diff --git a/examples/offline_inference_vision_language.py b/examples/offline_inference_vision_language.py
index 6d0495fdd4054..64c7b93f4a71b 100644
--- a/examples/offline_inference_vision_language.py
+++ b/examples/offline_inference_vision_language.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def run_aria(question: str, modality: str):
               tokenizer_mode="slow",
               trust_remote_code=True,
               dtype="bfloat16",
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
 
     prompt = (f"<|im_start|>user\n<fim_prefix><|img|><fim_suffix>\n{question}"
               "<|im_end|>\n<|im_start|>assistant\n")
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def run_blip2(question: str, modality: str):
     # See https://huggingface.co/Salesforce/blip2-opt-2.7b/discussions/15#64ff02f3f8cf9e4f5b038262 #noqa
     prompt = f"Question: {question} Answer:"
     llm = LLM(model="Salesforce/blip2-opt-2.7b",
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def run_chameleon(question: str, modality: str):
     prompt = f"{question}<image>"
     llm = LLM(model="facebook/chameleon-7b",
               max_model_len=4096,
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def run_fuyu(question: str, modality: str):
     llm = LLM(model="adept/fuyu-8b",
               max_model_len=2048,
               max_num_seqs=2,
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ def run_glm4v(question: str, modality: str):
               max_num_seqs=2,
               trust_remote_code=True,
               enforce_eager=True,
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     prompt = question
     stop_token_ids = [151329, 151336, 151338]
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ def run_h2ovl(question: str, modality: str):
         model=model_name,
         trust_remote_code=True,
         max_model_len=8192,
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_name,
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ def run_idefics3(question: str, modality: str):
                 "longest_edge": 3 * 364
             },
         },
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
     prompt = (
         f"<|begin_of_text|>User:<image>{question}<end_of_utterance>\nAssistant:"
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ def run_internvl(question: str, modality: str):
         model=model_name,
         trust_remote_code=True,
         max_model_len=4096,
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_name,
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ def run_llava(question: str, modality: str):
 
     llm = LLM(model="llava-hf/llava-1.5-7b-hf",
               max_model_len=4096,
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ def run_llava_next(question: str, modality: str):
     prompt = f"[INST] <image>\n{question} [/INST]"
     llm = LLM(model="llava-hf/llava-v1.6-mistral-7b-hf",
               max_model_len=8192,
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ def run_llava_next_video(question: str, modality: str):
     prompt = f"USER: <video>\n{question} ASSISTANT:"
     llm = LLM(model="llava-hf/LLaVA-NeXT-Video-7B-hf",
               max_model_len=8192,
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ def run_llava_onevision(question: str, modality: str):
 
     llm = LLM(model="llava-hf/llava-onevision-qwen2-7b-ov-hf",
               max_model_len=16384,
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ def run_mantis(question: str, modality: str):
         model="TIGER-Lab/Mantis-8B-siglip-llama3",
         max_model_len=4096,
         hf_overrides={"architectures": ["MantisForConditionalGeneration"]},
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
     stop_token_ids = [128009]
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ def run_minicpmv(question: str, modality: str):
         max_model_len=4096,
         max_num_seqs=2,
         trust_remote_code=True,
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
     # NOTE The stop_token_ids are different for various versions of MiniCPM-V
     # 2.0
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ def run_mllama(question: str, modality: str):
         max_model_len=4096,
         max_num_seqs=16,
         enforce_eager=True,
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     prompt = f"<|image|><|begin_of_text|>{question}"
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ def run_molmo(question, modality):
         model=model_name,
         trust_remote_code=True,
         dtype="bfloat16",
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     prompt = question
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ def run_nvlm_d(question: str, modality: str):
         trust_remote_code=True,
         max_model_len=4096,
         tensor_parallel_size=4,
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_name,
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ def run_paligemma(question: str, modality: str):
     # PaliGemma has special prompt format for VQA
     prompt = "caption en"
     llm = LLM(model="google/paligemma-3b-mix-224",
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ def run_paligemma2(question: str, modality: str):
     # PaliGemma 2 has special prompt format for VQA
     prompt = "caption en"
     llm = LLM(model="google/paligemma2-3b-ft-docci-448",
-              mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor)
+              disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache)
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
 
