diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dda8244..000c857 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,27 @@ All notable changes to `pypsps` will be documented here.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## pypsps v0.1.1 - Aug 22, 2026
+
+### Fixed
+
+* `causal_loss_metric_gen` (`pypsps/keras/metrics.py`) reused the exact `outcome_loss`/
+  `treatment_loss` instances it was given, so any penalty term folded into either loss's own
+  `call()` (e.g. a within-state balance penalty) would leak into the metric used for
+  `EarlyStopping`/`ReduceLROnPlateau`/checkpoint selection -- silently turning "pure held-out
+  likelihood" into "likelihood plus whatever penalty this candidate happened to draw",
+  systematically rewarding weaker penalties regardless of fit quality. No such penalty is
+  wired into committed `OutcomeLoss`/`TreatmentLoss` yet, so this was a structural gap rather
+  than an active bug, flagged as a pending follow-up in
+  [dev-docs/20260820-bugfixes-v1.md item 5](dev-docs/20260820-bugfixes-v1.md). Fixed by adding
+  an explicit `penalty_free()` method to `OutcomeLoss`/`TreatmentLoss` that reconstructs the
+  loss from a hand-written list of its own non-penalty constructor arguments (not by scanning
+  attribute names for a naming convention); `causal_loss_metric_gen` now always calls it before
+  wrapping the losses in its internal `CausalLoss`. A future subclass that adds a penalty either
+  gets it correctly zeroed automatically (if it defaults to "off") or `penalty_free()` raises
+  until that subclass explicitly overrides it -- it can never leak through unnoticed. See
+  [dev-docs/20260822-bugfixes-v3.md](dev-docs/20260822-bugfixes-v3.md) for the full writeup.
+
 ## pypsps v0.1.0 - Aug 21, 2026
 
 Breaking: the propensity head's output shape changed (state-conditional instead of
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 0bd812d..1887b2e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "pypsps"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.1.1"
 description = "Predictive State Propensity Subclassification (PSPS) in Python (keras)"
 authors = ["Georg M. Goerg <im@gmge.org>"]
 license = "MIT"
diff --git a/pypsps/keras/losses.py b/pypsps/keras/losses.py
index 4b2f794..5ad0d34 100644
--- a/pypsps/keras/losses.py
+++ b/pypsps/keras/losses.py
@@ -115,6 +115,28 @@ def __init__(
         self._n_outcome_pred_cols = n_outcome_pred_cols
         self._n_treatment_pred_cols = n_treatment_pred_cols
 
+    def penalty_free(self) -> "OutcomeLoss":
+        """Returns a fresh instance of this exact class with no penalty terms applied.
+
+        Rebuilds `type(self)(...)` from only the arguments listed below -- never by copying
+        `self.__dict__` or scanning for attributes by naming convention. This is the explicit
+        contract for stripping penalties out of a metric like `causal_loss_metric_gen`: if a
+        subclass's `call()` ever adds a penalty (e.g. a within-state balance term), that
+        subclass MUST override this method to omit (or zero) that penalty's constructor
+        argument here. Forgetting to do so either raises (if the new argument is required,
+        since it's missing from this call) or silently keeps the penalty out (if it defaults
+        to "off"), but never lets an unrecognized penalty leak through.
+        """
+        return type(self)(
+            loss=self._loss,
+            treatment_loss=self._treatment_loss,
+            n_outcome_true_cols=self._n_outcome_true_cols,
+            n_outcome_pred_cols=self._n_outcome_pred_cols,
+            n_treatment_pred_cols=self._n_treatment_pred_cols,
+            reduction=self.reduction,
+            name=self.name,
+        )
+
     def call(self, y_true, y_pred):
         """Evaluates Causal Loss on (y_true, y_pred) for binary loss and Normal outcomes.
 
