diff --git a/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_clm_flax.py b/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_clm_flax.py
index 00fc6e61f79b81..5fe786da7cc5ad 100755
--- a/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_clm_flax.py
+++ b/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_clm_flax.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 import optax
 import transformers
 from flax import jax_utils, traverse_util
-from flax.jax_utils import unreplicate
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad, unreplicate
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard, shard_prng_key
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -264,20 +264,24 @@ def replicate(self):
         return jax_utils.replicate(self).replace(dropout_rng=shard_prng_key(self.dropout_rng))
 
 
-def data_loader(rng: jax.random.PRNGKey, dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int, shuffle: bool = False):
+def data_loader(rng: jax.random.PRNGKey, dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int, shuffle: bool = False, drop_last=True):
     """
-    Returns batches of size `batch_size` from truncated `dataset`, sharded over all local devices.
-    Shuffle batches if `shuffle` is `True`.
+    Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `dataset`. If `drop_last` is set to `False`, the final batch may be incomplete,
+    and range in size from 1 to `batch_size`. Shuffle batches if `shuffle` is `True`.
     """
-    steps_per_epoch = len(dataset) // batch_size
-
     if shuffle:
         batch_idx = jax.random.permutation(rng, len(dataset))
+        batch_idx = np.asarray(batch_idx)
     else:
-        batch_idx = jnp.arange(len(dataset))
+        batch_idx = np.arange(len(dataset))
 
-    batch_idx = batch_idx[: steps_per_epoch * batch_size]  # Skip incomplete batch.
-    batch_idx = batch_idx.reshape((steps_per_epoch, batch_size))
+    if drop_last:
+        steps_per_epoch = len(dataset) // batch_size
+        batch_idx = batch_idx[: steps_per_epoch * batch_size]  # Skip incomplete batch.
+        batch_idx = batch_idx.reshape((steps_per_epoch, batch_size))
+    else:
+        steps_per_epoch = math.ceil(len(dataset) / batch_size)
+        batch_idx = np.array_split(batch_idx, steps_per_epoch)
 
     for idx in batch_idx:
         batch = dataset[idx]
@@ -621,7 +625,8 @@ def group_texts(examples):
     # Store some constant
     num_epochs = int(training_args.num_train_epochs)
     train_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_train_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
-    eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
+    eval_batch_size = per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.device_count()
     steps_per_epoch = len(train_dataset) // train_batch_size
     total_train_steps = steps_per_epoch * num_epochs
 
@@ -764,13 +769,14 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
             if cur_step % training_args.eval_steps == 0 and cur_step > 0:
                 # ======================== Evaluating ==============================
                 eval_metrics = []
-                eval_loader = data_loader(input_rng, eval_dataset, eval_batch_size)
-                eval_steps = len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size
+                eval_loader = data_loader(input_rng, eval_dataset, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
+                eval_steps = math.ceil(len(eval_dataset) / eval_batch_size)
                 for _ in tqdm(range(eval_steps), desc="Evaluating...", position=2, leave=False):
                     # Model forward
                     batch = next(eval_loader)
-                    batch = shard(batch)
-                    metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, batch)
+                    metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                        state.params, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+                    )
                     eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
                 # normalize eval metrics
@@ -806,12 +812,14 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
     # Eval after training
     if training_args.do_eval:
         eval_metrics = []
-        eval_loader = data_loader(input_rng, eval_dataset, eval_batch_size)
-        eval_steps = len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size
+        eval_loader = data_loader(input_rng, eval_dataset, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
+        eval_steps = math.ceil(len(eval_dataset) / eval_batch_size)
         for _ in tqdm(range(eval_steps), desc="Evaluating...", position=2, leave=False):
             # Model forward
-            batch = shard(next(eval_loader))
-            metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, batch)
+            batch = next(eval_loader)
+            metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                state.params, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+            )
             eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
         # normalize eval metrics
diff --git a/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_mlm_flax.py b/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_mlm_flax.py
index 9657471246b292..4b0c8c803b66c4 100755
--- a/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_mlm_flax.py
+++ b/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_mlm_flax.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 import jax.numpy as jnp
 import optax
 from flax import jax_utils, traverse_util
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -326,15 +327,20 @@ def mask_tokens(
         return inputs, labels
 
