diff --git a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.c b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.c
index f6dd9bf3b7..821b1bdf95 100644
--- a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.c
+++ b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.c
@@ -228,29 +228,32 @@ void ml_dsa_poly_use_hint(ml_dsa_params *params,
 * Arguments:   - const poly *a: pointer to polynomial
 *              - int32_t B: norm bound
 *
-* Returns 0 if norm is strictly smaller than B <= (Q-1)/8 and 1 otherwise.
+* Returns 0 if norm is strictly smaller than B <= (Q-1)/8 and 0xFFFFFFFF otherwise.
 **************************************************/
-int ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(const ml_dsa_poly *a, int32_t B) {
+uint32_t ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(const ml_dsa_poly *a, int32_t B) {
   unsigned int i;
   int32_t t;
+  uint32_t r = 0;
 
   if(B > (ML_DSA_Q-1)/8) {
-    return 1;
+    return 0xFFFFFFFF;
   }
 
-  /* It is ok to leak which coefficient violates the bound since
-     the probability for each coefficient is independent of secret
-     data but we must not leak the sign of the centralized representative. */
+  /* Constant-time implementation as defense-in-depth. According to Section 5.5
+     of the Dilithium specification, it is safe to leak which coefficient violates
+     the bound, but we implement this in constant-time as additional hardening.
+     We accumulate violations using bitwise OR instead of early exit. See 5.5 in
+     https://pq-crystals.org/dilithium/data/dilithium-specification-round3-20210208.pdf
+     */
   for(i = 0; i < ML_DSA_N; ++i) {
     /* Absolute value */
     t = constant_time_select_int(constant_time_msb_w(a->coeffs[i]),
                                  -a->coeffs[i], a->coeffs[i]);
 
-    if(t >= B) {
-      return 1;
-    }
+    /* Check if t >= B and accumulate result */
+    r |= constant_time_ge_w((uint32_t)t, (uint32_t)B);
   }
-  return 0;
+  return r;
 }
 
 /*************************************************
diff --git a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.h b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.h
index fe8eee071c..2e24f8105d 100644
--- a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.h
+++ b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/poly.h
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ void ml_dsa_poly_use_hint(ml_dsa_params *params,
                           const ml_dsa_poly *a,
                           const ml_dsa_poly *h);
 
-int ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(const ml_dsa_poly *a, int32_t B);
+uint32_t ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(const ml_dsa_poly *a, int32_t B);
 
 void ml_dsa_poly_uniform(ml_dsa_poly *a,
                          const uint8_t seed[ML_DSA_SEEDBYTES],
diff --git a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.c b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.c
index 2041e754d3..05ac526feb 100644
--- a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.c
+++ b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.c
@@ -223,16 +223,16 @@ void ml_dsa_polyvecl_pointwise_acc_montgomery(ml_dsa_params *params,
 *              - int32_t B: norm bound
 *
 * Returns 0 if norm of all polynomials is strictly smaller than B <= (Q-1)/8
-* and 1 otherwise.
+* and 0xFFFFFFFF otherwise.
 **************************************************/
-int ml_dsa_polyvecl_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyvecl *v, int32_t bound)  {
+uint32_t ml_dsa_polyvecl_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyvecl *v, int32_t bound)  {
   unsigned int i;
+  uint32_t r = 0;
+  
   for(i = 0; i < params->l; ++i) {
-    if(ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(&v->vec[i], bound)) {
-      return 1;
-    }
+    r |= ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(&v->vec[i], bound);
   }
-  return 0;
+  return r;
 }
 
 /**************************************************************/
@@ -418,16 +418,20 @@ void ml_dsa_polyveck_pointwise_poly_montgomery(ml_dsa_params *params,
 *              - int32_t B: norm bound
 *
 * Returns 0 if norm of all polynomials are strictly smaller than B <= (Q-1)/8
-* and 1 otherwise.
+* and 0xFFFFFFFF otherwise.
 **************************************************/
-int ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyveck *v, int32_t bound) {
+uint32_t ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyveck *v, int32_t bound) {
   unsigned int i;
+  uint32_t r = 0;
+  
+    /* Reference: Leaks which polynomial violates the bound via a conditional.
+     * We are more conservative to reduce the number of declassifications in
+     * constant-time testing.
+     */
   for(i = 0; i < params->k; ++i) {
-    if(ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(&v->vec[i], bound)) {
-      return 1;
-    }
+    r |= ml_dsa_poly_chknorm(&v->vec[i], bound);
   }
-  return 0;
+  return r;
 }
 
