diff --git a/cpp/src/neighbors/detail/cagra/cagra_build.cuh b/cpp/src/neighbors/detail/cagra/cagra_build.cuh
index 97d7bb1bac..7a4c70be89 100644
--- a/cpp/src/neighbors/detail/cagra/cagra_build.cuh
+++ b/cpp/src/neighbors/detail/cagra/cagra_build.cuh
@@ -2021,7 +2021,9 @@ auto iterative_build_graph(
 
   // Allocate memory for search results.
   constexpr uint64_t max_chunk_size = 8192;
-  auto topk                         = intermediate_degree;
+  // +1 because the search may return the query node itself as a neighbor;
+  // this is consistent with the per-iteration curr_topk = next_graph_degree + 1
+  auto topk          = intermediate_degree + 1;
   auto dev_neighbors = raft::make_device_matrix<IdxT, int64_t>(res, max_chunk_size, topk);
   auto dev_distances = raft::make_device_matrix<float, int64_t>(res, max_chunk_size, topk);
 
diff --git a/cpp/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index ab235a33ba..35794adf9b 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -155,7 +155,9 @@ ConfigureTest(
 
 ConfigureTest(
   NAME NEIGHBORS_ANN_CAGRA_TEST_BUGS
-  PATH neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_extreme_inputs_oob.cu neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_multi_cta_crash.cu
+  PATH neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_extreme_inputs_oob.cu
+       neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_multi_cta_crash.cu
+       neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_iterative_cagra_build.cu
        neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_issue_93_reproducer.cu
   GPUS 1
   PERCENT 100
diff --git a/cpp/tests/neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_iterative_cagra_build.cu b/cpp/tests/neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_iterative_cagra_build.cu
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aaee5a77e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/tests/neighbors/ann_cagra/bug_iterative_cagra_build.cu
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+#include <cuvs/neighbors/cagra.hpp>
+
+#include <raft/core/device_mdarray.hpp>
+#include <raft/core/device_resources.hpp>
+#include <raft/random/rng.cuh>
+
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <type_traits>
+
+namespace cuvs::neighbors::cagra {
+
+template <typename DataT>
+class CagraIterativeBuildBugTest : public ::testing::Test {
+ public:
+  using data_type = DataT;
+
+ protected:
+  void run()
+  {
+    // Set up iterative CAGRA graph building
+    cagra::index_params index_params;
+    // The bug manifests when graph_degree is equal to intermediate_graph_degree
+    // see issue https://github.com/rapidsai/cuvs/issues/1818
+    index_params.graph_degree              = 16;
+    index_params.intermediate_graph_degree = 16;
+
+    // Use iterative CAGRA search for graph building
+    index_params.graph_build_params = graph_build_params::iterative_search_params();
+
+    // Build the index
+    auto cagra_index = cagra::build(res, index_params, raft::make_const_mdspan(dataset->view()));
+    raft::resource::sync_stream(res);
+
+    // Verify the index was built successfully
+    ASSERT_GT(cagra_index.size(), 0);
+    ASSERT_EQ(cagra_index.dim(), n_dim);
+  }
+
+  void SetUp() override
+  {
+    dataset.emplace(raft::make_device_matrix<data_type, int64_t>(res, n_samples, n_dim));
+    raft::random::RngState r(1234ULL);
+
+    // Generate random data based on type
+    if constexpr (std::is_same_v<data_type, float>) {
+      raft::random::normal(
+        res, r, dataset->data_handle(), n_samples * n_dim, data_type(0), data_type(1));
+    } else if constexpr (std::is_same_v<data_type, int8_t>) {
+      raft::random::uniformInt(
+        res, r, dataset->data_handle(), n_samples * n_dim, int8_t(-128), int8_t(127));
+    } else if constexpr (std::is_same_v<data_type, uint8_t>) {
+      raft::random::uniformInt(
+        res, r, dataset->data_handle(), n_samples * n_dim, uint8_t(0), uint8_t(255));
+    }
+    raft::resource::sync_stream(res);
+  }
+
+  void TearDown() override
+  {
+    dataset.reset();
+    raft::resource::sync_stream(res);
+  }
+
+ private:
+  raft::resources res;
+  std::optional<raft::device_matrix<data_type, int64_t>> dataset = std::nullopt;
+
+  constexpr static int64_t n_samples = 10000;
+  constexpr static int64_t n_dim     = 1024;
+};
+
+// Instantiate test for different data types
+using TestTypes = ::testing::Types<float, int8_t, uint8_t>;
+TYPED_TEST_SUITE(CagraIterativeBuildBugTest, TestTypes);
+
+TYPED_TEST(CagraIterativeBuildBugTest, IterativeBuildTest) { this->run(); }
+
+}  // namespace cuvs::neighbors::cagra