diff --git a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar.rs b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar.rs
index 5a6bdbd1e4c..448123a1024 100644
--- a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar.rs
@@ -287,6 +287,9 @@ pub trait IndexStore: std::fmt::Debug + Send + Sync + DeepSizeOf {
     /// Open an existing file for retrieval
     async fn open_index_file(&self, name: &str) -> Result<Arc<dyn IndexReader>>;
 
+    /// Return a store that submits its I/O at the given base priority.
+    fn with_io_priority(&self, io_priority: u64) -> Arc<dyn IndexStore>;
+
     /// Copy a range of batches from an index file from this store to another
     ///
     /// This is often useful when remapping or updating
diff --git a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs
index 17cb18c5e96..a53b6ddd7dc 100644
--- a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs
@@ -2364,6 +2364,10 @@ mod tests {
             self.inner.io_parallelism()
         }
 
+        fn with_io_priority(&self, io_priority: u64) -> Arc<dyn IndexStore> {
+            self.inner.with_io_priority(io_priority)
+        }
+
         async fn new_index_file(
             &self,
             name: &str,
@@ -2458,6 +2462,10 @@ mod tests {
             self.inner.io_parallelism()
         }
 
+        fn with_io_priority(&self, io_priority: u64) -> Arc<dyn IndexStore> {
+            self.inner.with_io_priority(io_priority)
+        }
+
         async fn new_index_file(
             &self,
             name: &str,
@@ -2585,6 +2593,11 @@ mod tests {
             1
         }
 
+        fn with_io_priority(&self, _io_priority: u64) -> Arc<dyn IndexStore> {
+            // No backing scheduler, so priority is meaningless here.
+            self.clone_arc()
+        }
+
         async fn new_index_file(
             &self,
             name: &str,
diff --git a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/index.rs b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/index.rs
index 32c044f2d45..1989211ba33 100644
--- a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/index.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/index.rs
@@ -1091,8 +1091,8 @@ impl InvertedIndex {
                 };
 
                 let format = token_set_format;
-                let partitions = partitions.into_iter().map(|id| {
-                    let store = store.clone();
+                let partitions = partitions.into_iter().enumerate().map(|(priority, id)| {
+                    let store = store.with_io_priority(priority as u64);
                     let frag_reuse_index_clone = frag_reuse_index.clone();
                     let index_cache_for_part =
                         index_cache.with_key_prefix(format!("part-{}", id).as_str());
@@ -6828,7 +6828,7 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[derive(Debug)]
     struct CountingStore {
-        inner: Arc<LanceIndexStore>,
+        inner: Arc<dyn IndexStore>,
         posting_file: String,
         counter: Arc<PostingMetadataCounter>,
     }
@@ -6854,6 +6854,13 @@ mod tests {
         fn io_parallelism(&self) -> usize {
             self.inner.io_parallelism()
         }
+        fn with_io_priority(&self, io_priority: u64) -> Arc<dyn IndexStore> {
+            Arc::new(Self {
+                inner: self.inner.with_io_priority(io_priority),
+                posting_file: self.posting_file.clone(),
+                counter: self.counter.clone(),
+            })
+        }
         async fn new_index_file(
             &self,
             name: &str,
@@ -8220,6 +8227,46 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Each partition must read through the shared scheduler at a distinct base
+    /// priority. Tied priorities (every partition at 0) break the scheduler's
+    /// backpressure deadlock-break — which admits the lowest-priority in-flight
+    /// request — because there is no unique lowest request to advance, so a
+    /// concurrent multi-partition read (e.g. prewarm) can wedge. Distinct
+    /// per-partition priorities keep the in-flight set totally ordered.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_partitions_load_with_distinct_priorities() {
+        let tmpdir = TempObjDir::default();
+        let store = Arc::new(LanceIndexStore::new(
+            ObjectStore::local().into(),
+            tmpdir.clone(),
+            Arc::new(LanceCache::no_cache()),
+        ));
+        let (index, _cache) = build_multi_partition_index(&store, 5).await;
+
+        let mut priorities: Vec<u64> = index
+            .partitions
+            .iter()
+            .map(|part| {
+                part.store
+                    .as_any()
+                    .downcast_ref::<LanceIndexStore>()
+                    .expect("partition store should be a LanceIndexStore")
+                    .io_priority()
+            })
+            .collect();
+
+        // Distinct and dense (0..N): every partition reads at its own priority,
+        // so the shared scheduler sees a total order across all partitions. The
+        // partitions may finish loading in any order, so sort before comparing —
+        // what matters is that the priorities form a contiguous, collision-free
+        // set, not which partition ended up at which slot.
+        priorities.sort_unstable();
+        assert_eq!(
+            priorities,
+            (0..index.partitions.len() as u64).collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        );
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn test_update_preserves_loaded_v2_format_version() -> Result<()> {
         let src_dir = TempObjDir::default();
diff --git a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/lance_format.rs b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/lance_format.rs
index 2f82deb8403..76bcfcead57 100644
--- a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/lance_format.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/lance_format.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ pub struct LanceIndexStore {
     /// When set, used to avoid HEAD calls when opening files
     file_sizes: HashMap<String, u64>,
     format_version: LanceFileVersion,
+    /// Base I/O priority for all requests this store submits to `scheduler`.
+    io_priority: u64,
 }
 
 impl DeepSizeOf for LanceIndexStore {
@@ -88,6 +90,7 @@ impl LanceIndexStore {
             scheduler,
             file_sizes: HashMap::new(),
             format_version,
+            io_priority: 0,
         }
     }
 
@@ -100,6 +103,11 @@ impl LanceIndexStore {
         self
     }
 
+    /// The base I/O priority all this store's requests are submitted at.
+    pub fn io_priority(&self) -> u64 {
+        self.io_priority
+    }
+
     fn index_file_path(&self, name: &str) -> Result<Path> {
         let relative_path = Path::parse(name).map_err(|err| {
             Error::invalid_input(format!("invalid index file path {name:?}: {err}"))
@@ -432,6 +440,15 @@ impl IndexStore for LanceIndexStore {
         }))
     }
 
+    fn with_io_priority(&self, io_priority: u64) -> Arc<dyn IndexStore> {
+        // The `scheduler` is shared (`Arc`), so this clone is cheap and the new
+        // priority only affects requests this clone submits.
+        Arc::new(Self {
+            io_priority,
+            ..self.clone()
+        })
+    }
+
     async fn open_index_file(&self, name: &str) -> Result<Arc<dyn IndexReader>> {
         let path = self.index_file_path(name)?;
         // Use cached file size if available, otherwise unknown (requires HEAD call)
@@ -440,7 +457,10 @@ impl IndexStore for LanceIndexStore {
             .get(name)
             .map(|&size| CachedFileSize::new(size))
             .unwrap_or_else(CachedFileSize::unknown);
-        let file_scheduler = self.scheduler.open_file(&path, &cached_size).await?;
+        let file_scheduler = self
+            .scheduler
+            .open_file_with_priority(&path, self.io_priority, &cached_size)
+            .await?;
         match current_reader::FileReader::try_open(
             file_scheduler,
             None,