 
-def generate_batch_splits(samples_idx: np.ndarray, batch_size: int) -> np.ndarray:
+def generate_batch_splits(samples_idx: np.ndarray, batch_size: int, drop_last=True) -> np.ndarray:
+    """Generate batches of data for a specified batch size from sample indices. If the dataset size is not divisible by
+    the batch size and `drop_last` is `True`, the last incomplete batch is dropped. Else, it is returned."""
     num_samples = len(samples_idx)
-    samples_to_remove = num_samples % batch_size
-
-    if samples_to_remove != 0:
-        samples_idx = samples_idx[:-samples_to_remove]
-    sections_split = num_samples // batch_size
-    batch_idx = np.split(samples_idx, sections_split)
-    return batch_idx
+    if drop_last:
+        samples_to_remove = num_samples % batch_size
+        if samples_to_remove != 0:
+            samples_idx = samples_idx[:-samples_to_remove]
+        sections_split = num_samples // batch_size
+        samples_idx = samples_idx.reshape((sections_split, batch_size))
+    else:
+        sections_split = math.ceil(num_samples / batch_size)
+        samples_idx = np.array_split(samples_idx, sections_split)
+    return samples_idx
 
 
 def write_train_metric(summary_writer, train_metrics, train_time, step):
@@ -632,12 +638,14 @@ def group_texts(examples):
             config,
             seed=training_args.seed,
             dtype=getattr(jnp, model_args.dtype),
+            use_auth_token=True if model_args.use_auth_token else None,
         )
 
     # Store some constant
     num_epochs = int(training_args.num_train_epochs)
     train_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_train_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
-    eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
+    eval_batch_size = per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.device_count()
 
     num_train_steps = len(tokenized_datasets["train"]) // train_batch_size * num_epochs
 
@@ -796,7 +804,7 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
                 num_eval_samples = len(tokenized_datasets["validation"])
                 # Avoid using jax.numpy here in case of TPU training
                 eval_samples_idx = np.arange(num_eval_samples)
-                eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size)
+                eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
 
                 eval_metrics = []
                 for i, batch_idx in enumerate(tqdm(eval_batch_idx, desc="Evaluating ...", position=2)):
@@ -804,8 +812,9 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
                     model_inputs = data_collator(samples, pad_to_multiple_of=16)
 
                     # Model forward
-                    model_inputs = shard(model_inputs.data)
-                    metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, model_inputs)
+                    metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                        state.params, model_inputs.data, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+                    )
                     eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
                 # normalize eval metrics
@@ -835,7 +844,7 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
         num_eval_samples = len(tokenized_datasets["validation"])
         # Avoid using jax.numpy here in case of TPU training
         eval_samples_idx = np.arange(num_eval_samples)
-        eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size)
+        eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
 
         eval_metrics = []
         for _, batch_idx in enumerate(tqdm(eval_batch_idx, desc="Evaluating ...", position=2)):
@@ -843,8 +852,9 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
             model_inputs = data_collator(samples, pad_to_multiple_of=16)
 
             # Model forward
-            model_inputs = shard(model_inputs.data)
-            metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, model_inputs)
+            metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                state.params, model_inputs.data, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+            )
             eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
         # normalize eval metrics
diff --git a/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_t5_mlm_flax.py b/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_t5_mlm_flax.py
index ad0b43d3d69c00..e0943ffdfbf5e0 100755
--- a/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_t5_mlm_flax.py
+++ b/examples/flax/language-modeling/run_t5_mlm_flax.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 """
 import json
 import logging
+import math
 import os
 import sys
 import time
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@
 import jax.numpy as jnp
 import optax
 from flax import jax_utils, traverse_util
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -326,6 +328,7 @@ class FlaxDataCollatorForT5MLM:
     decoder_start_token_id: int
 
     def __call__(self, examples: List[Dict[str, np.ndarray]]) -> Dict[str, np.ndarray]:
+
         # convert list to dict and tensorize input
         batch = BatchEncoding(
             {k: np.array([examples[i][k] for i in range(len(examples))]) for k, v in examples[0].items()}
@@ -394,6 +397,7 @@ def filter_input_ids(self, input_ids, sentinel_ids):
         return input_ids
 
     def random_spans_noise_mask(self, length):
+
         """This function is copy of `random_spans_helper <https://github.com/google-research/text-to-text-transfer-transformer/blob/84f8bcc14b5f2c03de51bd3587609ba8f6bbd1cd/t5/data/preprocessors.py#L2682>`__ .
 
