diff --git a/crates/ml-hyperopt/src/optimizer.rs b/crates/ml-hyperopt/src/optimizer.rs
index 43f3d0d17..d8ec488a5 100644
--- a/crates/ml-hyperopt/src/optimizer.rs
+++ b/crates/ml-hyperopt/src/optimizer.rs
@@ -354,15 +354,35 @@ impl ArgminOptimizer {
         let trials_used = trials.len();
         let remaining_trials = self.max_trials.saturating_sub(trials_used);
 
-        // FIX: Each PSO iteration evaluates n_particles candidates (sequentially via mutex)
-        // PSO evaluates ALL particles in swarm per iteration, so divide remaining budget
-        // by swarm size to prevent trial count overflow (fixes 962 trial bug)
-        // CRITICAL FIX (2025-11-07): Use CEILING division to ensure all trials complete
-        // Example: 8 remaining ÷ 20 particles = 0.4 → ceil to 1 iteration (not 0)
+        // For small budgets (< 2× swarm size), PSO can't complete a full iteration.
+        // Fall back to additional LHS samples which give better space coverage.
+        if remaining_trials < self.n_particles * 2 {
+            info!(
+                "Budget too small for PSO ({} remaining < {} particles × 2). Using additional LHS.",
+                remaining_trials, self.n_particles
+            );
+            let extra_samples = Self::latin_hypercube_sampling(remaining_trials, &bounds, &mut rng);
+            let mut model_guard = cost_fn.model.lock().map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("lock: {e}"))?;
+            for i in 0..remaining_trials {
+                let continuous_vec: Vec<f64> = extra_samples.row(i).to_vec();
+                Self::evaluate_point(
+                    &continuous_vec,
+                    &mut *model_guard,
+                    &trial_results,
+                    &trial_counter,
+                    &param_names,
+                )?;
+            }
+            drop(model_guard);
+        }
+
         let max_iters_by_budget =
             ((remaining_trials as f64) / (self.n_particles as f64)).ceil() as usize;
-
-        let max_iters = max_iters_by_budget.min(self.max_iters_per_restart);
+        let max_iters = if remaining_trials < self.n_particles * 2 {
+            0 // Already handled by LHS fallback above
+        } else {
+            max_iters_by_budget.min(self.max_iters_per_restart)
+        };
 
         info!(
             "PSO Budget: {} iterations ({} remaining trials ÷ {} particles = {} max iters)",