diff --git a/src/simwam/models/wan22/simwam.py b/src/simwam/models/wan22/simwam.py
index 9825ed2..edb98ba 100644
--- a/src/simwam/models/wan22/simwam.py
+++ b/src/simwam/models/wan22/simwam.py
@@ -246,11 +246,11 @@ def encode_prompt(self, prompt: Union[str, Sequence[str]]):
         ids = ids.to(self.device)
         mask = mask.to(self.device, dtype=torch.bool)
         prompt_emb = self.text_encoder(ids, mask)
-        # FIXME: original implementation's zero padding is visible in cross-attn.
-        seq_lens = mask.gt(0).sum(dim=1).long()
-        for i, v in enumerate(seq_lens):
-            prompt_emb[i, v:] = 0
-        mask = torch.ones_like(mask)
+        # Keep padded rows at zero as a defensive fallback for attention
+        # backends that do not consume masks.  This is not sufficient on its
+        # own because projection biases can still produce non-zero keys/values;
+        # the tokenizer's validity mask must also reach cross-attention.
+        prompt_emb = prompt_emb.masked_fill(~mask.unsqueeze(-1), 0)
         return prompt_emb.to(device=self.device), mask
 
     def _append_proprio_to_context(
diff --git a/tests/test_prompt_mask.py b/tests/test_prompt_mask.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aac80f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_prompt_mask.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+"""Regression tests for prompt padding in the SimWAM text-conditioning path."""
+
+import torch
+
+from simwam.models.wan22.simwam import SimWAM
+from simwam.models.wan22.wan_video_dit import CrossAttention
+
+
+class _Tokenizer:
+    def __call__(self, prompt, *, return_mask, add_special_tokens):
+        del prompt, return_mask, add_special_tokens
+        return (
+            torch.tensor([[11, 12, 13, 14]], dtype=torch.long),
+            torch.tensor([[True, True, False, False]], dtype=torch.bool),
+        )
+
+
+class _TextEncoder:
+    def __call__(self, ids, mask):
+        del mask
+        # Deliberately return non-zero vectors for padded positions.  The
+        # tokenizer mask, rather than zero-valued embeddings, must suppress
+        # those positions in cross-attention.
+        return ids.to(torch.float32).unsqueeze(-1).expand(-1, -1, 3)
+
+
+def test_encode_prompt_preserves_padding_mask():
+    model = object.__new__(SimWAM)
+    model.text_encoder = _TextEncoder()
+    model.tokenizer = _Tokenizer()
+    model.device = torch.device("cpu")
+
+    embeddings, mask = model.encode_prompt("pick up the cube")
+
+    assert embeddings.shape == (1, 4, 3)
+    assert torch.count_nonzero(embeddings[:, 2:]) == 0
+    assert torch.equal(mask, torch.tensor([[True, True, False, False]]))
+
+
+def test_cross_attention_ignores_padded_prompt_rows():
+    torch.manual_seed(0)
+    attention = CrossAttention(hidden_dim=4, attn_head_dim=2, num_heads=2).eval()
+    query = torch.randn(1, 3, 4)
+    context = torch.randn(1, 4, 4)
+    changed = context.clone()
+    changed[:, 2:] += 1000.0
+    mask = torch.tensor([[True, True, False, False]])[:, None, None, :]
+
+    expected = attention(query, context, ctx_mask=mask)
+    actual = attention(query, changed, ctx_mask=mask)
+
+    assert torch.allclose(expected, actual, atol=1e-5, rtol=1e-5)