         Noise mask consisting of random spans of noise tokens.
@@ -457,15 +461,20 @@ def _random_segmentation(num_items, num_segments):
         return is_noise[:orig_length]
 
 
-def generate_batch_splits(samples_idx: np.ndarray, batch_size: int) -> np.ndarray:
+def generate_batch_splits(samples_idx: np.ndarray, batch_size: int, drop_last=True) -> np.ndarray:
+    """Generate batches of data for a specified batch size from sample indices. If the dataset size is not divisible by
+    the batch size and `drop_last` is `True`, the last incomplete batch is dropped. Else, it is returned."""
     num_samples = len(samples_idx)
-    samples_to_remove = num_samples % batch_size
-
-    if samples_to_remove != 0:
-        samples_idx = samples_idx[:-samples_to_remove]
-    sections_split = num_samples // batch_size
-    batch_idx = np.split(samples_idx, sections_split)
-    return batch_idx
+    if drop_last:
+        samples_to_remove = num_samples % batch_size
+        if samples_to_remove != 0:
+            samples_idx = samples_idx[:-samples_to_remove]
+        sections_split = num_samples // batch_size
+        samples_idx = samples_idx.reshape((sections_split, batch_size))
+    else:
+        sections_split = math.ceil(num_samples / batch_size)
+        samples_idx = np.array_split(samples_idx, sections_split)
+    return samples_idx
 
 
 def write_train_metric(summary_writer, train_metrics, train_time, step):
@@ -737,6 +746,7 @@ def group_texts(examples):
             config,
             seed=training_args.seed,
             dtype=getattr(jnp, model_args.dtype),
+            use_auth_token=True if model_args.use_auth_token else None,
         )
 
     # Data collator
@@ -754,7 +764,8 @@ def group_texts(examples):
     # Store some constant
     num_epochs = int(training_args.num_train_epochs)
     train_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_train_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
-    eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
+    eval_batch_size = per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.device_count()
 
     num_train_steps = len(tokenized_datasets["train"]) // train_batch_size * num_epochs
 
@@ -915,7 +926,7 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
                 num_eval_samples = len(tokenized_datasets["validation"])
                 # Avoid using jax.numpy here in case of TPU training
                 eval_samples_idx = np.arange(num_eval_samples)
-                eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size)
+                eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
 
                 eval_metrics = []
                 for i, batch_idx in enumerate(tqdm(eval_batch_idx, desc="Evaluating ...", position=2)):
@@ -923,8 +934,9 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
                     model_inputs = data_collator(samples)
 
                     # Model forward
-                    model_inputs = shard(model_inputs.data)
-                    metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, model_inputs)
+                    metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                        state.params, model_inputs.data, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+                    )
                     eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
                 # get eval metrics
@@ -952,7 +964,7 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
         num_eval_samples = len(tokenized_datasets["validation"])
         # Avoid using jax.numpy here in case of TPU training
         eval_samples_idx = np.arange(num_eval_samples)
-        eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size)
+        eval_batch_idx = generate_batch_splits(eval_samples_idx, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
 
         eval_metrics = []
         for i, batch_idx in enumerate(tqdm(eval_batch_idx, desc="Evaluating ...", position=2)):
@@ -960,8 +972,9 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
             model_inputs = data_collator(samples)
 
             # Model forward
-            model_inputs = shard(model_inputs.data)
-            metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, model_inputs)
+            metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                state.params, model_inputs.data, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+            )
             eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
         # get eval metrics
diff --git a/examples/flax/question-answering/run_qa.py b/examples/flax/question-answering/run_qa.py
index b42475635566da..05315c0b6a3d2d 100644
--- a/examples/flax/question-answering/run_qa.py
+++ b/examples/flax/question-answering/run_qa.py
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@
 
 import json
 import logging
+import math
 import os
 import random
 import sys
 import time
 from dataclasses import asdict, dataclass, field
 from enum import Enum
-from itertools import chain
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Optional, Tuple
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 import optax
 import transformers
 from flax import struct, traverse_util
-from flax.jax_utils import replicate, unreplicate
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad, replicate, unreplicate
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -406,11 +406,15 @@ def train_data_collator(rng: PRNGKey, dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int):
 
