diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a59cc6f..b19fa4b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ these rules:
   loaded, nor one spanning several nodes.
 - Idle on-demand replicas go first, then what lower classes grew into, then
   the same within the class, then lower classes' minimums; the longest unused
-  first within each.
+  first within each, and of equally idle ones the smallest.
 - The set is tried on a copy of the inventory first, at most three replicas,
   and nothing is stopped unless it makes the room. Of a set that does, each
   replica whose stopping turns out not to be needed is left running, so an
diff --git a/internal/control/reconciler/preempt.go b/internal/control/reconciler/preempt.go
index 155ff92..497f183 100644
--- a/internal/control/reconciler/preempt.go
+++ b/internal/control/reconciler/preempt.go
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ type victim struct {
 	AboveMin bool
 	Tier     int
 	Idle     time.Duration
+	// Size is what stopping it frees, for choosing the smaller of two
+	// otherwise equal victims.
+	Size quota.Amount
 }
 
 // preemptFor stops replicas of lower classes when a model cannot otherwise be
@@ -263,15 +266,32 @@ func (r *Reconciler) victims(m catalog.Model) []victim {
 			if len(nodesOf(rep)) > 1 {
 				continue // see makeRoomFor: a multi-node replica is its own decision
 			}
+			prof, _ := other.ProfileByName(rep.Profile)
+			var size quota.Amount
+			for _, sh := range rep.Shards {
+				size = size.Plus(quota.Amount{GPUs: len(sh.GPUIndices), CPUCores: cpuCores(prof), MemoryGB: prof.MinMemoryGB})
+			}
 			out = append(out, victim{ID: rep.ID, Model: model, Class: class,
-				AboveMin: aboveMin, Tier: tier, Idle: idleFor(rep, now)})
+				AboveMin: aboveMin, Tier: tier, Idle: idleFor(rep, now), Size: size})
 		}
 	}
 	sort.SliceStable(out, func(i, j int) bool {
-		if out[i].Tier != out[j].Tier {
-			return out[i].Tier < out[j].Tier
+		a, b := out[i], out[j]
+		if a.Tier != b.Tier {
+			return a.Tier < b.Tier
 		}
-		return out[i].Idle > out[j].Idle
+		if a.Idle != b.Idle {
+			return a.Idle > b.Idle
+		}
+		// The smaller first: the least served is lost if it is enough, and
+		// the pruning after keeps a larger one only when it is needed.
+		if a.Size.GPUs != b.Size.GPUs {
+			return a.Size.GPUs < b.Size.GPUs
+		}
+		if a.Size.MemoryGB != b.Size.MemoryGB {
+			return a.Size.MemoryGB < b.Size.MemoryGB
+		}
+		return a.ID < b.ID
 	})
 	return out
 }
diff --git a/internal/control/reconciler/preempt_test.go b/internal/control/reconciler/preempt_test.go
index d7eb2a8..f095480 100644
--- a/internal/control/reconciler/preempt_test.go
+++ b/internal/control/reconciler/preempt_test.go
@@ -282,3 +282,33 @@ func TestOnlyTheReplicasThatMakeTheRoomAreStopped(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("stopped %v; only chat's replica makes room for a whole node", stopped)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestOfTwoThatWouldEachMakeRoomTheSmallerIsStopped(t *testing.T) {
+	cpu := inventory.Node{ID: "a", MgmtAddr: "10.0.0.1", State: inventory.Ready, MemoryTotalMB: 31 * 1024, CPUCount: 8}
+	big := catalog.Model{Name: "big", Source: "/m", Scaling: catalog.Scaling{Min: 1, Max: 1},
+		Profiles: []catalog.Profile{{Name: "cpu", Engine: "llamacpp", MinMemoryGB: 12, CPUCores: 4}}}
+	small := catalog.Model{Name: "small", Source: "/m", Scaling: catalog.Scaling{Min: 1, Max: 1},
+		Profiles: []catalog.Profile{{Name: "cpu", Engine: "llamacpp", MinMemoryGB: 2, CPUCores: 1}}}
+	vital := catalog.Model{Name: "vital", Source: "/m", Class: catalog.ClassCritical,
+		Scaling:  catalog.Scaling{Min: 1, Max: 1},
+		Profiles: []catalog.Profile{{Name: "cpu", Engine: "llamacpp", MinMemoryGB: 15, CPUCores: 4}}}
+	// 8 cores: big 4 + small 1 leaves 3, and vital needs 4. Stopping either
+	// is enough; stopping big loses far more.
+	for range 5 { // the choice must not depend on map order
+		h := newFleetHarness(t, []catalog.Model{big, small}, cpu)
+		h.settle(t, 3)
+		h.advance(h.r.cfg.MinLifetime + time.Minute)
+		cat, _ := catalog.New([]catalog.Model{big, small, vital})
+		h.r.cat.Store(cat)
+		h.r.Reconcile(t.Context())
+		var stopped []string
+		for _, rep := range h.r.Replicas() {
+			if rep.PreemptedFor == "vital" {
+				stopped = append(stopped, rep.Model)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(stopped) != 1 || stopped[0] != "small" {
+			t.Fatalf("stopped %v; the small replica alone makes room", stopped)
+		}
+	}
+}