diff --git a/python/freetoken/models/gemma4/gguf.py b/python/freetoken/models/gemma4/gguf.py
index 437822b51..d7696283c 100644
--- a/python/freetoken/models/gemma4/gguf.py
+++ b/python/freetoken/models/gemma4/gguf.py
@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ def g(key: str):
     full_kv = int(kv_per_layer[full_layer_ids[0]]) if full_layer_ids else int(kv_per_layer[0])
 
     max_pos = int(g("context_length"))
+    # Dense Gemma-4 checkpoints (gemma-4-12B-it, gemma-4-31B-it) carry no expert fields
+    # in their GGUF metadata; only MoE members (e.g. Gemma-4-26B-A4B) do. Mirror the HF
+    # side (gemma4.config.parse_config): default the expert fields to 0 and derive
+    # moe_enabled from them instead of assuming every GGUF is MoE.
+    num_experts = int(m.get("gemma4.expert_count", 0) or 0)
+    num_experts_per_tok = int(m.get("gemma4.expert_used_count", 0) or 0)
+    moe_intermediate_size = int(m.get("gemma4.expert_feed_forward_length", 0) or 0)
+    moe_enabled = num_experts > 0
     full_rotary = RotaryConfig(
         head_dim=full_head_dim,
         rotary_dim=_full_rotary_dim(shim, full_head_dim),
@@ -105,15 +113,16 @@ def g(key: str):
         rms_norm_eps=float(g("attention.layer_norm_rms_epsilon")),
         tie_word_embeddings=bool(shim.tie_word_embeddings),
         rotary_config=full_rotary,
-        num_experts=int(g("expert_count")),
-        num_experts_per_tok=int(g("expert_used_count")),
-        moe_intermediate_size=int(g("expert_feed_forward_length")),
+        num_experts=num_experts,
+        num_experts_per_tok=num_experts_per_tok,
+        moe_intermediate_size=moe_intermediate_size,
         norm_topk_prob=True,
         model_type="gemma4",
         architectures=list(shim.architectures),
-        moe_enabled=True,
-        expert_quant="q4_0",
-        moe_weight_format="q4_0",
+        moe_enabled=moe_enabled,
+        # Native-Q4_0 offload-cache path for the routed experts (MoE checkpoints only).
+        expert_quant="q4_0" if moe_enabled else "none",
+        moe_weight_format="q4_0" if moe_enabled else "none",
         use_qk_norm=True,
         attn_sm_scale=1.0,
         final_logit_softcapping=float(g("final_logit_softcapping")),
diff --git a/tests/models/test_gemma4_gguf_config.py b/tests/models/test_gemma4_gguf_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5594c27f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/models/test_gemma4_gguf_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+"""parse_gguf_config must handle dense Gemma-4 GGUFs (issue #357).
+
+Dense checkpoints (gemma-4-12B-it, gemma-4-31B-it) carry no gemma4.expert_* keys
+in their GGUF metadata. The old parser unconditionally required expert_count and
+hardcoded moe_enabled=True, so dense GGUFs could not load at all.
+"""
+
+import struct
+
+import pytest
+
+from freetoken.models.gguf.config import GgufConfigShim
+from freetoken.models.gemma4.gguf import parse_gguf_config
+
+
+def make_shim(metadata_overrides: dict, tmp_path) -> GgufConfigShim:
+    """A metadata-only shim over an empty file; _full_rotary_dim falls back to head_dim//4."""
+    empty = tmp_path / "meta_only.gguf"
+    # Minimal GGUF: magic + version 3 + kv_count=0 + tensor_count=0. GGUFReader opens
+    # it fine with no fields/tensors, so _full_rotary_dim takes its metadata-only
+    # fallback (head_dim//4) without needing a real checkpoint.
+    empty.write_bytes(b"GGUF" + struct.pack("<IQQ", 3, 0, 0))
+    base = {
+        "gemma4.block_count": 4,
+        "gemma4.embedding_length": 256,
+        "gemma4.attention.head_count": 4,
+        "gemma4.attention.head_count_kv": [2, 2, 2, 2],
+        # One SWA layer + three full layers.
+        "gemma4.attention.sliding_window_pattern": [True, False, False, False],
+        "gemma4.attention.key_length_swa": 128,
+        "gemma4.attention.key_length": 256,
+        "gemma4.attention.sliding_window": 512,
+        "gemma4.context_length": 1024,
+        "gemma4.rope.freq_base": 1000000.0,
+        "gemma4.rope.freq_base_swa": 1000000.0,
+        "gemma4.rope.dimension_count_swa": 128,
+        "gemma4.feed_forward_length": 512,
+        "gemma4.attention.layer_norm_rms_epsilon": 1e-6,
+        "gemma4.final_logit_softcapping": 30.0,
+    }
+    base.update(metadata_overrides)
+    return GgufConfigShim(
+        architectures=["Gemma4GGUFForCausalLM"],
+        model_path=str(empty),
+        model_type="gemma4",
+        metadata=base,
+        vocab_size=262144,
+        tie_word_embeddings=True,
+    )
+
+
+def test_moe_gguf_keeps_moe_path(tmp_path):
+    """A MoE GGUF (has expert_* keys) keeps moe_enabled + q4_0 expert quant."""
+    shim = make_shim({
+        "gemma4.expert_count": 128,
+        "gemma4.expert_used_count": 8,
+        "gemma4.expert_feed_forward_length": 1024,
+    }, tmp_path)
+    cfg = parse_gguf_config(shim)
+    assert cfg.moe_enabled is True
+    assert cfg.num_experts == 128
+    assert cfg.num_experts_per_tok == 8
+    assert cfg.moe_intermediate_size == 1024
+    assert cfg.expert_quant == "q4_0"
+
+
+def test_dense_gguf_loads_without_expert_keys(tmp_path):
+    """A dense GGUF (no expert_* keys) must parse and route to the dense path."""
+    cfg = parse_gguf_config(make_shim({}, tmp_path))
+    assert cfg.moe_enabled is False
+    assert cfg.num_experts == 0
+    assert cfg.num_experts_per_tok == 0
+    assert cfg.moe_intermediate_size == 0
+    assert cfg.expert_quant == "none"
+    # Sanity: the rest of the geometry still parses.
+    assert cfg.num_layers == 4
+    assert cfg.model_type == "gemma4"
+
+
+def test_explicit_zero_experts_is_dense(tmp_path):
+    """expert_count=0 in metadata must behave like an absent key."""
+    shim = make_shim({
+        "gemma4.expert_count": 0,
+        "gemma4.expert_used_count": 0,
+        "gemma4.expert_feed_forward_length": 0,
+    }, tmp_path)
+    cfg = parse_gguf_config(shim)
+    assert cfg.moe_enabled is False
+    assert cfg.expert_quant == "none"