 # region eval data iterator
 def eval_data_collator(dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int):
-    """Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `eval dataset`, sharded over all local devices."""
-    for i in range(len(dataset) // batch_size):
-        batch = dataset[i * batch_size : (i + 1) * batch_size]
+    """Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `eval dataset`. Sharding handled by `pad_shard_unpad` in the eval loop."""
+    batch_idx = np.arange(len(dataset))
+
+    steps_per_epoch = math.ceil(len(dataset) / batch_size)
+    batch_idx = np.array_split(batch_idx, steps_per_epoch)
+
+    for idx in batch_idx:
+        batch = dataset[idx]
         batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-        batch = shard(batch)
 
         yield batch
 
@@ -856,8 +860,9 @@ def write_eval_metric(summary_writer, eval_metrics, step):
     rng = jax.random.PRNGKey(training_args.seed)
     dropout_rngs = jax.random.split(rng, jax.local_device_count())
 
-    train_batch_size = training_args.per_device_train_batch_size * jax.local_device_count()
-    eval_batch_size = training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.local_device_count()
+    train_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_train_batch_size) * jax.local_device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
+    eval_batch_size = per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.local_device_count()
     # endregion
 
     # region Load model
@@ -975,32 +980,17 @@ def eval_step(state, batch):
                 # evaluate
                 for batch in tqdm(
                     eval_data_collator(eval_dataset, eval_batch_size),
-                    total=len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size,
+                    total=math.ceil(len(eval_dataset) / eval_batch_size),
                     desc="Evaluating ...",
                     position=2,
                 ):
                     _ = batch.pop("example_id")
                     _ = batch.pop("offset_mapping")
-                    predictions = p_eval_step(state, batch)
-                    start_logits = np.array([pred for pred in chain(*predictions[0])])
-                    end_logits = np.array([pred for pred in chain(*predictions[1])])
-                    all_start_logits.append(start_logits)
-                    all_end_logits.append(end_logits)
-
-                # evaluate also on leftover examples (not divisible by batch_size)
-                num_leftover_samples = len(eval_dataset) % eval_batch_size
-
-                # make sure leftover batch is evaluated on one device
-                if num_leftover_samples > 0 and jax.process_index() == 0:
-                    # take leftover samples
-                    batch = eval_dataset[-num_leftover_samples:]
-                    batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-                    _ = batch.pop("example_id")
-                    _ = batch.pop("offset_mapping")
-
-                    predictions = eval_step(unreplicate(state), batch)
-                    start_logits = np.array([pred for pred in predictions[0]])
-                    end_logits = np.array([pred for pred in predictions[1]])
+                    predictions = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step)(
+                        state, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+                    )
+                    start_logits = np.array(predictions[0])
+                    end_logits = np.array(predictions[1])
                     all_start_logits.append(start_logits)
                     all_end_logits.append(end_logits)
 
@@ -1039,30 +1029,15 @@ def eval_step(state, batch):
         all_start_logits = []
         all_end_logits = []
 
