diff --git a/scripts/chat_sft.py b/scripts/chat_sft.py
index fb0c061..7a18ad3 100644
--- a/scripts/chat_sft.py
+++ b/scripts/chat_sft.py
@@ -130,7 +130,8 @@ def sft_data_generator_bos_bestfit(split, buffer_size=100):
 
     Each row in the batch starts with BOS (beginning of a conversation).
     Conversations are packed using best-fit algorithm. When no conversation fits,
-    the row is padded (instead of cropping) to ensure no tokens are ever discarded.
+    the row is padded. If the row is still empty, we fall back to truncating one
+    conversation to avoid fully padded rows.
     Padding positions have targets masked with -1 (ignore_index for cross-entropy).
     """
     global last_step, approx_progress, current_epoch
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ def sft_data_generator_bos_bestfit(split, buffer_size=100):
         nonlocal cursor, epoch
         while len(conv_buffer) < buffer_size:
             conversation = dataset[cursor]
-            ids, _ = tokenizer.render_conversation(conversation, max_tokens=row_capacity)
+            ids, _ = tokenizer.render_conversation(conversation)
             conv_buffer.append(ids)
             cursor += ddp_world_size
             if cursor >= dataset_size:
@@ -188,12 +189,25 @@ def sft_data_generator_bos_bestfit(split, buffer_size=100):
                     row.extend(conv)
                     consumed += ddp_world_size  # Track actual consumption
                 else:
-                    # No conversation fits - pad the remainder instead of cropping
-                    # This ensures we never discard any tokens
-                    content_len = len(row)
-                    row.extend([bos_token] * remaining)  # Pad with BOS tokens
-                    padded = True
-                    break  # Row is now full (with padding)
+                    if len(row) == 0:
+                        # No conversation fits even on an empty row.
+                        # Truncate the shortest one to avoid fully padded rows.
+                        trunc_idx = -1
+                        trunc_len = None
+                        for i, conv in enumerate(conv_buffer):
+                            conv_len = len(conv)
+                            if conv_len > remaining and (trunc_len is None or conv_len < trunc_len):
+                                trunc_idx = i
+                                trunc_len = conv_len
+                        conv = conv_buffer.pop(trunc_idx)
+                        row.extend(conv[:row_capacity])
+                        consumed += ddp_world_size
+                    else:
+                        # No conversation fits - pad the remainder
+                        content_len = len(row)
+                        row.extend([bos_token] * remaining)  # Pad with BOS tokens
+                        padded = True
+                    break  # Row is now full (with padding or truncation)
 
             # Track content length: full row if no padding, otherwise the length before padding
             if padded: