diff --git a/include/mscclpp/gpu_utils.hpp b/include/mscclpp/gpu_utils.hpp
index ecd13c47..b079e0fd 100644
--- a/include/mscclpp/gpu_utils.hpp
+++ b/include/mscclpp/gpu_utils.hpp
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ void gpuFreePhysical(void* ptr);
 void gpuMemcpyAsync(void* dst, const void* src, size_t bytes, cudaStream_t stream,
                     cudaMemcpyKind kind = cudaMemcpyDefault);
 void gpuMemcpy(void* dst, const void* src, size_t bytes, cudaMemcpyKind kind = cudaMemcpyDefault);
+void gpuMemset(void* ptr, int value, size_t bytes);
 
 /// A template function that allocates memory while ensuring that the memory will be freed when the returned object is
 /// destroyed.
@@ -300,6 +301,12 @@ void gpuMemcpy(T* dst, const T* src, size_t nelems, cudaMemcpyKind kind = cudaMe
   detail::gpuMemcpy(dst, src, nelems * sizeof(T), kind);
 }
 
+/// Sets `bytes` of memory at `ptr` to `value` synchronously.
+/// @param ptr Destination address.
+/// @param value Value to set (interpreted as unsigned char per CUDA semantics).
+/// @param bytes Number of bytes to set.
+inline void gpuMemset(void* ptr, int value, size_t bytes) { detail::gpuMemset(ptr, value, bytes); }
+
 /// Check if NVLink SHARP (NVLS) is supported.
 ///
 /// @return True if NVLink SHARP (NVLS) is supported, false otherwise.
diff --git a/src/core/gpu_utils.cc b/src/core/gpu_utils.cc
index 09d5025d..1ce61322 100644
--- a/src/core/gpu_utils.cc
+++ b/src/core/gpu_utils.cc
@@ -267,6 +267,13 @@ void gpuMemcpy(void* dst, const void* src, size_t bytes, cudaMemcpyKind kind) {
   MSCCLPP_CUDATHROW(cudaStreamSynchronize(stream));
 }
 
+void gpuMemset(void* ptr, int value, size_t bytes) {
+  AvoidCudaGraphCaptureGuard cgcGuard;
+  CudaStreamWithFlags stream(cudaStreamNonBlocking);
+  MSCCLPP_CUDATHROW(cudaMemsetAsync(ptr, value, bytes, stream));
+  MSCCLPP_CUDATHROW(cudaStreamSynchronize(stream));
+}
+
 }  // namespace detail
 
 bool isNvlsSupported() {
diff --git a/src/core/utils_internal.cc b/src/core/utils_internal.cc
index 9504a52c..8cc55430 100644
--- a/src/core/utils_internal.cc
+++ b/src/core/utils_internal.cc
@@ -248,6 +248,9 @@ TokenPool::TokenPool(size_t nToken) : nToken_(nToken) {
 
 std::shared_ptr<uint64_t> TokenPool::getToken() {
   auto deleter = [self = shared_from_this()](uint64_t* token) {
+    // Zero the slot on release so the next allocator hands out a clean
+    // semaphore counter (matches a freshly-allocated slot).
+    mscclpp::gpuMemset(token, 0, sizeof(uint64_t));
     size_t index = (token - self->baseAddr_) / UINT64_WIDTH;
     size_t bit = (token - self->baseAddr_) % UINT64_WIDTH;
     uint64_t mask = 1UL << bit;