diff --git a/packages/sie_server/README.md b/packages/sie_server/README.md
index f3d5c76ee..eb75f379c 100644
--- a/packages/sie_server/README.md
+++ b/packages/sie_server/README.md
@@ -1220,6 +1220,16 @@ attention. Calibrated profiles for these configurations retain their overrides.
 Automatic sizing is an estimate; unusually large runtime workspaces can still
 invoke the existing OOM recovery path.
 
+A profile whose engine needs more memory outside its static pool than these
+allowances can declare the measured excess as
+`adapter_options.loadtime.runtime_headroom_gib`. An example is a vision encoder
+processing one full-size page. SIE adds the value to the reservation in both
+modes. Load staging then evicts idle eligible models until that much memory is
+free, and an automatically sized engine does not launch without it. The
+headroom stays outside the engine's static pool. A model loaded later is still
+admitted on actual device usage, so it can take headroom that the engine has not
+allocated yet.
+
 | Env var | Default | Effect |
 |--|--|--|
 | `SIE_MEMORY_PRESSURE_THRESHOLD_PERCENT` | `95` | VRAM utilisation that triggers reactive LRU eviction by the pressure monitor. |
diff --git a/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/_memory.py b/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/_memory.py
index 08ad6d6ca..f670dffb4 100644
--- a/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/_memory.py
+++ b/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/_memory.py
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ class SGLangMemoryBudget:
     mem_fraction_static: float | None = None
     tensor_parallel_size: int = 1
     has_auxiliary_weights: bool = False
+    runtime_headroom_gib: float = 0
     reserved_bytes: int = 0
 
     def __post_init__(self) -> None:
@@ -126,6 +127,9 @@ def __post_init__(self) -> None:
             isinstance(fraction, bool) or not isinstance(fraction, int | float) or not 0 < fraction <= 1
         ):
             raise ValueError("mem_fraction_static must be a finite number in (0, 1]")
+        headroom = self.runtime_headroom_gib
+        if isinstance(headroom, bool) or not isinstance(headroom, int | float) or not 0 <= headroom < math.inf:
+            raise ValueError("runtime_headroom_gib must be a finite non-negative number")
 
     @property
     def token_capacity(self) -> int:
@@ -150,15 +154,18 @@ def static_bytes(self) -> int:
     def required_bytes(self, *, device_type: str, device_total_bytes: int) -> int | None:
         if device_type != "cuda" or device_total_bytes <= 0:
             return None
+        headroom = math.ceil(self.runtime_headroom_gib * GIB)
         if self.mem_fraction_static is not None:
             required = _server.estimate_load_required_memory_bytes(
                 device_type=device_type,
                 device_total_bytes=device_total_bytes,
                 mem_fraction_static=self.mem_fraction_static,
             )
+            if required is not None:
+                required = min(required + headroom, device_total_bytes)
             self.reserved_bytes = (required or 0) * self.tensor_parallel_size
             return required
-        required = self.static_bytes + RUNTIME_HEADROOM_BYTES
+        required = self.static_bytes + RUNTIME_HEADROOM_BYTES + headroom
         self.reserved_bytes = required
         return required
 
diff --git a/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/generation.py b/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/generation.py
index 2cf2f9d34..a97721a1e 100644
--- a/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/generation.py
+++ b/packages/sie_server/src/sie_server/adapters/sglang/generation.py
@@ -552,6 +552,10 @@ def __init__(
         # it, then follows as usual. None leaves reasoning unbounded and the
         # launch unchanged. Needs a reasoning parser with known control tokens.
         thinking_budget: int | None = None,
+        # GiB the engine allocates outside its static pool beyond the default
+        # allowance at peak, such as a vision encoder's activations for one
+        # full-size image. Load staging requires it free before launch.
+        runtime_headroom_gib: float = 0,
         **kwargs: Any,  # accept extra args from loader for compatibility
     ) -> None:
         _ = kwargs
@@ -571,6 +575,7 @@ def __init__(
             mem_fraction_static=mem_fraction_static,
             tensor_parallel_size=self._tensor_parallel_size,
             has_auxiliary_weights=bool(lora_paths or (speculative and speculative.get("enabled"))),
+            runtime_headroom_gib=runtime_headroom_gib,
         )
         self._watchdog_timeout_s = _server.validate_optional_positive(watchdog_timeout_s, field="watchdog_timeout_s")
         self._declared_nccl_port = _server.validate_optional_port(nccl_port)
diff --git a/packages/sie_server/tests/adapters/test_sglang_memory.py b/packages/sie_server/tests/adapters/test_sglang_memory.py
index b0f6022ad..07b7747a0 100644
--- a/packages/sie_server/tests/adapters/test_sglang_memory.py
+++ b/packages/sie_server/tests/adapters/test_sglang_memory.py
@@ -93,6 +93,50 @@ def test_explicit_fraction_keeps_admission_and_unbounded_kv_behavior(monkeypatch
     assert budget.launch_args(0) == ["--mem-fraction-static", "0.85"]
 
