.layers.0.self_attn.k_proj.lora_A",
+                "lm_q.layers.0.mlp.down_proj.lora_A",
+            ]
+        )
+        model.state_dict_adapter = BiencoderStateDictAdapter()
+        result = _extract_target_modules(model)
+        assert "layers.0.self_attn.q_proj" in result
+        assert "layers.0.self_attn.k_proj" in result
+        assert "layers.0.mlp.down_proj" in result
+        assert all("lm_q" not in m for m in result)
+
 
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/models/biencoder/test_state_dict_adapter.py b/tests/unit_tests/models/biencoder/test_state_dict_adapter.py
index c7f05c16f..49bf3b76d 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/models/biencoder/test_state_dict_adapter.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/models/biencoder/test_state_dict_adapter.py
@@ -190,3 +190,45 @@ def test_prefix_replacement_accuracy(self, adapter):
         # Should only replace the first occurrence of lm_q.
         assert "model.model.layer.sublayer.weight" in hf_state_dict
         assert "lm_q.model.layer.sublayer.weight" not in hf_state_dict
+
+    def test_to_hf_peft_keys_strip_lm_q(self, adapter):
+        """PEFT keys should have lm_q. stripped without adding model. prefix."""
+        state_dict = {
+            "base_model.model.lm_q.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A.weight": torch.randn(8, 64),
+            "base_model.model.lm_q.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_B.weight": torch.randn(64, 8),
+        }
+
+        hf_state_dict = adapter.to_hf(state_dict)
+
+        assert "base_model.model.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A.weight" in hf_state_dict
+        assert "base_model.model.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_B.weight" in hf_state_dict
+        # Should NOT have extra model. prefix
+        assert "base_model.model.model.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A.weight" not in hf_state_dict
+
+    def test_from_hf_peft_keys_add_lm_q(self, adapter):
+        """PEFT keys should get lm_q. inserted after base_model.model. prefix (not lm_p)."""
+        hf_state_dict = {
+            "base_model.model.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A.weight": torch.randn(8, 64),
+        }
+
+        biencoder_state_dict = adapter.from_hf(hf_state_dict)
+
+        assert "base_model.model.lm_q.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A.weight" in biencoder_state_dict
+        # PEFT keys should NOT be fanned out to lm_p (shared encoder)
+        assert "base_model.model.lm_p.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A.weight" not in biencoder_state_dict
+
+    def test_peft_roundtrip(self, adapter):
+        """PEFT lm_q keys should survive a to_hf → from_hf roundtrip."""
+        original = {
+            "base_model.model.lm_q.layers.0.self_attn.q_proj.lora_A.weight": torch.randn(8, 64),
+            "base_model.model.lm_q.layers.0.mlp.down_proj.lora_B.weight": torch.randn(64, 8),
+        }
+
+        hf = adapter.to_hf(original)
+        restored = adapter.from_hf(hf)
+
+        for key in original:
+            assert key in restored, f"Missing key {key} after roundtrip"
+            torch.testing.assert_close(restored[key], original[key])
+        # lm_p should NOT appear in PEFT roundtrip
+        assert not any("lm_p" in k for k in restored)