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ def run_phi3v(question: str, modality: str):
         max_num_seqs=2,
         # Note - mm_processor_kwargs can also be passed to generate/chat calls
         mm_processor_kwargs={"num_crops": 16},
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
     stop_token_ids = None
     return llm, prompt, stop_token_ids
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ def run_pixtral_hf(question: str, modality: str):
     llm = LLM(
         model=model_name,
         max_model_len=8192,
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     prompt = f"<s>[INST]{question}\n[IMG][/INST]"
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ def run_qwen_vl(question: str, modality: str):
         trust_remote_code=True,
         max_model_len=1024,
         max_num_seqs=2,
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     prompt = f"{question}Picture 1: <img></img>\n"
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ def run_qwen2_vl(question: str, modality: str):
             "min_pixels": 28 * 28,
             "max_pixels": 1280 * 28 * 28,
         },
-        mm_cache_preprocessor=args.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=args.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
     )
 
     prompt = ("<|im_start|>system\nYou are a helpful assistant.<|im_end|>\n"
@@ -651,9 +651,9 @@ def main(args):
         ' (if enabled)')
 
     parser.add_argument(
-        '--mm-cache-preprocessor',
+        '--disable-mm-preprocessor-cache',
         action='store_true',
-        help='If True, enable caching of multi-modal preprocessor/mapper.')
+        help='If True, disables caching of multi-modal preprocessor/mapper.')
 
     parser.add_argument(
         '--time-generate',
diff --git a/vllm/config.py b/vllm/config.py
index 307cf9c8d5b2a..9acc3efa4816c 100644
--- a/vllm/config.py
+++ b/vllm/config.py
@@ -148,9 +148,8 @@ class ModelConfig:
             HuggingFace config.
         mm_processor_kwargs: Arguments to be forwarded to the model's processor
             for multi-modal data, e.g., image processor.
-        mm_cache_preprocessor: If true, then enables caching of the multi-modal 
-            preprocessor/mapper. Otherwise, the mapper executes each time, and 
-            for better performance consider enabling frontend process.
+        disable_mm_preprocessor_cache: If true, then disables caching of the
+            multi-modal preprocessor/mapper. (not recommended)
         override_neuron_config: Initialize non default neuron config or
             override default neuron config that are specific to Neuron devices,
             this argument will be used to configure the neuron config that
@@ -216,7 +215,7 @@ def __init__(self,
                  config_format: ConfigFormat = ConfigFormat.AUTO,
                  hf_overrides: Optional[HfOverrides] = None,
                  mm_processor_kwargs: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
-                 mm_cache_preprocessor: bool = False,
+                 disable_mm_preprocessor_cache: bool = False,
                  override_neuron_config: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
                  override_pooler_config: Optional["PoolerConfig"] = None,
                  logits_processor_pattern: Optional[str] = None) -> None:
@@ -286,7 +285,7 @@ def __init__(self,
         self.dtype = _get_and_verify_dtype(self.hf_text_config, dtype)
         self.use_async_output_proc = use_async_output_proc
         self.mm_processor_kwargs = mm_processor_kwargs
-        self.mm_cache_preprocessor = mm_cache_preprocessor
+        self.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache = disable_mm_preprocessor_cache
 