@@ -224,6 +246,23 @@ def __init__(
         self._n_outcome_pred_cols = n_outcome_pred_cols
         self._n_treatment_pred_cols = n_treatment_pred_cols
 
+    def penalty_free(self) -> "TreatmentLoss":
+        """Returns a fresh instance of this exact class with no penalty terms applied.
+
+        See `OutcomeLoss.penalty_free` for the contract: rebuilds `type(self)(...)` from only
+        the arguments below, never by copying `self.__dict__` or scanning attribute names. A
+        subclass whose `call()` adds a penalty (e.g. a within-state balance term) MUST
+        override this method to omit or zero that penalty's constructor argument.
+        """
+        return type(self)(
+            loss=self._loss,
+            n_outcome_true_cols=self._n_outcome_true_cols,
+            n_outcome_pred_cols=self._n_outcome_pred_cols,
+            n_treatment_pred_cols=self._n_treatment_pred_cols,
+            reduction=self.reduction,
+            name=self.name,
+        )
+
     def call(self, y_true, y_pred):
         """Evaluates the marginal treatment (dose) loss -log p(a | x)."""
         n_states = utils.get_n_states(
diff --git a/pypsps/keras/metrics.py b/pypsps/keras/metrics.py
index 6f97269..0635baa 100644
--- a/pypsps/keras/metrics.py
+++ b/pypsps/keras/metrics.py
@@ -186,6 +186,20 @@ def predictive_state_df(y_true, y_pred) -> tf.Tensor:
     return predictive_state_df
 
 
+def _penalty_free_copy(loss_obj):
+    """Returns a penalty-free instance of `loss_obj`, without mutating `loss_obj` itself
+    (which may still be the live training-time loss).
+
+    Delegates to `loss_obj.penalty_free()` (see `losses.OutcomeLoss.penalty_free` /
+    `losses.TreatmentLoss.penalty_free`), which rebuilds the object from an explicit,
+    class-declared list of constructor arguments -- never by scanning attribute names for a
+    naming convention like `_lambda_*`. That keeps this correct even for a penalty that isn't
+    named with a `lambda`-style prefix: the loss class itself, not this function, decides
+    what counts as a penalty.
+    """
+    return loss_obj.penalty_free()
+
+
 def causal_loss_metric_gen(
     outcome_loss: losses.OutcomeLoss,
     treatment_loss: losses.TreatmentLoss,
@@ -200,6 +214,12 @@ def causal_loss_metric_gen(
         causal_loss = outcome_loss_weight * outcome_loss(y_true, y_pred)
                       + alpha * treatment_loss(y_true, y_pred)
 
+    with `outcome_loss` and `treatment_loss` stripped of any embedded penalty terms (see
+    `_penalty_free_copy`) and wrapped in a `CausalLoss` with `predictive_states_regularizer=
+    None`, so this metric always reports the exact joint likelihood, never a penalized/
+    regularized proxy for it -- regardless of what alpha, outcome_loss_weight, or predictive
+    state / balance penalties the model was actually trained with.
+
     This metric function can be passed to model.compile(metrics=[...]).
 
     Parameters
@@ -218,10 +238,12 @@ def causal_loss_metric_gen(
     function
         A function metric that takes (y_true, y_pred) and returns the causal loss as a float value (can be passed as metric).
     """
-    # Construct an instance of CausalLoss with the given parameters.
+    # Construct an instance of CausalLoss with the given parameters, using penalty-free
+    # copies of outcome_loss/treatment_loss so this metric can never inherit a penalty term
+    # baked into either of them.
     causal_loss_obj = losses.CausalLoss(
-        outcome_loss=outcome_loss,
-        treatment_loss=treatment_loss,
+        outcome_loss=_penalty_free_copy(outcome_loss),
+        treatment_loss=_penalty_free_copy(treatment_loss),
         alpha=alpha,
         outcome_loss_weight=outcome_loss_weight,
     )
diff --git a/pypsps/tests/test_metrics.py b/pypsps/tests/test_metrics.py
index 61185fc..62ebe34 100644
--- a/pypsps/tests/test_metrics.py
+++ b/pypsps/tests/test_metrics.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import tensorflow as tf
 