-        eva_loader = eval_data_collator(eval_dataset, eval_batch_size)
-        for batch in tqdm(eva_loader, total=len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size, desc="Evaluating ...", position=2):
-            _ = batch.pop("example_id")
-            _ = batch.pop("offset_mapping")
-            predictions = p_eval_step(state, batch)
-            start_logits = np.array([pred for pred in chain(*predictions[0])])
-            end_logits = np.array([pred for pred in chain(*predictions[1])])
-            all_start_logits.append(start_logits)
-            all_end_logits.append(end_logits)
-
-        # evaluate also on leftover examples (not divisible by batch_size)
-        num_leftover_samples = len(eval_dataset) % eval_batch_size
-
-        # make sure leftover batch is evaluated on one device
-        if num_leftover_samples > 0 and jax.process_index() == 0:
-            # take leftover samples
-            batch = eval_dataset[-num_leftover_samples:]
-            batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
+        eval_loader = eval_data_collator(eval_dataset, eval_batch_size)
+        for batch in tqdm(
+            eval_loader, total=math.ceil(len(eval_dataset) / eval_batch_size), desc="Evaluating ...", position=2
+        ):
             _ = batch.pop("example_id")
             _ = batch.pop("offset_mapping")
-
-            predictions = eval_step(unreplicate(state), batch)
-            start_logits = np.array([pred for pred in predictions[0]])
-            end_logits = np.array([pred for pred in predictions[1]])
+            predictions = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step)(state, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size)
+            start_logits = np.array(predictions[0])
+            end_logits = np.array(predictions[1])
             all_start_logits.append(start_logits)
             all_end_logits.append(end_logits)
 
diff --git a/examples/flax/summarization/run_summarization_flax.py b/examples/flax/summarization/run_summarization_flax.py
index a1b5fc37e24cf7..bd17141a44b891 100644
--- a/examples/flax/summarization/run_summarization_flax.py
+++ b/examples/flax/summarization/run_summarization_flax.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import json
 import logging
+import math
 import os
 import sys
 import time
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@
 import transformers
 from filelock import FileLock
 from flax import jax_utils, traverse_util
-from flax.jax_utils import unreplicate
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad, unreplicate
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard, shard_prng_key
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -335,26 +336,28 @@ def replicate(self):
         return jax_utils.replicate(self).replace(dropout_rng=shard_prng_key(self.dropout_rng))
 
 
-def data_loader(rng: jax.random.PRNGKey, dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int, shuffle: bool = False):
+def data_loader(rng: jax.random.PRNGKey, dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int, shuffle: bool = False, drop_last=True):
     """
-    Returns batches of size `batch_size` from truncated `dataset`, sharded over all local devices.
-    Shuffle batches if `shuffle` is `True`.
+    Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `dataset`. If `drop_last` is set to `False`, the final batch may be incomplete,
+    and range in size from 1 to `batch_size`. Shuffle batches if `shuffle` is `True`.
     """
-    steps_per_epoch = len(dataset) // batch_size
-
     if shuffle:
         batch_idx = jax.random.permutation(rng, len(dataset))
+        batch_idx = np.asarray(batch_idx)
     else:
-        batch_idx = jnp.arange(len(dataset))
+        batch_idx = np.arange(len(dataset))
 
-    batch_idx = batch_idx[: steps_per_epoch * batch_size]  # Skip incomplete batch.
-    batch_idx = batch_idx.reshape((steps_per_epoch, batch_size))
+    if drop_last:
+        steps_per_epoch = len(dataset) // batch_size
+        batch_idx = batch_idx[: steps_per_epoch * batch_size]  # Skip incomplete batch.
+        batch_idx = batch_idx.reshape((steps_per_epoch, batch_size))
+    else:
+        steps_per_epoch = math.ceil(len(dataset) / batch_size)
+        batch_idx = np.array_split(batch_idx, steps_per_epoch)
 
     for idx in batch_idx:
         batch = dataset[idx]
-        batch = {k: jnp.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-
-        batch = shard(batch)
+        batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
 
         yield batch
 
@@ -706,7 +709,8 @@ def compute_metrics(preds, labels):
     # Store some constant
     num_epochs = int(training_args.num_train_epochs)
     train_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_train_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
-    eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
+    eval_batch_size = per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.device_count()
     steps_per_epoch = len(train_dataset) // train_batch_size
     total_train_steps = steps_per_epoch * num_epochs
 
@@ -850,6 +854,7 @@ def generate_step(params, batch):
         # train
         for _ in tqdm(range(steps_per_epoch), desc="Training...", position=1, leave=False):
             batch = next(train_loader)
+            batch = shard(batch)
             state, train_metric = p_train_step(state, batch)
             train_metrics.append(train_metric)
 
@@ -867,21 +872,23 @@ def generate_step(params, batch):
         eval_preds = []
         eval_labels = []
 