         # Set enforce_eager to False if the value is unset.
         if self.enforce_eager is None:
@@ -3155,7 +3154,7 @@ def __str__(self):
             f"enable_prefix_caching={self.cache_config.enable_prefix_caching}, "
             f"chunked_prefill_enabled={self.scheduler_config.chunked_prefill_enabled}, "  # noqa
             f"use_async_output_proc={self.model_config.use_async_output_proc}, "
-            f"mm_cache_preprocessor={self.model_config.mm_cache_preprocessor!r}, "  # noqa
+            f"disable_mm_preprocessor_cache={self.model_config.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache!r}, "  # noqa
             f"mm_processor_kwargs={self.model_config.mm_processor_kwargs}, "
             f"pooler_config={self.model_config.pooler_config!r}, "
             f"compilation_config={self.compilation_config!r}")
diff --git a/vllm/engine/arg_utils.py b/vllm/engine/arg_utils.py
index 64cc4592c2861..75e79d509d2e1 100644
--- a/vllm/engine/arg_utils.py
+++ b/vllm/engine/arg_utils.py
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ class EngineArgs:
     tokenizer_pool_extra_config: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
     limit_mm_per_prompt: Optional[Mapping[str, int]] = None
     mm_processor_kwargs: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
-    mm_cache_preprocessor: bool = False
+    disable_mm_preprocessor_cache: bool = False
     enable_lora: bool = False
     enable_lora_bias: bool = False
     max_loras: int = 1
@@ -606,11 +606,10 @@ def add_cli_args(parser: FlexibleArgumentParser) -> FlexibleArgumentParser:
             help=('Overrides for the multimodal input mapping/processing, '
                   'e.g., image processor. For example: {"num_crops": 4}.'))
         parser.add_argument(
-            '--mm-cache-preprocessor',
+            '--disable-mm-preprocessor-cache',
             action='store_true',
-            help='If true, then enables caching of the multi-modal '
-            'preprocessor/mapper. Otherwise, the mapper executes each time'
-            ', and for better performance consider enabling frontend process.')
+            help='If true, then disables caching of the multi-modal '
+            'preprocessor/mapper. (not recommended)')
 
         # LoRA related configs
         parser.add_argument('--enable-lora',
@@ -983,7 +982,7 @@ def create_model_config(self) -> ModelConfig:
             use_async_output_proc=not self.disable_async_output_proc,
             config_format=self.config_format,
             mm_processor_kwargs=self.mm_processor_kwargs,
-            mm_cache_preprocessor=self.mm_cache_preprocessor,
+            disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=self.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache,
             override_neuron_config=self.override_neuron_config,
             override_pooler_config=self.override_pooler_config,
             logits_processor_pattern=self.logits_processor_pattern)
diff --git a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
index d80ea128c7749..9ddbff7c9a604 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_utils.py
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ def generate_block_hash_extra_keys(
         raise ValueError(
             "The number of multi-modal positions and hashes must match. This "
             "is likely because you do not enable MM preprocessor hashing. "
-            "Please set mm_cache_preprocessor=True.")
+            "Please set disable_mm_preprocessor_cache=False.")
 
     # Note that we assume mm_positions is sorted by offset.
     # We do not need to check all mm inputs if the start token index is out of
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/mm_input_mapper.py b/vllm/v1/engine/mm_input_mapper.py
index e53ba092ede04..bba71c29cc108 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/mm_input_mapper.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/mm_input_mapper.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.mm_registry.init_mm_limits_per_prompt(model_config)
 
         # Init cache
-        self.use_cache = model_config.mm_cache_preprocessor
+        self.use_cache = not model_config.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache
         self.mm_cache = LRUDictCache[str, MultiModalKwargs](MM_CACHE_SIZE)
 
         # DEBUG: Set to None to disable
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ def process_inputs(
 class MMInputMapperServer:
 
     def __init__(self, model_config):
-        self.use_cache = model_config.mm_cache_preprocessor
+        self.use_cache = not model_config.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache
         self.mm_cache = LRUDictCache[str, MultiModalKwargs](MM_CACHE_SIZE)
 
     def process_inputs(
@@ -151,12 +151,26 @@ class MMHasher:
     def __init__(self):
         pass
 
