diff --git a/clrs/_src/baselines.py b/clrs/_src/baselines.py
index b85c8d4b..e295de67 100644
--- a/clrs/_src/baselines.py
+++ b/clrs/_src/baselines.py
@@ -57,12 +57,10 @@
 def _maybe_pick_first_pmapped(tree):
   if jax.local_device_count() == 1:
     return tree
-  # Avoid degraded performance under the new jax.pmap. See
-  # https://docs.jax.dev/en/latest/migrate_pmap.html#int-indexing-into-sharded-arrays.
-  if jax.config.jax_pmap_shmap_merge:
-    return jax.tree_util.tree_map(
-        lambda x: x.addressable_shards[0].data.squeeze(0), tree)
-  return jax.tree_util.tree_map(lambda x: x[0], tree)
+  # Avoid degraded performance under the new jax.pmap.
+  return jax.tree_util.tree_map(
+      lambda x: x.addressable_shards[0].data.squeeze(0), tree
+  )
 
 
 @jax.jit
diff --git a/clrs/_src/nets.py b/clrs/_src/nets.py
index 14fed796..6d246980 100644
--- a/clrs/_src/nets.py
+++ b/clrs/_src/nets.py
@@ -645,8 +645,7 @@ def __call__(self, features_list: List[_FeaturesChunked],
               lambda x, b=batch_size, n=nb_nodes: jnp.reshape(x, [b, n, -1]),
               lstm_state)
           mp_state.lstm_state = lstm_state
-        # Avoid degraded performance under the new jax.pmap. See
-        # https://docs.jax.dev/en/latest/migrate_pmap.html#int-indexing-into-sharded-arrays.
+        # Avoid degraded performance under the new jax.pmap.
         def _get_first(x):
           # Handle non-JAX arrays (e.g., numpy arrays) by direct indexing.
           if not isinstance(x, jax.Array):
@@ -660,26 +659,20 @@ def _get_first(x):
               x.sharding, jax.sharding.SingleDeviceSharding
           ):
             return x
-          # Under the new jax.pmap (jax_pmap_shmap_merge), integer indexing
-          # into sharded arrays triggers expensive cross-device copies. Handle
-          # specially to avoid this performance degradation.
-          if jax.config.jax_pmap_shmap_merge:
-            # Single-device case: no cross-device copy, safe to index directly.
-            if len(jax.local_devices()) == 1:
-              return x[0]
-            # Fully-replicated arrays have identical data on all shards;
-            # extract from the first addressable shard to avoid copies.
-            if x.sharding.is_fully_replicated:
-              return x.addressable_shards[0].data
-            # For non-replicated sharded arrays, get data from the first shard.
-            # If the shard has a leading dimension of 1 (from the pmap batch
-            # axis), squeeze it out to match the expected shape.
-            shard_data = x.addressable_shards[0].data
-            if shard_data.shape and shard_data.shape[0] == 1:
-              return shard_data.squeeze(0)
-            return shard_data
-          # Legacy pmap path: direct indexing is safe and efficient.
-          return x[0]
+          # Single-device case: no cross-device copy, safe to index directly.
+          if len(jax.local_devices()) == 1:
+            return x[0]
+          # Fully-replicated arrays have identical data on all shards;
+          # extract from the first addressable shard to avoid copies.
+          if x.sharding.is_fully_replicated:
+            return x.addressable_shards[0].data
+          # For non-replicated sharded arrays, get data from the first shard.
+          # If the shard has a leading dimension of 1 (from the pmap batch
+          # axis), squeeze it out to match the expected shape.
+          shard_data = x.addressable_shards[0].data
+          if shard_data.shape and shard_data.shape[0] == 1:
+            return shard_data.squeeze(0)
+          return shard_data
 
         mp_state.inputs = jax.tree_util.tree_map(_get_first, inputs)
         mp_state.hints = jax.tree_util.tree_map(_get_first, hints)