diff --git a/lmcache/v1/storage_backend/maru_backend.py b/lmcache/v1/storage_backend/maru_backend.py
index ef4ef8a21b..b2f80eadd3 100644
--- a/lmcache/v1/storage_backend/maru_backend.py
+++ b/lmcache/v1/storage_backend/maru_backend.py
@@ -136,10 +136,10 @@ def _create_handler(
         # Convert maru:// scheme to tcp:// for ZMQ
         server_url = config.maru_path
         if server_url.startswith("maru://"):
-            server_url = "tcp://" + server_url[len("maru://"):]
+            server_url = "tcp://" + server_url[len("maru://") :]
 
         extra = config.extra_config or {}
-        maru_config = MaruConfig(
+        maru_kwargs = dict(
             server_url=server_url,
             instance_id=extra.get("maru_instance_id"),
             pool_size=self._parse_pool_size(config.maru_pool_size),
@@ -150,6 +150,26 @@ def _create_handler(
             max_inflight=extra.get("maru_max_inflight", 64),
             eager_map=extra.get("maru_eager_map", True),
         )
+        pool_id = extra.get("maru_pool_id")
+        if pool_id is not None:
+            try:
+                if isinstance(pool_id, list):
+                    if pool_id:
+                        maru_kwargs["pool_id"] = [int(p) for p in pool_id]
+                elif isinstance(pool_id, str):
+                    stripped = pool_id.strip()
+                    if stripped:
+                        if "," in stripped:
+                            maru_kwargs["pool_id"] = [
+                                int(p.strip()) for p in stripped.split(",") if p.strip()
+                            ]
+                        else:
+                            maru_kwargs["pool_id"] = int(stripped)
+                else:
+                    maru_kwargs["pool_id"] = int(pool_id)
+            except (ValueError, TypeError) as e:
+                raise ValueError(f"Invalid maru_pool_id={pool_id!r}: {e}") from e
+        maru_config = MaruConfig(**maru_kwargs)
 
         handler = MaruHandler(maru_config)
         if not handler.connect():