diff --git a/src/maxtext/training_engine/maxtext_engine.py b/src/maxtext/training_engine/maxtext_engine.py
index 9153180a85..3ac4600b27 100644
--- a/src/maxtext/training_engine/maxtext_engine.py
+++ b/src/maxtext/training_engine/maxtext_engine.py
@@ -1554,9 +1554,13 @@ def eval_step(self, payload: abstract_engine.TrainerPayload, **kwargs: Any) -> N
       signature = _batch_signature(dynamic_batch, static_batch)
       if self._compiled_eval is None or self._needs_recompile(signature, self._compiled_eval_signature):
         self._compile_eval_for_batch(dynamic_batch, static_batch)
-      loss, aux = self._compiled_eval(params, rest, dynamic_batch)
+      # Around the call, as `fwd_bwd` and `update` do: `jax.jit` is lazy, so this is where
+      # the eval kernel is traced and where the mesh and the axis rules have to be live.
+      with self._sharding_ctx():
+        loss, aux = self._compiled_eval(params, rest, dynamic_batch)
     else:
-      loss, aux = self._eval_kernel(params, rest, batch)
+      with self._sharding_ctx():
+        loss, aux = self._eval_kernel(params, rest, batch)
 
     # No metrics attached: eval metrics are buffered by `_eval_metrics_recorder` and written
     # in EVAL mode when `eval_context` exits.
diff --git a/tests/post_training/unit/maxtext_engine_test.py b/tests/post_training/unit/maxtext_engine_test.py
index 60d937218a..8c7d006d82 100644
--- a/tests/post_training/unit/maxtext_engine_test.py
+++ b/tests/post_training/unit/maxtext_engine_test.py
@@ -1117,6 +1117,46 @@ def test_eval_step_records_eval_metrics_and_mutates_no_training_state(self):
     # The recorder is drained, so a later pass cannot re-write this one's numbers.
     self.assertEmpty(t._eval_metrics_recorder.get_metrics_history(clear_cache=False))
 
+  def _sharding_ctx_seen_by_eval(self, compiled: bool) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Runs one `eval_step` and reports the context its kernel was actually traced under."""
+    seen = {}
+
+    def loss_fn(model, *_args, **_kwargs):
+      # Read from inside the kernel, which is the only place that matters: `jax.jit` is lazy,
+      # so a context entered around the compile call and not the kernel call would still
+      # leave the trace bare.
+      seen["mesh"] = jax.sharding.get_abstract_mesh()
+      seen["rules"] = maxtext_engine.nn_partitioning.get_axis_rules()
+      return (
+          abstract_engine.WeightedMetric(unreduced_sum=jnp.sum(model.weights.value), denominator=jnp.array(1.0)),
+          {},
+      )
+
+    t = maxtext_engine.MaxTextTrainingEngine(self.mock_config)
+    t.with_loss_fn(loss_fn)
+    if compiled:
+      t.compile(DummyPayload())
+    t.eval_step(DummyPayload())
+    return seen
+
+  def test_eval_step_traces_under_the_mesh_and_axis_rules(self):
+    """The eval kernel is traced under the same context every training kernel gets.
+
+    `fwd_bwd` and `update` wrap their kernel calls in `_sharding_ctx`; eval was the one step
+    path that did not. Under `shard_mode=auto` that only costs partitioning quality, so it
+    goes unnoticed, but the MaxText layers call `jax.sharding.reshard(x, P(...))` and a bare
+    `PartitionSpec` with no mesh in context is an error rather than a no-op under explicit
+    axis types -- there, an eval kernel traced outside the context raises instead of running.
+
+    Both branches: `compile()` picks which of the two eval paths a run takes, and they were
+    missing the context independently.
+    """
+    for compiled in (False, True):
+      with self.subTest(compiled=compiled):
+        seen = self._sharding_ctx_seen_by_eval(compiled)
+        self.assertFalse(seen["mesh"].empty, "the eval kernel was traced with no mesh in context")
+        self.assertTrue(seen["rules"], "the eval kernel was traced with an empty logical axis rule set")
+
   def test_get_metrics_returns_one_buffer_and_a_sentinel_when_empty(self):
     """`get_metrics` returns a single buffer, matching both ABCs.