 /*************************************************
diff --git a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.h b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.h
index dccf6b976e..e7862bd004 100644
--- a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.h
+++ b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/polyvec.h
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ void ml_dsa_polyvecl_pointwise_acc_montgomery(ml_dsa_params *params,
                                               const polyvecl *u,
                                               const polyvecl *v);
 
-int ml_dsa_polyvecl_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyvecl *v, int32_t B);
+uint32_t ml_dsa_polyvecl_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyvecl *v, int32_t B);
 
 typedef struct {
   ml_dsa_poly vec[ML_DSA_K_MAX];
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ void ml_dsa_polyveck_pointwise_poly_montgomery(ml_dsa_params *params,
                                                const ml_dsa_poly *a,
                                                const polyveck *v);
 
-int ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyveck *v, int32_t B);
+uint32_t ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(ml_dsa_params *params, const polyveck *v, int32_t B);
 
 void ml_dsa_polyveck_power2round(ml_dsa_params *params,
                                  polyveck *v1,
diff --git a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/sign.c b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/sign.c
index 6765f1594b..cf466059b0 100644
--- a/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/sign.c
+++ b/crypto/fipsmodule/ml_dsa/ml_dsa_ref/sign.c
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ int ml_dsa_sign_internal(ml_dsa_params *params,
   uint8_t seedbuf[2*ML_DSA_SEEDBYTES + ML_DSA_TRBYTES + 2*ML_DSA_CRHBYTES];
   uint8_t *rho, *tr, *key, *mu, *rhoprime;
   uint16_t nonce = 0;
+  uint32_t z_invalid, w0_invalid, h_invalid;
   polyvecl mat[ML_DSA_K_MAX], s1, y, z;
   polyveck t0, s2, w1, w0, h;
   ml_dsa_poly cp;
@@ -248,7 +249,8 @@ int ml_dsa_sign_internal(ml_dsa_params *params,
   ml_dsa_polyvecl_invntt_tomont(params, &z);
   ml_dsa_polyvecl_add(params, &z, &z, &y);
   ml_dsa_polyvecl_reduce(params, &z);
-  if(ml_dsa_polyvecl_chknorm(params, &z, params->gamma1 - params->beta)) {
+  z_invalid = ml_dsa_polyvecl_chknorm(params, &z, params->gamma1 - params->beta);
+  if(z_invalid) {
     goto rej;
   }
 
@@ -258,7 +260,13 @@ int ml_dsa_sign_internal(ml_dsa_params *params,
   ml_dsa_polyveck_invntt_tomont(params, &h);
   ml_dsa_polyveck_sub(params, &w0, &w0, &h);
   ml_dsa_polyveck_reduce(params, &w0);
-  if(ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(params, &w0, params->gamma2 - params->beta)) {
+  w0_invalid = ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(params, &w0, params->gamma2 - params->beta);
+  /* Leaking the fact that a signature was rejected at this stage is acceptable as
+   * the next attempt at a signature will be (indistinguishable from) independent of
+   * this one. See 5.5 in
+   * https://pq-crystals.org/dilithium/data/dilithium-specification-round3-20210208.pdf
+   */
+  if(w0_invalid) {
     goto rej;
   }
 
@@ -266,7 +274,8 @@ int ml_dsa_sign_internal(ml_dsa_params *params,
   ml_dsa_polyveck_pointwise_poly_montgomery(params, &h, &cp, &t0);
   ml_dsa_polyveck_invntt_tomont(params, &h);
   ml_dsa_polyveck_reduce(params, &h);
-  if(ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(params, &h, params->gamma2)) {
+  h_invalid = ml_dsa_polyveck_chknorm(params, &h, params->gamma2);
+  if(h_invalid) {
     goto rej;
   }