diff --git a/src/pruna/algorithms/base/pruna_base.py b/src/pruna/algorithms/base/pruna_base.py
index 0784069b..fa9a0405 100644
--- a/src/pruna/algorithms/base/pruna_base.py
+++ b/src/pruna/algorithms/base/pruna_base.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import functools
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Dict, Iterable
 
 from transformers import Pipeline
@@ -355,8 +356,8 @@ def apply(self, model: Any, smash_config: SmashConfig) -> Any:
         Any
             The model after the algorithm has been applied.
         """
-        if self.save_fn == SAVE_FUNCTIONS.save_before_apply and smash_config._prepare_saving:
-            save_dir = smash_config.cache_dir / SAVE_BEFORE_SMASH_CACHE_DIR
+        if self.save_fn == SAVE_FUNCTIONS.save_before_apply and smash_config.prepare_saving:
+            save_dir = self.get_save_before_smash_dir(smash_config)
             save_pruna_model(model, save_dir, smash_config)
 
         # save algorithms to reapply after loading
@@ -447,6 +448,23 @@ def get_algorithms_to_run_after_disjointly(self) -> list[str]:
         """
         return _expand_tags_into_algorithm_names(self.disjointly_compatible_after)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_save_before_smash_dir(smash_config: SmashConfig) -> Path:
+        """
+        Get the save directory for the algorithm caches.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        smash_config : SmashConfig
+            The SmashConfig to check the cache directory against.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        Path
+            The absolute path of "SAVE_BEFORE_SMASH_CACHE_DIR".
+        """
+        return (smash_config.cache_dir / SAVE_BEFORE_SMASH_CACHE_DIR).resolve()
+
 
 def wrap_handle_imports(func):
     """
diff --git a/src/pruna/algorithms/global_utils/recovery/perp_recoverer.py b/src/pruna/algorithms/global_utils/recovery/perp_recoverer.py
index 4b65d9df..8d7941c0 100644
--- a/src/pruna/algorithms/global_utils/recovery/perp_recoverer.py
+++ b/src/pruna/algorithms/global_utils/recovery/perp_recoverer.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+import shutil
 from typing import Any, Dict
 
 import torch
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@
 from pruna.algorithms.global_utils.recovery.finetuners import PrunaFinetuner
 from pruna.algorithms.global_utils.recovery.finetuners.diffusers.utils import get_denoiser_attr
 from pruna.algorithms.global_utils.recovery.utils import get_trainable_parameters
-from pruna.config.smash_config import SmashConfigPrefixWrapper
+from pruna.config.smash_config import SmashConfig, SmashConfigPrefixWrapper
 from pruna.engine.model_checks import (
     is_causal_lm,
     is_flux_pipeline,
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@
     is_sd_pipeline,
     is_sdxl_pipeline,
 )
-from pruna.engine.save import SAVE_FUNCTIONS
+from pruna.engine.save import SAVE_FUNCTIONS, save_pruna_model
 from pruna.logging.logger import pruna_logger
 
 
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ class PERPRecoverer(PrunaAlgorithmBase):
     """
 
     group_tags: list[AlgorithmTag] = [AlgorithmTag.RECOVERER]  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
-    save_fn = SAVE_FUNCTIONS.pickled
+    save_fn = None
     references: dict[str, str] = {
         "GitHub": "https://github.com/huggingface/peft",
         "Paper": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2312.15230",
@@ -181,6 +182,45 @@ def _pre_smash_hook(self, model: Any, smash_config: SmashConfigPrefixWrapper) ->
             adapter_smash_config = SmashConfigPrefixWrapper(smash_config, adapter.adapter_prefix + "_")
             adapter.pre_smash_hook(model_recovery, adapter_smash_config, seed=adapter_seed)
 
+    def apply(self, model: Any, smash_config: SmashConfig) -> Any:
+        """
+        Apply the recovery algorithm and refresh the save cache if needed.
+
+        Recovery modifies weights in-place without changing the model's serialization
+        format. If a prior algorithm used ``save_before_apply`` (caching the model before
+        its transformation), the cached snapshot is now stale because recovery changed
+        the weights. This override refreshes that cache so the already saved model includes
+        the recovered weights.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        model : Any
+            The model to apply the algorithm to.
+        smash_config : SmashConfig
+            The SmashConfig object containing the save and load functions.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        Any
+            The model after recovery has been applied.
+        """
+        result = super().apply(model, smash_config)
+
+        if smash_config.prepare_saving:
+            save_dir = self.get_save_before_smash_dir(smash_config)
+            if not save_dir.exists():
+                return result
+
+            ori_save_fns = smash_config.save_fns[:]
+            smash_config.save_fns = [fn for fn in smash_config.save_fns if fn != SAVE_FUNCTIONS.save_before_apply.name]
+            # Re-save with recovered weights
+            shutil.rmtree(save_dir, ignore_errors=True)
+            save_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+            save_pruna_model(model, save_dir, smash_config)
+            # Restore save_fns
+            smash_config.save_fns = ori_save_fns
+        return result
+
     def _apply(self, model: Any, smash_config: SmashConfigPrefixWrapper) -> Any:
         """
         Recover performances from a given model with a given config.
diff --git a/src/pruna/config/smash_config.py b/src/pruna/config/smash_config.py
index 0acc1e12..81429b48 100644
--- a/src/pruna/config/smash_config.py
+++ b/src/pruna/config/smash_config.py
@@ -119,6 +119,11 @@ def __init__(
             raise ValueError(f"Unsupported configuration type: {type(configuration)}")
         self.config_space: ConfigurationSpace = self._configuration.config_space
 
