diff --git a/src/core/src/cache/budget.rs b/src/core/src/cache/budget.rs
index 921b388f..59271e56 100644
--- a/src/core/src/cache/budget.rs
+++ b/src/core/src/cache/budget.rs
@@ -58,6 +58,14 @@ impl BudgetAccounting {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Release previously reserved memory bytes — used when an entry is
+    /// dropped from the cache without being persisted.
+    pub(super) fn release_memory(&self, bytes: usize) {
+        if bytes != 0 {
+            self.used_memory_bytes.fetch_sub(bytes, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn memory_usage_bytes(&self) -> usize {
         self.used_memory_bytes.load(Ordering::Relaxed)
     }
diff --git a/src/core/src/cache/core.rs b/src/core/src/cache/core.rs
index 7a5d76df..c343d432 100644
--- a/src/core/src/cache/core.rs
+++ b/src/core/src/cache/core.rs
@@ -302,7 +302,9 @@ impl LiquidCache {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Insert a batch into the cache, it will run cache replacement policy until the batch is inserted.
+    /// Insert a batch into the cache. RAM-only: when full, evict the LRU
+    /// victim by dropping it; never spill to disk. If the new entry doesn't
+    /// fit even after the cache is empty, silently skip caching it.
     pub(crate) async fn insert_inner(&self, entry_id: EntryID, mut batch_to_cache: CacheEntry) {
         loop {
             let Err(not_inserted) = self.try_insert(entry_id, batch_to_cache) else {
@@ -313,24 +315,28 @@ impl LiquidCache {
                 kind: CachedBatchType::from(&not_inserted),
             });
 
-            let victims = self.cache_policy.find_victim(8);
+            // Evict one victim per iteration: dropped data can't come back, so
+            // over-eviction would silently discard recently-used entries.
+            let victims = self.cache_policy.find_victim(1);
             if victims.is_empty() {
-                // no advice, because the cache is already empty
-                // this can happen if the entry to be inserted is too large, in that case,
-                // we write it to disk
-                let on_disk_batch = self
-                    .write_in_memory_batch_to_disk(entry_id, not_inserted)
-                    .await;
-                batch_to_cache = on_disk_batch;
-                continue;
+                // Nothing left to free; the entry is larger than the budget.
+                return;
             }
-            self.squeeze_victims(victims).await;
-
+            self.drop_victims(&victims);
             batch_to_cache = not_inserted;
             crate::utils::yield_now_if_shuttle();
         }
     }
 
+    fn drop_victims(&self, victims: &[EntryID]) {
+        for victim in victims {
+            self.trace(InternalEvent::SqueezeVictim { entry: *victim });
+            if let Some(entry) = self.index.remove(victim) {
+                self.budget.release_memory(entry.memory_usage_bytes());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Create a new instance of CacheStorage.
     pub(crate) fn new(
         batch_size: usize,
diff --git a/src/core/src/cache/index.rs b/src/core/src/cache/index.rs
index b2a84edd..5561fe9e 100644
--- a/src/core/src/cache/index.rs
+++ b/src/core/src/cache/index.rs
@@ -51,6 +51,17 @@ impl ArtIndex {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Remove an entry from the index. Returns the removed entry, or `None` if
+    /// the key was not present.
+    pub(crate) fn remove(&self, entry_id: &EntryID) -> Option<Arc<CacheEntry>> {
+        let guard = self.art.pin();
+        let removed = self.art.remove(*entry_id, &guard);
+        if removed.is_some() {
+            self.entry_count.fetch_sub(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        }
+        removed
+    }
+
     pub(crate) fn reset(&self) {
         let guard = self.art.pin();
         self.art.keys().into_iter().for_each(|k| {