diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 50da91b20..21efa3d35 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ name = "tabpfn"
 version = "7.1.1"
 dependencies = [
   "torch>=2.5",
+  "safetensors>=0.4.0",
   "numpy>=1.21.6",
   "scikit-learn>=1.2.0",
   "typing_extensions>=4.12.0",
diff --git a/scripts/convert_checkpoint_to_safetensors.py b/scripts/convert_checkpoint_to_safetensors.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f91110a5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/convert_checkpoint_to_safetensors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+"""Convert a TabPFN PyTorch checkpoint to SafeTensors plus sidecar metadata."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+import torch
+from safetensors.torch import save_file
+
+
+def _json_safe(value: Any) -> Any:
+    """Convert common checkpoint values into JSON-safe values."""
+    if isinstance(value, dict):
+        return {str(k): _json_safe(v) for k, v in value.items()}
+    if isinstance(value, list):
+        return [_json_safe(v) for v in value]
+    if isinstance(value, tuple):
+        return [_json_safe(v) for v in value]
+    if isinstance(value, set):
+        return sorted(_json_safe(v) for v in value)
+    if isinstance(value, Path):
+        return str(value)
+    if isinstance(value, torch.dtype):
+        return str(value)
+    if isinstance(value, torch.device):
+        return str(value)
+    if value is None or isinstance(value, (str, int, float, bool)):
+        return value
+
+    try:
+        json.dumps(value)
+        return value
+    except TypeError:
+        return {
+            "__unsupported_type__": type(value).__name__,
+            "__repr__": repr(value),
+        }
+
+
+def convert_checkpoint(
+    input_checkpoint: Path,
+    output_safetensors: Path,
+    output_metadata: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """Convert a TabPFN checkpoint into SafeTensors plus JSON metadata."""
+    checkpoint = torch.load(input_checkpoint, map_location="cpu", weights_only=False)
+
+    if not isinstance(checkpoint, dict):
+        raise TypeError(
+            f"Expected checkpoint to be a dict, got {type(checkpoint).__name__}."
+        )
+
+    state_dict = checkpoint.get("state_dict")
+
+    if not isinstance(state_dict, dict):
+        raise ValueError("Checkpoint does not contain a dict-valued 'state_dict'.")
+
+    tensors = {}
+
+    for key, value in state_dict.items():
+        if not isinstance(value, torch.Tensor):
+            raise TypeError(
+                f"Expected all state_dict values to be tensors. "
+                f"Key {key!r} has type {type(value).__name__}."
+            )
+        tensors[key] = value.detach().cpu().contiguous()
+
+    metadata = {
+        key: _json_safe(value)
+        for key, value in checkpoint.items()
+        if key != "state_dict"
+    }
+
+    output_safetensors.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    output_metadata.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    save_file(tensors, str(output_safetensors))
+
+    with output_metadata.open("w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        json.dump(metadata, f, indent=2, sort_keys=True)
+
+    print(f"Saved SafeTensors file: {output_safetensors}")
+    print(f"Saved metadata file: {output_metadata}")
+    print(f"Tensor count: {len(tensors)}")
+    print(f"Metadata keys: {sorted(metadata)}")
+
+
+def parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Convert a TabPFN .ckpt file to .safetensors plus metadata JSON."
+    )
+    parser.add_argument("--input-checkpoint", required=True, type=Path)
+    parser.add_argument("--output-safetensors", required=True, type=Path)
+    parser.add_argument("--output-metadata", required=True, type=Path)
+    return parser.parse_args()
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    args = parse_args()
+    convert_checkpoint(
+        input_checkpoint=args.input_checkpoint,
+        output_safetensors=args.output_safetensors,
+        output_metadata=args.output_metadata,
+    )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/tabpfn/model_loading.py b/src/tabpfn/model_loading.py
index 36a7e71c1..dcb9d9921 100644
--- a/src/tabpfn/model_loading.py
+++ b/src/tabpfn/model_loading.py
@@ -905,14 +905,37 @@ def get_loss_criterion(
     return FullSupportBarDistribution(borders, ignore_nan_targets=True)
 