-        eval_loader = data_loader(input_rng, eval_dataset, eval_batch_size)
-        eval_steps = len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size
+        eval_loader = data_loader(input_rng, eval_dataset, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
+        eval_steps = math.ceil(len(eval_dataset) / eval_batch_size)
         for _ in tqdm(range(eval_steps), desc="Evaluating...", position=2, leave=False):
             # Model forward
             batch = next(eval_loader)
             labels = batch["labels"]
 
-            metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, batch)
+            metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                state.params, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+            )
             eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
             # generation
             if data_args.predict_with_generate:
-                generated_ids = p_generate_step(state.params, batch)
+                generated_ids = pad_shard_unpad(p_generate_step)(state.params, batch)
                 eval_preds.extend(jax.device_get(generated_ids.reshape(-1, gen_kwargs["max_length"])))
-                eval_labels.extend(jax.device_get(labels.reshape(-1, labels.shape[-1])))
+                eval_labels.extend(labels)
 
         # normalize eval metrics
         eval_metrics = get_metrics(eval_metrics)
@@ -920,21 +927,23 @@ def generate_step(params, batch):
         pred_generations = []
         pred_labels = []
 
-        pred_loader = data_loader(input_rng, predict_dataset, eval_batch_size)
-        pred_steps = len(predict_dataset) // eval_batch_size
+        pred_loader = data_loader(input_rng, predict_dataset, eval_batch_size, drop_last=False)
+        pred_steps = math.ceil(len(predict_dataset) / eval_batch_size)
         for _ in tqdm(range(pred_steps), desc="Predicting...", position=2, leave=False):
             # Model forward
             batch = next(pred_loader)
             labels = batch["labels"]
 
-            metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, batch)
+            metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                state.params, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+            )
             pred_metrics.append(metrics)
 
             # generation
             if data_args.predict_with_generate:
-                generated_ids = p_generate_step(state.params, batch)
+                generated_ids = pad_shard_unpad(p_generate_step)(state.params, batch)
                 pred_generations.extend(jax.device_get(generated_ids.reshape(-1, gen_kwargs["max_length"])))
-                pred_labels.extend(jax.device_get(labels.reshape(-1, labels.shape[-1])))
+                pred_labels.extend(labels)
 
         # normalize prediction metrics
         pred_metrics = get_metrics(pred_metrics)
diff --git a/examples/flax/text-classification/run_flax_glue.py b/examples/flax/text-classification/run_flax_glue.py
index d777123185c20c..233a06c3ae2874 100755
--- a/examples/flax/text-classification/run_flax_glue.py
+++ b/examples/flax/text-classification/run_flax_glue.py
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@
 """ Finetuning a 🤗 Flax Transformers model for sequence classification on GLUE."""
 import json
 import logging
+import math
 import os
 import random
 import sys
 import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
-from itertools import chain
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Optional, Tuple
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 import optax
 import transformers
 from flax import struct, traverse_util
-from flax.jax_utils import replicate, unreplicate
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad, replicate, unreplicate
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -300,11 +300,15 @@ def glue_train_data_collator(rng: PRNGKey, dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int):
 
 
 def glue_eval_data_collator(dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int):
-    """Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `eval dataset`, sharded over all local devices."""
-    for i in range(len(dataset) // batch_size):
-        batch = dataset[i * batch_size : (i + 1) * batch_size]
+    """Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `eval dataset`. Sharding handled by `pad_shard_unpad` in the eval loop."""
+    batch_idx = np.arange(len(dataset))
+
+    steps_per_epoch = math.ceil(len(dataset) / batch_size)
+    batch_idx = np.array_split(batch_idx, steps_per_epoch)
+
+    for idx in batch_idx:
+        batch = dataset[idx]
         batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-        batch = shard(batch)
 
         yield batch
 
@@ -521,8 +525,9 @@ def write_eval_metric(summary_writer, eval_metrics, step):
     rng = jax.random.PRNGKey(training_args.seed)
     dropout_rngs = jax.random.split(rng, jax.local_device_count())
 