+    @property
+    def prepare_saving(self):
+        """Getter of _prepare_saving as an object's internal data."""
+        return self._prepare_saving
+
     @classmethod
     def from_list(
         cls,
diff --git a/tests/engine/test_save.py b/tests/engine/test_save.py
index 2cd6f3e1..34fd30b6 100644
--- a/tests/engine/test_save.py
+++ b/tests/engine/test_save.py
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 import os
-import pytest
-import torch
+import shutil
 from pathlib import Path
 from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import pytest
+import torch
+from diffusers import DiffusionPipeline
 from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM
-from pruna.config.smash_config import SmashConfig
+
 from pruna import smash
-from pruna.engine.save import save_pruna_model
-from pruna.engine.save import save_pruna_model_to_hub
-from pruna.engine.save import SAVE_FUNCTIONS
-from pruna.engine.load import load_pruna_model
 from pruna.config.smash_config import SmashConfig
-from diffusers import DiffusionPipeline
+from pruna.engine.load import load_pruna_model
 from pruna.engine.pruna_model import PrunaModel
+from pruna.engine.save import SAVE_FUNCTIONS, save_pruna_model, save_pruna_model_to_hub
 
 
 @pytest.mark.slow
@@ -160,3 +160,68 @@ def test_push_to_hub_path_types(tmp_path) -> None:
             private=True
         )
         assert mock_upload.called
+
+
+@pytest.mark.cpu
+def test_recovery_save_fn_is_none() -> None:
+    """Test that recovery algorithms use save_fn=None, preserving the prior algorithm's save format."""
+    from pruna.algorithms.global_utils.recovery.perp_recoverer import PERPRecoverer
+
+    assert PERPRecoverer.save_fn is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.cpu
+def test_recovery_does_not_add_to_save_fns(tmp_path) -> None:
+    """Test that recovery's apply() does not append to save_fns when save_fn is None."""
+
+    config = SmashConfig()
+    config.save_fns = ["hqq"]  # simulate a prior algorithm's save_fn
+
+    save_fn = None
+
+    # PrunaAlgorithmBase apply logic
+    if save_fn is not None and save_fn != SAVE_FUNCTIONS.reapply:
+        config.save_fns.append(save_fn.name)
+
+    assert config.save_fns == ["hqq"], "Recovery should not add to save_fns"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.cpu
+def test_recovery_refresh_save_cache(tmp_path) -> None:
+    """Test that recovery refreshes a stale save_before_apply cache with recovered weights."""
+    from pruna.algorithms.base.pruna_base import PrunaAlgorithmBase
+
+    model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("yujiepan/opt-tiny-random")
+
+    config = SmashConfig(device="cpu")
+
+    # Simulate a save_before_apply algorithm having run before recovery:
+    # 1. Save original (pre-transformation) model to cache
+    save_dir = PrunaAlgorithmBase.get_save_before_smash_dir(config)
+    save_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+    save_pruna_model(model, save_dir, config)
+
+    # 2. Mark save_before_apply in save_fns (as the algorithm would)
+    config.save_fns.append(SAVE_FUNCTIONS.save_before_apply.name)
+
+    # 3. Simulate the transformation (e.g., half) + recovery modifying weights
+    model.lm_head.weight.data.fill_(0.99)  # "recovered" weights
+
+    # 4. Simulate what recovery's apply() does: refresh the stale cache
+    ori_save_fns = config.save_fns[:]
+    config.save_fns = [fn for fn in config.save_fns if fn != SAVE_FUNCTIONS.save_before_apply.name]
+    shutil.rmtree(save_dir, ignore_errors=True)
+    save_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+    save_pruna_model(model, save_dir, config)
+    config.save_fns = ori_save_fns
+
+    # 5. Verify the cache was refreshed: save_before_apply should copy updated files
+    save_path = tmp_path / "final_model"
+    save_pruna_model(model, save_path, config)
+
+    # Load and verify the recovered weights survived the round-trip
+    loaded_model, _ = load_pruna_model(save_path)
+    loaded_model = loaded_model.cpu()
+    assert torch.allclose(
+        loaded_model.lm_head.weight, torch.full_like(loaded_model.lm_head.weight, 0.99)
+    ), "Recovered weights should survive save/load through save_before_apply"