 
-def _file_identity(path: str) -> tuple[int, int]:
-    """Return a cheap identity tuple (mtime_ns, size) for cache-keying."""
-    st = Path(path).stat()
-    return (st.st_mtime_ns, st.st_size)
+def _file_identity(path: str) -> tuple[int, int, int | None, int | None]:
+    """Return a cheap identity tuple for cache-keying.
+
+    For SafeTensors checkpoints, include the sidecar metadata file identity so
+    cached loads are invalidated when either the tensor file or metadata changes.
+    """
+    checkpoint_path = Path(path)
+    checkpoint_stat = checkpoint_path.stat()
+
+    metadata_mtime_ns = None
+    metadata_size = None
+
+    if checkpoint_path.suffix == ".safetensors":
+        metadata_path = checkpoint_path.with_suffix(".non_tensor_metadata.json")
+        if metadata_path.exists():
+            metadata_stat = metadata_path.stat()
+            metadata_mtime_ns = metadata_stat.st_mtime_ns
+            metadata_size = metadata_stat.st_size
+
+    return (
+        checkpoint_stat.st_mtime_ns,
+        checkpoint_stat.st_size,
+        metadata_mtime_ns,
+        metadata_size,
+    )
 
 
 @functools.lru_cache(maxsize=1)
-def _load_checkpoint_cached(path: str, _identity: tuple[int, int]) -> dict:
+def _load_checkpoint_cached(
+    path: str, _identity: tuple[int, int, int | None, int | None]
+) -> dict:
     """Load and cache a checkpoint from disk.
 
     The ``_identity`` key ensures the cache is invalidated when the file at
@@ -924,6 +947,13 @@ def _load_checkpoint_cached(path: str, _identity: tuple[int, int]) -> dict:
 
 def _load_checkpoint(path: str) -> dict:
     """Load a checkpoint from disk."""
+    checkpoint_path = Path(path)
+
+    if checkpoint_path.suffix == ".safetensors":
+        from tabpfn.safetensors_checkpoint import load_safetensors_checkpoint
+
+        return load_safetensors_checkpoint(checkpoint_path)
+
     # Catch the `FutureWarning` that torch raises. This should be dealt with!
     # The warning is raised due to `torch.load`, which advises against ckpt
     # files that contain non-tensor data.
diff --git a/src/tabpfn/safetensors_checkpoint.py b/src/tabpfn/safetensors_checkpoint.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd62da3ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tabpfn/safetensors_checkpoint.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+"""Utilities for loading TabPFN checkpoints stored as SafeTensors plus metadata."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+from safetensors.torch import load_file
+
+
+def _metadata_path_for_safetensors(path: Path) -> Path:
+    """Return the expected sidecar metadata path for a SafeTensors checkpoint."""
+    return path.with_suffix(".non_tensor_metadata.json")
+
+
+def load_safetensors_checkpoint(path: str | Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Load a TabPFN checkpoint from SafeTensors plus sidecar JSON metadata.
+
+    The SafeTensors file stores tensor values. The sidecar JSON file stores
+    non-tensor checkpoint metadata such as architecture name, model config,
+    and inference config.
+
+    Args:
+        path: Path to the ``.safetensors`` file.
+
+    Returns:
+        A checkpoint-like dictionary compatible with TabPFN model loading.
+    """
+    safetensors_path = Path(path)
+    metadata_path = _metadata_path_for_safetensors(safetensors_path)
+
+    if not metadata_path.exists():
+        raise FileNotFoundError(
+            "SafeTensors checkpoint metadata file not found. "
+            f"Expected sidecar file: {metadata_path}"
+        )
+
+    tensors = load_file(str(safetensors_path), device="cpu")
+
+    with metadata_path.open("r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        metadata = json.load(f)
+
+    checkpoint: dict[str, Any] = dict(metadata)
+    checkpoint["state_dict"] = tensors
+
+    return checkpoint
\ No newline at end of file