-    train_batch_size = training_args.per_device_train_batch_size * jax.local_device_count()
-    eval_batch_size = training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.local_device_count()
+    train_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_train_batch_size) * jax.local_device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
+    eval_batch_size = per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.device_count()
 
     learning_rate_fn = create_learning_rate_fn(
         len(train_dataset),
@@ -621,26 +626,15 @@ def eval_step(state, batch):
                 eval_loader = glue_eval_data_collator(eval_dataset, eval_batch_size)
                 for batch in tqdm(
                     eval_loader,
-                    total=len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size,
+                    total=math.ceil(len(eval_dataset) / eval_batch_size),
                     desc="Evaluating ...",
                     position=2,
                 ):
                     labels = batch.pop("labels")
-                    predictions = p_eval_step(state, batch)
-                    metric.add_batch(predictions=chain(*predictions), references=chain(*labels))
-
-                # evaluate also on leftover examples (not divisible by batch_size)
-                num_leftover_samples = len(eval_dataset) % eval_batch_size
-
-                # make sure leftover batch is evaluated on one device
-                if num_leftover_samples > 0 and jax.process_index() == 0:
-                    # take leftover samples
-                    batch = eval_dataset[-num_leftover_samples:]
-                    batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-
-                    labels = batch.pop("labels")
-                    predictions = eval_step(unreplicate(state), batch)
-                    metric.add_batch(predictions=predictions, references=labels)
+                    predictions = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step)(
+                        state, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+                    )
+                    metric.add_batch(predictions=np.array(predictions), references=labels)
 
                 eval_metric = metric.compute()
 
diff --git a/examples/flax/token-classification/run_flax_ner.py b/examples/flax/token-classification/run_flax_ner.py
index 682fc03b8bff71..062b10d2e3d2c6 100644
--- a/examples/flax/token-classification/run_flax_ner.py
+++ b/examples/flax/token-classification/run_flax_ner.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 """ Fine-tuning a 🤗 Flax Transformers model on token classification tasks (NER, POS, CHUNKS)"""
 import json
 import logging
+import math
 import os
 import random
 import sys
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@
 import optax
 import transformers
 from flax import struct, traverse_util
-from flax.jax_utils import replicate, unreplicate
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad, replicate, unreplicate
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -351,11 +352,15 @@ def train_data_collator(rng: PRNGKey, dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int):
 
 
 def eval_data_collator(dataset: Dataset, batch_size: int):
-    """Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `eval dataset`, sharded over all local devices."""
-    for i in range(len(dataset) // batch_size):
-        batch = dataset[i * batch_size : (i + 1) * batch_size]
+    """Returns batches of size `batch_size` from `eval dataset`. Sharding handled by `pad_shard_unpad` in the eval loop."""
+    batch_idx = np.arange(len(dataset))
+
+    steps_per_epoch = math.ceil(len(dataset) / batch_size)
+    batch_idx = np.array_split(batch_idx, steps_per_epoch)
+
+    for idx in batch_idx:
+        batch = dataset[idx]
         batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-        batch = shard(batch)
 
         yield batch
 
@@ -600,6 +605,7 @@ def write_eval_metric(summary_writer, eval_metrics, step):
     dropout_rngs = jax.random.split(rng, jax.local_device_count())
 
     train_batch_size = training_args.per_device_train_batch_size * jax.local_device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
     eval_batch_size = training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.local_device_count()
 
