diff --git a/experimental/builder/models/dspark/modeling_dspark_draft.py b/experimental/builder/models/dspark/modeling_dspark_draft.py
index 41b0189ce..451af8421 100644
--- a/experimental/builder/models/dspark/modeling_dspark_draft.py
+++ b/experimental/builder/models/dspark/modeling_dspark_draft.py
@@ -18,11 +18,13 @@
 
 import tensorrt as trt
 
+from ...core import config as core_config
 from ...core import quantization
 from ...ops import (GatedMLP, Linear, Module, NetworkModule, RMSNorm,
                     TreeAttention)
 from ...ops import functional as F
 from ...ops import pack_qkv
+from .. import registry as model_registry
 
 
 class DSparkProposalAttention(TreeAttention):
@@ -112,11 +114,45 @@ def forward(self, hidden):
 class DSparkDraftModel(NetworkModule):
     """Parallel proposal backbone with hidden output for sequential heads."""
 
-    def __init__(self, ctx) -> None:
-        super().__init__(ctx)
-        if not (ctx.weights.has("lm_head.weight")
+    @classmethod
+    def from_config(cls, ctx):
+        if (ctx.weights.has("lm_head.weight")
                 or ctx.weights.has("lm_head.qweight")):
-            raise ValueError("DSpark draft checkpoint must provide lm_head")
+            return cls(ctx)
+
+        # Drafts such as RadixArk/Qwen3.8-27B-DSpark ship no head of their own
+        # and share the target model's lm_head, quantized as in the target.
+        args = ctx.args
+        target_cfg = core_config.DeviceConfig.from_pretrained(
+            args.target_model_dir, tp_size=args.tp_size, tp_rank=args.tp_rank)
+        target_bundle = core_config.BundleConfig.from_pretrained(
+            args.target_model_dir)
+        conversion = model_registry.weight_conversion_for(
+            target_bundle.root_model_type)
+        target_weights = ctx.open_weights(
+            args.target_model_dir,
+            group_size=target_cfg.group_size,
+            quant=target_cfg.quant,
+            component="llm",
+            vocab_map=ctx.weights.vocab_map,
+            conversion=conversion,
+            int4_gemm_plugin_version=args.int4_gemm_plugin_version,
+            checkpoint_source="target",
+            tie_word_embeddings=target_cfg.tie_word_embeddings)
+        try:
+            target_context = ctx.with_checkpoint(target_cfg, target_weights)
+            model = cls(ctx,
+                        lm_head=Linear(target_context,
+                                       target_weights.causal_lm_head_prefix()))
+        except Exception:
+            target_weights.close()
+            raise
+        model._target_weights = target_weights
+        return model
+
+    def __init__(self, ctx, lm_head=None) -> None:
+        super().__init__(ctx)
+        self._target_weights = None
         self.fc = DSparkTargetProjection(ctx, "fc")
         self.hidden_norm = RMSNorm(ctx, "hidden_norm", ctx.cfg.rms_norm_eps)
         self.layers = [
@@ -124,7 +160,13 @@ def __init__(self, ctx) -> None:
             for index in range(ctx.cfg.num_hidden_layers)
         ]
         self.norm = RMSNorm(ctx, "norm", ctx.cfg.rms_norm_eps)
-        self.lm_head = Linear(ctx, "lm_head")
+        self.lm_head = lm_head or Linear(ctx, "lm_head")
+
+    def close(self) -> None:
+        if self._target_weights is not None:
+            self._target_weights.close()
+            self._target_weights = None
+        super().close()
 
     def input_tensors(self) -> Dict[str, object]:
         cfg = self.cfg