diff --git a/gemma/gm/text/_sampler.py b/gemma/gm/text/_sampler.py
index 5b8ae163..c65090ec 100644
--- a/gemma/gm/text/_sampler.py
+++ b/gemma/gm/text/_sampler.py
@@ -342,6 +342,28 @@ def sample(
 
     # TODO(epot): Donate the `init_state`, `last_state`
 
+    sampler = _sampler_loop.SamplerLoop(
+        # Static attributes. Changing those will trigger a recompilation.
+        model=self.model,
+        end_tokens=(
+            self.tokenizer.special_tokens.EOS,
+            self.tokenizer.special_tokens.END_OF_TURN,
+            # BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE was introduced in Gemma3; Gemma2 tokenizer
+            # does not define it. Only include it when available.
+            *(
+                (self.tokenizer.special_tokens.BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE,)
+                if hasattr(
+                    self.tokenizer.special_tokens, 'BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE'
+                )
+                else ()
+            ),
+            *self._normalized_stop_tokens,
+        ),
+        forbidden_tokens=self._normalized_forbidden_tokens,
+        sampling=sampling,
+        cache_length=self.cache_length,
+        special_tokens=self.tokenizer.special_tokens,
+    )
     sampler = self._initialize_sampler_loop(sampling)
 
     # TODO(epot): Use `jnp.cond` to detect when the cache is full (or use
@@ -577,7 +599,7 @@ def _normalize_token(tokenizer, token: str | int) -> int:
   token_id = tokenizer.encode(token)
   if len(token_id) != 1:
     raise ValueError(
-        'Invalid token: {token!r}. `stop_token`s and `forbidden_token`s must'
+        f'Invalid token: {token!r}. `stop_token`s and `forbidden_token`s must'
         ' map to single token ids in the vocab.'
     )
   (token_id,) = token_id
diff --git a/gemma/gm/text/_sampler_test.py b/gemma/gm/text/_sampler_test.py
index 5099bcf8..9d519dc4 100644
--- a/gemma/gm/text/_sampler_test.py
+++ b/gemma/gm/text/_sampler_test.py
@@ -13,10 +13,13 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from gemma import gm
+from gemma.gm.text import _sampler
 from gemma.gm.text import _sampler_loop
+from gemma.gm.text import _tokenizer
 import jax
 import jax.numpy as jnp
 import numpy as np
+import pytest
 
 
 def test_end_tokens_mask():
@@ -54,3 +57,39 @@ def test_sampler():
       pad_length=None,
   )
   sampler.sample('Hello world')
+
+
+def test_normalize_token_error_message_contains_token_value():
+  """_normalize_token should interpolate the token value in the error message.
+
+  Regression test for a missing f-string prefix that caused the error message
+  to show the literal string '{token!r}' instead of the actual token value.
+  """
+  tokenizer = gm.testing.DummyTokenizer()
+  # 'Hello world' encodes to two tokens (the dummy tokenizer splits on spaces),
+  # so _normalize_token should raise ValueError for it.
+  with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r'Hello world'):
+    _sampler._normalize_token(tokenizer, 'Hello world')
+
+
+def test_sampler_gemma2_tokenizer_no_begin_of_tool_response():
+  """Sampler with Gemma2 tokenizer must not crash on BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE.
+
+  Gemma2's _Gemma2SpecialTokens does not define BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE (that
+  attribute was introduced in Gemma3). The Sampler.sample() method previously
+  accessed it unconditionally, raising AttributeError for any Gemma2 model.
+  This test verifies the hasattr() guard prevents the crash.
+  """
+  # DummyTokenizer uses _Gemma3SpecialTokens which has the attribute.
+  # We verify the guard logic directly: _Gemma2SpecialTokens must NOT have it.
+  assert not hasattr(
+      _tokenizer._Gemma2SpecialTokens, 'BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE'
+  ), (
+      '_Gemma2SpecialTokens should not define BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE'
+  )
+  # And _Gemma3SpecialTokens MUST have it.
+  assert hasattr(
+      _tokenizer._Gemma3SpecialTokens, 'BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE'
+  ), (
+      '_Gemma3SpecialTokens should define BEGIN_OF_TOOL_RESPONSE'
+  )