diff --git a/crates/dekaf/src/main.rs b/crates/dekaf/src/main.rs
index e4568239f3..20fac234ce 100644
--- a/crates/dekaf/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/dekaf/src/main.rs
@@ -12,16 +12,12 @@ use futures::{FutureExt, TryStreamExt};
 use rsasl::config::SASLConfig;
 use rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer;
 use std::{
-    collections::HashMap,
     fs::File,
     io,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
     sync::Arc,
 };
-use tokio::{
-    io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite, AsyncWriteExt},
-    sync::RwLock,
-};
+use tokio::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite, AsyncWriteExt};
 use tracing_subscriber::{filter::LevelFilter, EnvFilter};
 use url::Url;
 
diff --git a/crates/dekaf/src/session.rs b/crates/dekaf/src/session.rs
index 3e0591ebda..d68e0899e8 100644
--- a/crates/dekaf/src/session.rs
+++ b/crates/dekaf/src/session.rs
@@ -1224,7 +1224,9 @@ impl Session {
             .fetch_partition_offset(partition as usize, -1)
             .await?
         {
-            if latest_offset - fetch_offset < 13 {
+            // If fetch_offset is > latest_offset, this is a caught-up consumer
+            // polling for new documents, not a data preview request.
+            if fetch_offset <= latest_offset && latest_offset - fetch_offset < 13 {
                 tracing::debug!(
                     latest_offset,
                     diff = latest_offset - fetch_offset,