-from pypsps.keras import metrics
+from pypsps.keras import losses, metrics, neglogliks
 
 
 def _make_y_pred(outcome_blocks, weights, treatment_blocks):
@@ -200,3 +200,149 @@ def test_predictive_state_df_gen():
     result = func(None, y_pred)
     # Check that result is a scalar tensor.
     assert result.shape.ndims == 0 or (result.shape.ndims == 1 and result.shape[0] == 1)
+
+
+def _make_treatment_loss(**overrides):
+    """Builds a plain (no-penalty) `TreatmentLoss` with sensible test defaults."""
+    kwargs = dict(
+        loss=tf.keras.losses.BinaryCrossentropy(reduction="none"),
+        n_outcome_true_cols=1,
+        n_outcome_pred_cols=2,
+        n_treatment_pred_cols=1,
+        reduction="sum_over_batch_size",
+    )
+    kwargs.update(overrides)
+    return losses.TreatmentLoss(**kwargs)
+
+
+def test_treatment_loss_penalty_free_is_identity_when_no_penalty_declared():
+    """Base `TreatmentLoss.penalty_free()` has no penalty args to drop, so it must return an
+    equivalent (but distinct) instance -- not the same object."""
+    original = _make_treatment_loss()
+    clean = original.penalty_free()
+
+    assert clean is not original
+    assert clean._n_outcome_true_cols == original._n_outcome_true_cols
+    assert clean._n_outcome_pred_cols == original._n_outcome_pred_cols
+    assert clean._n_treatment_pred_cols == original._n_treatment_pred_cols
+    assert clean._loss is original._loss
+
+
+class _BalancePenalizedTreatmentLoss(losses.TreatmentLoss):
+    """Test double simulating a hypothetical within-state balance penalty folded directly
+    into `TreatmentLoss.call` (`self._lambda_balance * balance_penalty`), the pattern
+    `causal_loss_metric_gen` must be robust to -- without relying on the `lambda_balance`
+    name, since `penalty_free()` is reconstructed via explicit constructor arguments, not
+    attribute-name sniffing."""
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, lambda_balance: float = 0.0, **kwargs):
+        """Stores `lambda_balance`, the (test-only) penalty weight."""
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self._lambda_balance = lambda_balance
+
+    def call(self, y_true, y_pred):
+        """Adds a constant `lambda_balance` penalty on top of the real treatment NLL."""
+        return super().call(y_true, y_pred) + self._lambda_balance
+
+
+def test_treatment_loss_penalty_free_zeros_declared_penalty_without_mutating_original():
+    """A subclass that inherits `penalty_free()` without overriding it drops any constructor
+    argument not explicitly forwarded by the base implementation -- here, `lambda_balance`
+    falls back to its own "off" default (0.0) -- and the original, live instance must be
+    left untouched."""
+    original = _BalancePenalizedTreatmentLoss(
+        loss=tf.keras.losses.BinaryCrossentropy(reduction="none"),
+        n_outcome_true_cols=1,
+        n_outcome_pred_cols=2,
+        n_treatment_pred_cols=1,
+        lambda_balance=5.0,
+        reduction="sum_over_batch_size",
+    )
+    clean = original.penalty_free()
+
+    assert clean is not original
+    assert clean._lambda_balance == 0.0
+    assert original._lambda_balance == 5.0
+
+
+def test_treatment_loss_penalty_free_fails_loudly_for_undeclared_required_penalty_arg():
+    """If a subclass adds a *required* penalty argument (no safe "off" default) and doesn't
+    override `penalty_free()` to account for it, reconstruction must raise rather than
+    silently guess a value -- forcing whoever adds the penalty to explicitly decide how
