diff --git a/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp b/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp
index 87ce7ce03..99dd20b68 100644
--- a/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp
+++ b/src/llama-kv-cache.cpp
@@ -1938,7 +1938,8 @@ llama_pos llama_kv_cache_recurrent::get_pos_max() const {
 }
 
 bool llama_kv_cache_recurrent::get_can_shift() const {
-    return false;
+    // shifting is trivial, the recurrent states don't care about the absolute position
+    return true;
 }
 
 uint32_t llama_kv_cache_recurrent::cell_max() const {