 
+def test_runtime_headroom_is_reserved_in_both_admission_paths(model_dir):
+    automatic = _budget(model_dir).required_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB)
+    budget = _budget(model_dir, runtime_headroom_gib=4)
+    assert budget.required_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB) == automatic + 4 * GIB
+    assert budget.reserved_bytes == automatic + 4 * GIB
+
+    explicit = _budget(Path("missing-model"), mem_fraction_static=0.85, runtime_headroom_gib=4)
+    assert explicit.required_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB) == 73 * GIB
+    assert explicit.reserved_bytes == 73 * GIB
+    oversized = _budget(Path("missing-model"), mem_fraction_static=0.85, runtime_headroom_gib=20)
+    assert oversized.required_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB) == 80 * GIB
+
+
+def test_runtime_headroom_stays_outside_the_static_pool(model_dir, monkeypatch):
+    budget = _budget(model_dir, runtime_headroom_gib=4)
+    without_headroom = _budget(model_dir).required_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(_memory, "device_memory", lambda _: (without_headroom, 80 * GIB))
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="CUDA out of memory"):
+        budget.launch_args(0)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(_memory, "device_memory", lambda _: (60 * GIB, 80 * GIB))
+    assert float(budget.launch_args(0)[1]) * 60 * GIB == pytest.approx(budget.static_bytes)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("headroom", [-1, True, float("nan"), float("inf"), "4"])
+def test_invalid_runtime_headroom_rejected(headroom):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="runtime_headroom_gib"):
+        _budget(Path("missing"), runtime_headroom_gib=headroom)
+
+
+def test_load_staging_evicts_until_the_runtime_headroom_is_free(model_dir):
+    plain = SGLangVisionExtractAdapter(str(model_dir), max_seq_length=32768, kv_budget_tokens=32768)
+    vision = SGLangVisionExtractAdapter(
+        str(model_dir), max_seq_length=32768, kv_budget_tokens=32768, runtime_headroom_gib=4
+    )
+    plain_required = plain.load_required_memory_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB)
+    assert plain_required is not None
+    manager = MemoryManager(device="cuda:0")
+    free = plain_required + GIB
+    with patch.object(manager, "get_stats", return_value=MemoryStats(80 * GIB - free, 80 * GIB, "cuda")):
+        assert not manager.should_evict_for_load(_adapter_load_required_bytes(plain, manager))
+        assert _adapter_load_required_bytes(vision, manager) == plain_required + 4 * GIB
+        assert manager.should_evict_for_load(_adapter_load_required_bytes(vision, manager))
+
+
 def test_sharded_weights_use_index_and_serving_precision(model_dir):
     (model_dir / "model.safetensors").unlink()
     _write_weights(model_dir / "model-1.safetensors", 1000, "F32", 4)
diff --git a/packages/sie_server/tests/config/test_sglang_memory_profiles.py b/packages/sie_server/tests/config/test_sglang_memory_profiles.py
index c3175e34a..c5a445b5d 100644
--- a/packages/sie_server/tests/config/test_sglang_memory_profiles.py
+++ b/packages/sie_server/tests/config/test_sglang_memory_profiles.py
@@ -107,6 +107,19 @@ def test_glm_ocr_launches_with_its_explicit_fraction():
     assert budget.launch_args(0) == ["--mem-fraction-static", "0.85"]
 
 
+def test_profile_runtime_headroom_reaches_the_load_reservation():
+    config = load_model_config(MODELS / "zai-org__GLM-OCR.yaml")
+    baseline = load_adapter(config, MODELS, device="cuda:0")
+    assert baseline._memory_budget.runtime_headroom_gib == 0
+    values = config.model_dump()
+    values["profiles"]["default"]["adapter_options"]["loadtime"]["runtime_headroom_gib"] = 4
+    adapter = load_adapter(type(config).model_validate(values), MODELS, device="cuda:0")
+    assert adapter._memory_budget.runtime_headroom_gib == 4
+    required = adapter.load_required_memory_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB)
+    assert required == baseline.load_required_memory_bytes(device_type="cuda", device_total_bytes=80 * GIB) + 4 * GIB
+    assert required == 73 * GIB
+
+
 def test_guard_calibrated_profile_retains_explicit_override():
     config = load_model_config(MODELS / "Qwen__Qwen3Guard-Gen-4B.yaml")
     assert config.resolve_profile("default").kv_budget_tokens == 32768