+    `penalty_free()` should handle it."""
+
+    class _RequiredPenaltyTreatmentLoss(losses.TreatmentLoss):
+        """Test double whose penalty weight has no safe "off" default."""
+
+        def __init__(self, *args, lambda_balance: float, **kwargs):
+            """Stores the required `lambda_balance` penalty weight."""
+            super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+            self._lambda_balance = lambda_balance
+
+    original = _RequiredPenaltyTreatmentLoss(
+        loss=tf.keras.losses.BinaryCrossentropy(reduction="none"),
+        n_outcome_true_cols=1,
+        n_outcome_pred_cols=2,
+        n_treatment_pred_cols=1,
+        lambda_balance=5.0,
+        reduction="sum_over_batch_size",
+    )
+    try:
+        original.penalty_free()
+        assert False, "expected TypeError: lambda_balance is required and not forwarded"
+    except TypeError:
+        pass
+
+
+def test_causal_loss_metric_gen_strips_embedded_treatment_loss_penalty():
+    """causal_loss_metric_gen must report the exact joint likelihood even when the passed-in
+    treatment_loss instance carries an embedded penalty term -- the metric used for
+    EarlyStopping/checkpoint selection/Optuna must never be a penalized proxy."""
+    n_outcome_pred_cols, n_treatment_pred_cols, n_outcome_true_cols = 2, 1, 1
+    weights = [[0.5, 0.5], [0.3, 0.7], [0.9, 0.1]]
+    y_pred = _make_y_pred(
+        outcome_blocks=[np.zeros((3, 2)), np.ones((3, 2))],
+        weights=weights,
+        treatment_blocks=[[[0.9, 0.7], [0.5, 0.5], [0.2, 0.6]]],
+    )
+    y_true = tf.constant([[5.0, 1.0], [3.0, 0.0], [8.0, 1.0]], dtype=tf.float32)
+
+    def _build(lambda_balance):
+        """Builds a matching (outcome_loss, treatment_loss) pair for a given penalty weight."""
+        outcome_loss = losses.OutcomeLoss(
+            loss=neglogliks.NegloglikNormal(reduction="none"),
+            treatment_loss=tf.keras.losses.BinaryCrossentropy(reduction="none"),
+            n_outcome_true_cols=n_outcome_true_cols,
+            n_outcome_pred_cols=n_outcome_pred_cols,
+            n_treatment_pred_cols=n_treatment_pred_cols,
+            reduction="sum_over_batch_size",
+        )
+        treatment_loss = _BalancePenalizedTreatmentLoss(
+            loss=tf.keras.losses.BinaryCrossentropy(reduction="none"),
+            n_outcome_true_cols=n_outcome_true_cols,
+            n_outcome_pred_cols=n_outcome_pred_cols,
+            n_treatment_pred_cols=n_treatment_pred_cols,
+            lambda_balance=lambda_balance,
+            reduction="sum_over_batch_size",
+        )
+        return outcome_loss, treatment_loss
+
+    penalized_outcome_loss, penalized_treatment_loss = _build(lambda_balance=1000.0)
+    clean_outcome_loss, clean_treatment_loss = _build(lambda_balance=0.0)
+
+    metric_fn = metrics.causal_loss_metric_gen(
+        outcome_loss=penalized_outcome_loss, treatment_loss=penalized_treatment_loss
+    )
+    metric_value = metric_fn(y_true, y_pred).numpy()
+
+    expected_clean = (
+        clean_outcome_loss(y_true, y_pred) + clean_treatment_loss(y_true, y_pred)
+    ).numpy()
+    expected_penalized = (
+        penalized_outcome_loss(y_true, y_pred) + penalized_treatment_loss(y_true, y_pred)
+    ).numpy()
+
+    np.testing.assert_allclose(metric_value, expected_clean, rtol=1e-5)
+    assert not np.isclose(metric_value, expected_penalized, rtol=1e-5)
+    # The original, live training-time loss must be unmodified.
+    assert penalized_treatment_loss._lambda_balance == 1000.0