-    def hash(self, prompt: PromptType) -> Optional[List[str]]:
+    def hash_mm_data(
+            self,
+            mm_data: Optional[MultiModalDataDict]) -> Optional[List[str]]:
+        if mm_data is None:
+            return None
+
+        image_inputs = mm_data['image']
+
+        return self.hash_images(image_inputs)
+
+    def hash_prompt(self, prompt: PromptType) -> Optional[List[str]]:
         if "multi_modal_data" not in prompt:
             return None
 
         mm_data = prompt["multi_modal_data"]
         image_inputs = mm_data["image"]
+
+        return self.hash_images(image_inputs)
+
+    def hash_images(self, image_inputs) -> Optional[List[str]]:
         if not isinstance(image_inputs, list):
             image_inputs = [image_inputs]
         assert len(image_inputs) > 0
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py b/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py
index 732757d6b0ac2..61dce40a584c8 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/processor.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.mm_input_mapper_client = MMInputMapperClient(model_config)
 
         # Multi-modal hasher (for images)
-        self.use_hash = model_config.mm_cache_preprocessor or \
+        self.use_hash = (not model_config.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache) or \
             cache_config.enable_prefix_caching
         self.mm_hasher = MMHasher()
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def process_inputs(
         # Compute MM hashes (if enabled)
         mm_hashes = None
         if self.use_hash:
-            mm_hashes = self.mm_hasher.hash(prompt)
+            mm_hashes = self.mm_hasher.hash_prompt(prompt)
 
         # Process inputs.
         preprocessed_inputs = self.input_preprocessor.preprocess(
diff --git a/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py b/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py
index c6fab5f05fcb3..8ec4a252d5925 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/worker/gpu_model_runner.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
                         LayerBlockType, cdiv, is_pin_memory_available)
 from vllm.v1.attention.backends.flash_attn import (FlashAttentionBackend,
                                                    FlashAttentionMetadata)
-from vllm.v1.engine.mm_input_mapper import MMInputMapperClient
+from vllm.v1.engine.mm_input_mapper import MMHasher, MMInputMapperClient
 from vllm.v1.outputs import ModelRunnerOutput
 from vllm.v1.sample.metadata import SamplingMetadata
 from vllm.v1.worker.gpu_input_batch import CachedRequestState, InputBatch
@@ -79,8 +79,14 @@ def __init__(
         # Multi-modal data support
         self.input_registry = INPUT_REGISTRY
         self.mm_registry = MULTIMODAL_REGISTRY
-        # NOTE: mm_input_mapper is only used for memory profiling.
-        self.mm_input_mapper = MMInputMapperClient(self.model_config)
+
+        # NOTE: mm_input_mapper_client and mm_hasher are only used for memory
+        # profiling.
+        self.mm_input_mapper_client = MMInputMapperClient(self.model_config)
+        self.mm_hasher = MMHasher()
+        self.use_hash = (not model_config.disable_mm_preprocessor_cache) or \
+            cache_config.enable_prefix_caching
+
         self.max_num_encoder_input_tokens = self.scheduler_config.max_num_encoder_input_tokens  # noqa: E501
         self.encoder_cache_size = self.scheduler_config.encoder_cache_size
 
@@ -628,9 +634,15 @@ def profile_run(self) -> None:
                 mm_registry=self.mm_registry,
             )
             dummy_mm_data = dummy_request_data.multi_modal_data
-            dummy_mm_kwargs, _ = self.mm_input_mapper.process_inputs(
+
+            # Compute MM hashes (if enabled)
+            mm_hashes = None
+            if self.use_hash:
+                mm_hashes = self.mm_hasher.hash_mm_data(dummy_mm_data)
+
+            dummy_mm_kwargs = self.mm_input_mapper_client.process_inputs(
                 mm_data=dummy_mm_data,
-                mm_hashes=None,
+                mm_hashes=mm_hashes,
                 mm_processor_kwargs=None,
                 precomputed_mm_inputs=None)