diff --git a/tests/policies/smolvla/test_smolvla2_attention_masking.py b/tests/policies/smolvla/test_smolvla2_attention_masking.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7811927ed
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+++ b/tests/policies/smolvla/test_smolvla2_attention_masking.py
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+# Copyright 2026 The HuggingFace Inc. team. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""Attention-masking tests for the SmolVLA2 text head.
+
+Regression coverage for the text-CE collapse bug: ``embed_prefix`` flags
+every language token ``att=0``, which ``make_att_2d_masks`` turns into a
+single fully *bidirectional* block. Under that mask the text
+cross-entropy degenerates into a copy task — a supervised target token
+attends to the tokens it is trained to predict — and the model never
+learns causal generation, so ``select_message`` collapses at inference.
+
+``_mark_target_span_causal`` sets ``att=1`` on the supervised target
+language positions so each target token attends causally among the
+targets while staying bidirectional to images + the user prompt. These
+tests pin that behaviour.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+import torch
+
+# The smolvla2 modeling module imports transformers transitively.
+pytest.importorskip("transformers")
+
+from lerobot.policies.smolvla.modeling_smolvla import make_att_2d_masks  # noqa: E402
+from lerobot.policies.smolvla2.modeling_smolvla2 import (  # noqa: E402
+    _locate_lang_range,
+    _mark_target_span_causal,
+)
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# A synthetic SmolVLA prefix layout: [images, prompt-lang, target-lang, state]
+#
+#   indices 0-1  : 2 image tokens          (att = 0)
+#   indices 2-4  : 3 user-prompt lang      (att = 0)
+#   indices 5-8  : 4 supervised target lang(att = 0 from embed_prefix)
+#   index   9    : 1 state token           (att = 1)
+#
+# ``text_labels`` covers the 7 language tokens; -100 on the prompt span,
+# real ids on the 4-token target span.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+N_IMAGE = 2
+N_PROMPT = 3
+N_TARGET = 4
+LANG_START = N_IMAGE
+LANG_END = N_IMAGE + N_PROMPT + N_TARGET  # = state-token index
+PREFIX_LEN = LANG_END + 1
+
+
+def _embed_prefix_att_masks() -> torch.Tensor:
+    """Mimic ``embed_prefix``: images + lang all att=0, state att=1."""
+    att = torch.zeros(1, PREFIX_LEN, dtype=torch.bool)
+    att[0, LANG_END] = True  # the single state token
+    return att
+
+
+def _text_labels() -> torch.Tensor:
+    """-100 over the prompt span, real ids over the target span."""
+    labels = torch.full((1, N_PROMPT + N_TARGET), -100, dtype=torch.long)
+    labels[0, N_PROMPT:] = torch.arange(10, 10 + N_TARGET)
+    return labels
+
+
+def _attends(prefix_att_masks: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
+    """2D boolean attendance matrix; ``[i, j]`` True ⇒ i attends to j."""
+    pad = torch.ones(1, PREFIX_LEN, dtype=torch.bool)
+    return make_att_2d_masks(pad, prefix_att_masks)[0]
+
+
+def test_locate_lang_range_anchors_on_state_token():
+    """``_locate_lang_range`` finds the lang span via the lone att=1 token."""
+    lang_start, lang_end = _locate_lang_range(
+        _embed_prefix_att_masks(), num_lang=N_PROMPT + N_TARGET
+    )
+    assert (lang_start, lang_end) == (LANG_START, LANG_END)
+
+
+def test_mark_sets_att_on_targets_only():
+    """Only the supervised target language positions flip to att=1."""
+    marked = _mark_target_span_causal(
+        _embed_prefix_att_masks(), _text_labels(), LANG_START, LANG_END
+    )
+    expected = [False] * PREFIX_LEN
+    for i in range(LANG_START + N_PROMPT, LANG_END):  # target span
+        expected[i] = True
+    expected[LANG_END] = True  # state token, untouched
+    assert marked[0].tolist() == expected
+
+
+def test_target_tokens_attend_causally_among_themselves():
+    """A target token must NOT attend to later targets, but must attend
+    to earlier ones — i.e. genuine causal next-token prediction."""
+    marked = _mark_target_span_causal(
+        _embed_prefix_att_masks(), _text_labels(), LANG_START, LANG_END
+    )
+    attends = _attends(marked)
+    tgt = range(LANG_START + N_PROMPT, LANG_END)
+    for i in tgt:
+        for j in tgt:
+            if j > i:
+                assert not attends[i, j], f"target {i} must not see future target {j}"
+            else:
+                assert attends[i, j], f"target {i} must see earlier/self target {j}"
+
+
+def test_target_tokens_attend_prompt_and_images_bidirectionally():
+    """Targets keep full visibility of images + the user prompt."""
+    marked = _mark_target_span_causal(
+        _embed_prefix_att_masks(), _text_labels(), LANG_START, LANG_END
+    )
+    attends = _attends(marked)
+    context = list(range(0, LANG_START + N_PROMPT))  # images + prompt
+    for i in range(LANG_START + N_PROMPT, LANG_END):
+        for j in context:
+            assert attends[i, j], f"target {i} must attend context {j}"
+
+
+def test_action_expert_token_still_sees_full_subtask():
+    """The state token (action-expert context) attends to every target —
+    causal masking the targets must not hide them from the action path."""
+    marked = _mark_target_span_causal(
+        _embed_prefix_att_masks(), _text_labels(), LANG_START, LANG_END
+    )
+    attends = _attends(marked)
+    for j in range(LANG_START + N_PROMPT, LANG_END):
+        assert attends[LANG_END, j], f"state token must see target {j}"
+
+
+def test_non_target_subtask_stays_bidirectional():
+    """``low_level_execution`` renders the subtask as a user turn — its
+    ``text_labels`` are all -100, so the mask must be left untouched and
+    the action expert reads the subtask bidirectionally."""
+    all_ignored = torch.full((1, N_PROMPT + N_TARGET), -100, dtype=torch.long)
+    marked = _mark_target_span_causal(
+        _embed_prefix_att_masks(), all_ignored, LANG_START, LANG_END
+    )
+    assert torch.equal(marked, _embed_prefix_att_masks())
+
+
+def test_unmarked_mask_is_bidirectional_the_bug():
+    """Documents the bug the fix prevents: without ``_mark_target_span_causal``
+    a target token attends *bidirectionally* to later targets — the
+    text-CE can copy the answer it is trained to predict."""
+    attends = _attends(_embed_prefix_att_masks())
+    first_tgt = LANG_START + N_PROMPT
+    last_tgt = LANG_END - 1
+    assert attends[first_tgt, last_tgt], (
+        "raw embed_prefix mask is bidirectional over language — the first "
+        "target token can see the last, which is the collapse bug"
+    )