diff --git a/tools/mtmd/clip.cpp b/tools/mtmd/clip.cpp
index 71c6cdd01d..0b220af6fd 100644
--- a/tools/mtmd/clip.cpp
+++ b/tools/mtmd/clip.cpp
@@ -1255,20 +1255,16 @@ struct clip_model_loader {
             }
 
             if (is_vision) {
-                int idx_mean = gguf_find_key(ctx_gguf.get(), KEY_IMAGE_MEAN);
-                int idx_std  = gguf_find_key(ctx_gguf.get(), KEY_IMAGE_STD);
-                GGML_ASSERT(idx_mean >= 0 && "image_mean not found");
-                GGML_ASSERT(idx_std >= 0  && "image_std not found");
-                const size_t n_mean = gguf_get_arr_n(ctx_gguf.get(), idx_mean);
-                const size_t n_std  = gguf_get_arr_n(ctx_gguf.get(), idx_std);
-                if (n_mean < 3 || n_std < 3) {
-                    throw std::runtime_error(string_format("%s: image_mean/image_std arrays must have at least 3 elements, got %zu and %zu\n", __func__, n_mean, n_std));
+                std::vector<float> image_mean;
+                std::vector<float> image_std;
+                get_arr_f32(KEY_IMAGE_MEAN, image_mean, false);
+                get_arr_f32(KEY_IMAGE_STD , image_std, false);
+                if (image_mean.size() < 3 || image_std.size() < 3) {
+                    throw std::runtime_error(string_format("%s: image_mean/image_std arrays must have at least 3 elements, got %zu and %zu\n", __func__, image_mean.size(), image_std.size()));
                 }
-                const float * mean_data = (const float *) gguf_get_arr_data(ctx_gguf.get(), idx_mean);
-                const float * std_data  = (const float *) gguf_get_arr_data(ctx_gguf.get(), idx_std);
                 for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
-                    hparams.image_mean[i] = mean_data[i];
-                    hparams.image_std[i]  = std_data[i];
+                    hparams.image_mean[i] = image_mean[i];
+                    hparams.image_std[i]  = image_std[i];
                 }
             }
 
@@ -3078,6 +3074,29 @@ struct clip_model_loader {
         output = gguf_get_val_f32(ctx_gguf.get(), i);
     }
 
+    void get_arr_f32(const std::string & key, std::vector<float> & output, bool required = true) const {
+        const int i = gguf_find_key(ctx_gguf.get(), key.c_str());
+        if (i < 0) {
+            if (required) {
+                throw std::runtime_error("Key not found: " + key);
+            }
+            return;
+        }
+        const auto type = gguf_get_arr_type(ctx_gguf.get(), i);
+        if (type != GGUF_TYPE_FLOAT32) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(string_format("%s: array '%s' has type %d, expected %d (GGUF_TYPE_FLOAT32)\n", __func__, key.c_str(), type, GGUF_TYPE_FLOAT32));
+        }
+        const size_t n = gguf_get_arr_n(ctx_gguf.get(), i);
+        if (n > (size_t) std::numeric_limits<int>::max()) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(string_format("%s: array '%s' is too large (%zu elements)\n", __func__, key.c_str(), n));
+        }
+        output.resize(n);
+        const float * values = (const float *)gguf_get_arr_data(ctx_gguf.get(), i);
+        for (size_t j = 0; j < n; ++j) {
+            output[j] = values[j];
+        }
+    }
+
     void get_string(const std::string & key, std::string & output, bool required = true) const {
         const int i = gguf_find_key(ctx_gguf.get(), key.c_str());
         if (i < 0) {