diff --git a/tests/v1/kv_connector/unit/test_mooncake_store_worker.py b/tests/v1/kv_connector/unit/test_mooncake_store_worker.py
index 852c75ae9cc..f8f43662f26 100644
--- a/tests/v1/kv_connector/unit/test_mooncake_store_worker.py
+++ b/tests/v1/kv_connector/unit/test_mooncake_store_worker.py
@@ -1757,6 +1757,62 @@ def test_lookup_checks_all_potential_swa_hit_boundaries():
     ]
 
 
+def test_lookup_applies_swa_mask_before_accessing_hashes():
+    """Lookup must apply the sparse SWA mask before touching group hashes, so
+    false-mask chunks pay neither the hash access nor the key-construction cost.
+    """
+    from vllm.v1.kv_cache_interface import (
+        FullAttentionSpec,
+        KVCacheGroupSpec,
+        SlidingWindowSpec,
+    )
+
+    worker = _make_bare_worker(block_size=8)
+    full = FullAttentionSpec(block_size=32, num_kv_heads=8, head_size=64, dtype=None)
+    swa = SlidingWindowSpec(
+        block_size=8, num_kv_heads=8, head_size=64, dtype=None, sliding_window=8
+    )
+    worker._kv_cache_groups = [
+        KVCacheGroupSpec(["full"], full),
+        KVCacheGroupSpec(["swa"], swa),
+    ]
+    worker.token_dbs = [
+        ChunkedTokenDatabase(
+            KeyMetadata("test-model", 0, 0, 0, 0, group_id=0),
+            block_size=32,
+            hash_block_size=8,
+        ),
+        ChunkedTokenDatabase(
+            KeyMetadata("test-model", 0, 0, 0, 0, group_id=1),
+            block_size=8,
+            hash_block_size=8,
+        ),
+    ]
+    worker.coord = mooncake_store_worker.MooncakeStoreCoordinator(
+        worker._kv_cache_groups,
+        scheduler_block_size=32,
+        hash_block_size=8,
+        retention_interval=0,
+    )
+    worker._init_lookup_key_prefixes()
+
+    block_hashes = _RecordingBlockHashes([f"h{i}".encode() for i in range(12)])
+    accessed_before_rpc: list[int] = []
+
+    def exists(keys):
+        accessed_before_rpc.extend(block_hashes.accessed)
+        return [0] * len(keys)
+
+    worker.store.batch_is_exist.side_effect = exists
+
+    worker.lookup(96, block_hashes)
+
+    # Full-attention chunks (compact hashes at 3, 7, 11) plus only the reachable
+    # SWA boundary tails (chunks 3, 7, 11) are hash-accessed. Every masked SWA
+    # chunk in between is skipped before both the hash access and key build.
+    assert accessed_before_rpc == [3, 7, 11, 3, 7, 11]
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # register_kv_caches tests
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/worker.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/worker.py
index e60d2f47a4e..aa48d5123ef 100644
--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/worker.py
+++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/worker.py
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ from vllm.distributed.kv_transfer.kv_connector.v1.mooncake.store.protocol import
     RESP_OK,
 )
 from vllm.logger import init_logger
+from vllm.utils.math_utils import cdiv
 from vllm.utils.network_utils import get_ip, make_zmq_socket
 from vllm.v1.core.kv_cache_utils import (
     BlockHash,
@@ -1473,14 +1474,14 @@ class MooncakeStoreWorker:
             group_hashes = self.coord.block_hashes_for_spec(
                 block_hashes, self._kv_cache_groups[g_idx].kv_cache_spec
             )
-            for chunk_id, h in enumerate(group_hashes):
-                start_idx = chunk_id * spec_block_size
-                if start_idx >= token_len:
-                    break
-                if lookup_mask is not None and (
-                    chunk_id >= len(lookup_mask) or not lookup_mask[chunk_id]
-                ):
+            max_chunks = min(len(group_hashes), cdiv(token_len, spec_block_size))
+            mask_limit = (
+                max_chunks if lookup_mask is None else min(max_chunks, len(lookup_mask))
+            )
+            for chunk_id in range(mask_limit):
+                if lookup_mask is not None and not lookup_mask[chunk_id]:
                     continue
+                h = group_hashes[chunk_id]
                 hash_hex = h.hex()
                 for key_prefix in key_prefixes:
                     candidate_keys.append(