     learning_rate_fn = create_learning_rate_fn(
@@ -728,34 +734,16 @@ def compute_metrics():
                 # evaluate
                 for batch in tqdm(
                     eval_data_collator(eval_dataset, eval_batch_size),
-                    total=len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size,
+                    total=math.ceil(len(eval_dataset) / eval_batch_size),
                     desc="Evaluating ...",
                     position=2,
                 ):
                     labels = batch.pop("labels")
-                    predictions = p_eval_step(state, batch)
-                    predictions = np.array([pred for pred in chain(*predictions)])
-                    labels = np.array([label for label in chain(*labels)])
-                    labels[np.array(chain(*batch["attention_mask"])) == 0] = -100
-                    preds, refs = get_labels(predictions, labels)
-                    metric.add_batch(
-                        predictions=preds,
-                        references=refs,
+                    predictions = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step)(
+                        state, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
                     )
-
-                # evaluate also on leftover examples (not divisible by batch_size)
-                num_leftover_samples = len(eval_dataset) % eval_batch_size
-
-                # make sure leftover batch is evaluated on one device
-                if num_leftover_samples > 0 and jax.process_index() == 0:
-                    # take leftover samples
-                    batch = eval_dataset[-num_leftover_samples:]
-                    batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-
-                    labels = batch.pop("labels")
-                    predictions = eval_step(unreplicate(state), batch)
-                    labels = np.array(labels)
-                    labels[np.array(batch["attention_mask"]) == 0] = -100
+                    predictions = np.array(predictions)
+                    labels[np.array(chain(*batch["attention_mask"])) == 0] = -100
                     preds, refs = get_labels(predictions, labels)
                     metric.add_batch(
                         predictions=preds,
@@ -791,28 +779,12 @@ def compute_metrics():
         eval_loader = eval_data_collator(eval_dataset, eval_batch_size)
         for batch in tqdm(eval_loader, total=len(eval_dataset) // eval_batch_size, desc="Evaluating ...", position=2):
             labels = batch.pop("labels")
-            predictions = p_eval_step(state, batch)
-            predictions = np.array([pred for pred in chain(*predictions)])
-            labels = np.array([label for label in chain(*labels)])
+            predictions = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step)(state, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size)
+            predictions = np.array(predictions)
             labels[np.array(chain(*batch["attention_mask"])) == 0] = -100
             preds, refs = get_labels(predictions, labels)
             metric.add_batch(predictions=preds, references=refs)
 
-        # evaluate also on leftover examples (not divisible by batch_size)
-        num_leftover_samples = len(eval_dataset) % eval_batch_size
-
-        # make sure leftover batch is evaluated on one device
-        if num_leftover_samples > 0 and jax.process_index() == 0:
-            # take leftover samples
-            batch = eval_dataset[-num_leftover_samples:]
-            batch = {k: np.array(v) for k, v in batch.items()}
-
-            labels = np.array(batch.pop("labels"))
-            predictions = eval_step(unreplicate(state), batch)
-            labels[np.array(batch["attention_mask"]) == 0] = -100
-            preds, refs = get_labels(predictions, labels)
-            metric.add_batch(predictions=preds, references=refs)
-
         eval_metrics = compute_metrics()
 
         if jax.process_index() == 0:
diff --git a/examples/flax/vision/run_image_classification.py b/examples/flax/vision/run_image_classification.py
index 2883f7a38a7051..305dd3ac205f0c 100644
--- a/examples/flax/vision/run_image_classification.py
+++ b/examples/flax/vision/run_image_classification.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 import optax
 import transformers
 from flax import jax_utils
-from flax.jax_utils import unreplicate
+from flax.jax_utils import pad_shard_unpad, unreplicate
 from flax.training import train_state
 from flax.training.common_utils import get_metrics, onehot, shard, shard_prng_key
 from huggingface_hub import Repository
@@ -368,7 +368,8 @@ def main():
     # Store some constant
     num_epochs = int(training_args.num_train_epochs)
     train_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_train_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
-    eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size) * jax.device_count()
+    per_device_eval_batch_size = int(training_args.per_device_eval_batch_size)
+    eval_batch_size = per_device_eval_batch_size * jax.device_count()
     steps_per_epoch = len(train_dataset) // train_batch_size
     total_train_steps = steps_per_epoch * num_epochs
 
@@ -398,7 +399,7 @@ def collate_fn(examples):
         shuffle=False,
         num_workers=data_args.preprocessing_num_workers,
         persistent_workers=True,
-        drop_last=True,
+        drop_last=False,
         collate_fn=collate_fn,
     )
 
@@ -532,8 +533,9 @@ def eval_step(params, batch):
         eval_step_progress_bar = tqdm(total=eval_steps, desc="Evaluating...", position=2, leave=False)
         for batch in eval_loader:
             # Model forward
-            batch = shard(batch)
-            metrics = p_eval_step(state.params, batch)
+            metrics = pad_shard_unpad(p_eval_step, static_return=True)(
+                state.params, batch, min_device_batch=per_device_eval_batch_size
+            )
             eval_metrics.append(metrics)
 
             eval_step_progress_bar.update(1)