diff --git a/src/sync.rs b/src/sync.rs
index 8810ec2..fb32a2f 100644
--- a/src/sync.rs
+++ b/src/sync.rs
@@ -462,13 +462,26 @@ impl<
     /// Inserts an item in the cache with key `key`.
     pub fn insert_with_lifecycle(&self, key: Key, value: Val) -> L::RequestState {
         let mut lcs = self.lifecycle.begin_request();
+        self.insert_with_state(key, value, &mut lcs);
+        lcs
+    }
+
+    /// Inserts an item in the cache with key `key` using an existing lifecycle request state.
+    ///
+    /// `lcs` must have been obtained from a prior [`Lifecycle::begin_request`] call and
+    /// must **not** have been passed to [`Lifecycle::end_request`] yet. Any items evicted
+    /// by this insert are recorded into `lcs` and will be dropped when `end_request` is
+    /// eventually called.
+    ///
+    /// Prefer [`insert`](Self::insert) for the common case where you do not need to
+    /// manage the lifecycle state manually.
+    pub fn insert_with_state(&self, key: Key, value: Val, lcs: &mut L::RequestState) {
         let (shard, hash) = self.shard_for(&key).unwrap();
         let result = shard
             .write()
-            .insert(&mut lcs, hash, key, value, InsertStrategy::Insert);
+            .insert(lcs, hash, key, value, InsertStrategy::Insert);
         // result cannot err with the Insert strategy
         debug_assert!(result.is_ok());
-        lcs
     }
 
     /// Attempts to insert an item in the cache with key `key` without blocking.
@@ -484,14 +497,29 @@ impl<
         // Tradeoff: begin_request is called before acquiring the shard lock to avoid holding
         // the lock during potentially expensive lifecycle initialization.
         let mut lcs = self.lifecycle.begin_request();
+        self.try_insert_with_state(key, value, &mut lcs)?;
+        Ok(lcs)
+    }
+
+    /// Attempts to insert an item in the cache with key `key` without blocking.
+    /// Returns `Ok(lcs)` with the lifecycle request state if the item was inserted,
+    /// or `Err((key, value))` if the shard lock could not be acquired without blocking.
+    /// Lock contention is the only failure mode: the inputs are returned so the
+    /// caller can retry or discard them.
+    pub fn try_insert_with_state(
+        &self,
+        key: Key,
+        value: Val,
+        lcs: &mut L::RequestState,
+    ) -> Result<(), (Key, Val)> {
         let (shard, hash) = self.shard_for(&key).unwrap();
 
         match shard.try_write() {
             Some(mut shard) => {
-                let result = shard.insert(&mut lcs, hash, key, value, InsertStrategy::Insert);
+                let result = shard.insert(lcs, hash, key, value, InsertStrategy::Insert);
                 // result cannot err with the Insert strategy
                 debug_assert!(result.is_ok());
-                Ok(lcs)
+                Ok(())
             }
             _ => Err((key, value)),
         }