diff --git a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GenerateCL.hpp b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GenerateCL.hpp
index bf3bd5497e..617a3fa1c5 100644
--- a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GenerateCL.hpp
+++ b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GenerateCL.hpp
@@ -349,15 +349,30 @@ class GenerateCLFunctor : public HuffmanCLCustomizedFunctor<DeviceType> {
         (*status((IDX)_iNodesFront)) = (*status((IDX)_iNodesRear));
       }
       /* Odd number of nodes to merge - leave out one*/
-      // If number of participating leaf node is zero OR
-      // The highest frequency leaf node is less than the
-      // highest frequency internal node
+      // Remove one internal node (keep it for the next outer iteration) if:
+      //   (a) there are no leaf nodes in the batch (_curLeavesNum == 0), OR
+      //   (b) the first leaf node NOT in the batch has a frequency <= the
+      //       highest-frequency internal node in the batch, meaning it is
+      //       cheaper to defer that internal node.
+      //
+      // BUG FIX: The original code read histogram[_lNodesCur + _curLeavesNum]
+      // unconditionally.  When _curLeavesNum == dict_size - _lNodesCur (i.e.,
+      // all remaining leaf nodes qualify for the batch), the index equals
+      // dict_size, which is one past the end of the nz_dict_size-sized
+      // histogram array, causing a GPU memory access fault.
+      // FIX: Guard the histogram access with the bounds check
+      //   (_lNodesCur + _curLeavesNum < dict_size).
+      // When there is no next leaf outside the batch, the condition is treated
+      // as false and execution falls through to the else branch (remove one
+      // leaf from the batch instead).
       else if (((*status((IDX)_iNodesSize)) != 0) and
                ((*status((IDX)_curLeavesNum)) == 0 or
-                (*histogram((IDX)(*status((IDX)_lNodesCur)) +
-                            (*status((IDX)_curLeavesNum))) <=
-                 *iNodesFreq(
-                     (IDX)MOD((*status((IDX)_iNodesRear)) - 1, dict_size))))) {
+                (((*status((IDX)_lNodesCur)) + (*status((IDX)_curLeavesNum)) <
+                  dict_size) and
+                 (*histogram((IDX)(*status((IDX)_lNodesCur)) +
+                             (*status((IDX)_curLeavesNum))) <=
+                  *iNodesFreq((IDX)MOD((*status((IDX)_iNodesRear)) - 1,
+                                       dict_size)))))) {
         (*status((IDX)_mergeRear)) =
             MOD((*status((IDX)_mergeRear)) - 1, dict_size);
         (*status((IDX)_iNodesFront)) =
diff --git a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GetCodebook.hpp b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GetCodebook.hpp
index 0acc4c170f..fc3343d377 100644
--- a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GetCodebook.hpp
+++ b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/GetCodebook.hpp
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 #include "ReorderByIndex.hpp"
 #include "ReverseArray.hpp"
 
+#include <stdexcept>
+#include <string>
+
 #ifndef MGARD_X_GET_CODEBOOK_TEMPLATE_HPP
 #define MGARD_X_GET_CODEBOOK_TEMPLATE_HPP
 
@@ -119,7 +122,16 @@ void GetCodebook(int dict_size,
               << "Huffman codeword representation requires at least "
               << max_CL + 8 << " bits (longest codeword: " << max_CL << " bits)"
               << std::endl;
-    exit(1);
+    // Throw (instead of exit) so callers can catch and fall back to another
+    // lossless backend (e.g. raw Zstd) or retry with a smaller huff_dict_size.
+    // A longer dictionary makes the tree deeper, so a degenerate/low-entropy
+    // input can produce codewords exceeding the H-type budget (sizeof(H)*8 -
+    // 8).
+    throw std::runtime_error(
+        "MGARD-X Huffman: longest codeword (" + std::to_string(max_CL) +
+        " bits) exceeds the " + std::to_string(max_CW_bits) +
+        "-bit budget of the H code type; retry with a smaller huff_dict_size "
+        "or a different lossless backend");
   }
 
   DeviceLauncher<DeviceType>::Execute(
diff --git a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/Huffman.hpp b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/Huffman.hpp
index 1c607b2752..4f2105f649 100644
--- a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/Huffman.hpp
+++ b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/Huffman.hpp
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ class Huffman : public LosslessCompressorInterface<S, DeviceType> {
   bool initialized;
   SIZE max_size;
   size_t primary_count;
-  ATOMIC_IDX outlier_count;
+  ATOMIC_IDX outlier_count = 0;
   int dict_size;
   int chunk_size;
   size_t huffmeta_size;
diff --git a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/HuffmanWorkspace.hpp b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/HuffmanWorkspace.hpp
index d64e5f76f8..dcefc0fd53 100644
--- a/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/HuffmanWorkspace.hpp
+++ b/include/mgard-x/Lossless/ParallelHuffman/HuffmanWorkspace.hpp
@@ -135,7 +135,9 @@ class HuffmanWorkspace {
     copyIsLeaf_array = Array<1, int, DeviceType>({dict_size});
     copyIndex_array = Array<1, int, DeviceType>({dict_size});
     _d_codebook_array_org = Array<1, H, DeviceType>({dict_size});
-    status_array = Array<1, int, DeviceType>({(SIZE)16}, false, true);
+    status_array = Array<1, int, DeviceType>(
+        {(SIZE)16}, false,
+        false); // non-managed: atomicMin on managed mem unreliable on ROCm
     SIZE mblocks = (DeviceRuntime<DeviceType>::GetMaxNumThreadsPerTB() /
                     DeviceRuntime<DeviceType>::GetWarpSize()) *
                    DeviceRuntime<DeviceType>::GetNumSMs();