diff --git a/src/llmcompressor/modifiers/quantization/quantization/mixin.py b/src/llmcompressor/modifiers/quantization/quantization/mixin.py
index 936c47db76..87789971fa 100644
--- a/src/llmcompressor/modifiers/quantization/quantization/mixin.py
+++ b/src/llmcompressor/modifiers/quantization/quantization/mixin.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
     is_preset_scheme,
     preset_name_to_scheme,
 )
+from compressed_tensors.quantization.utils import KV_CACHE_TARGETS
 from compressed_tensors.utils import match_named_modules, update_offload_parameter
 from pydantic import Field, PrivateAttr, field_validator
 from torch.utils.hooks import RemovableHandle
@@ -208,7 +209,7 @@ def resolved_targets(self) -> Set[str]:
 
         if self.resolved_config.kv_cache_scheme is not None:
             # TODO: decouple reliance on this regex for matching attention
-            targets.add("re:.*self_attn$")
+            targets.update(KV_CACHE_TARGETS)
 
         return targets
 
diff --git a/tests/llmcompressor/modifiers/quantization/test_kv_cache_calibration.py b/tests/llmcompressor/modifiers/quantization/test_kv_cache_calibration.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d1ed051199
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/llmcompressor/modifiers/quantization/test_kv_cache_calibration.py
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+"""
+Test that start_calibration initializes KV cache observers on attention modules
+regardless of their name in the module tree.
+
+compressed_tensors' _apply_kv_cache_scheme discovers attention modules via
+is_attention_module() (name-agnostic), but QuantizationMixin.start_calibration
+previously relied on resolved_targets which includes "re:.*self_attn$". This
+regex fails for models that name their attention differently (e.g. "attention",
+"self_attention"). The fix adds an is_attention_module() fallback pass.
+"""
+
+import torch.nn as nn
+from compressed_tensors.quantization import (
+    QuantizationArgs,
+    QuantizationStatus,
+    apply_quantization_config,
+    is_attention_module,
+)
+from transformers import PretrainedConfig
+
+from llmcompressor.modifiers.quantization.quantization import QuantizationModifier
+
+
+class _StubAttention(nn.Module):
+    """Minimal attention module recognized by is_attention_module().
+
+    is_attention_module checks: "attention" in class name (lowercase) and
+    hasattr(k_proj) or hasattr(v_proj).
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, dim: int = 16):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.q_proj = nn.Linear(dim, dim, bias=False)
+        self.k_proj = nn.Linear(dim, dim, bias=False)
+        self.v_proj = nn.Linear(dim, dim, bias=False)
+        self.o_proj = nn.Linear(dim, dim, bias=False)
+
+    def forward(self, x):
+        return self.o_proj(self.q_proj(x) + self.k_proj(x) + self.v_proj(x))
+
+
+class _StubBlock(nn.Module):
+    def __init__(self, dim: int = 16):
+        super().__init__()
+        # Named "attention" instead of "self_attn" — does NOT match
+        # the "re:.*self_attn$" regex in resolved_targets.
+        self.attention = _StubAttention(dim)
+        self.mlp = nn.Linear(dim, dim)
+
+    def forward(self, x):
+        return self.mlp(self.attention(x))
+
+
+class _StubModel(nn.Module):
+    def __init__(self, dim: int = 16, num_layers: int = 2):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.config = PretrainedConfig(
+            num_attention_heads=1,
+            num_key_value_heads=1,
+            hidden_size=dim,
+        )
+        self.layers = nn.ModuleList([_StubBlock(dim) for _ in range(num_layers)])
+
+    def forward(self, x):
+        for layer in self.layers:
+            x = layer(x)
+        return x
+
+
+def test_attention_module_not_named_self_attn_gets_calibrated():
+    """Attention modules named 'attention' (not 'self_attn') must still
+    get observers and hooks initialized when kv_cache_scheme is set."""
+    model = _StubModel(dim=16)
+    modifier = QuantizationModifier(
+        targets=["Linear"],
+        kv_cache_scheme=QuantizationArgs(
+            num_bits=8,
+            type="float",
+            strategy="tensor",
+            dynamic=False,
+            symmetric=True,
+        ),
+    )
+
+    # Verify our stub is recognized as attention
+    attn_modules = [
+        (name, m) for name, m in model.named_modules() if is_attention_module(m)
+    ]
+    assert len(attn_modules) == 2, "Expected 2 attention modules in _StubModel"
+
+    # Verify none of them match the self_attn regex
+    for name, _ in attn_modules:
+        assert "self_attn" not in name, f"{name} unexpectedly matches self_attn"
+
+    # Apply quantization config (this uses is_attention_module and WILL set scheme)
+    apply_quantization_config(model, modifier.resolved_config)
+
+    # Verify schemes were applied to attention modules by _apply_kv_cache_scheme
+    for _, m in attn_modules:
+        assert hasattr(m, "quantization_scheme"), (
+            "apply_quantization_config should set "
+            "quantization_scheme on attention modules"
+        )
+
+    # Now run start_calibration — this is what we're testing
+    modifier.start_calibration(model)
+
+    # Verify attention modules got calibration status
+    for name, m in attn_modules:
+        assert m.quantization_status == QuantizationStatus.CALIBRATION, (
+            f"Attention module '{name}' was not calibrated — "
+            f"start_calibration missed it (status={m.quantization_status})"
+        )
+
+    # Verify hooks were registered for KV cache calibration
+    assert (
+        len(modifier._calibration_hooks) > 0
+    ), "Expected calibration hooks to be registered"
+
+    # Clean up
+    modifier.end_calibration(model)
+
+    for name, m in attn_modules:
+        assert (
+            m.quantization_status == QuantizationStatus.FROZEN
+        ), f"Attention module '{name}' was not frozen after end_calibration"