diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes.rs
index e407be5e390dc..9d7996d0961b3 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes.rs
@@ -380,7 +380,12 @@ where
         // Given offsets like [0, 2, 4, 5] and n = 1, we expect to get
         // offsets [0, 2, 3]. We first create two offsets for first_n as [0, 2] and the remaining as [2, 4, 5].
         // And we shift the offset starting from 0 for the remaining one, [2, 4, 5] -> [0, 2, 3].
-        let mut first_n_offsets = self.offsets.drain(0..n).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+        //
+        // `split_off` reclaims capacity on the retained `self.offsets` (sized to `len - n`)
+        // instead of leaving it at the pre-emit capacity; the emitted side owns the original
+        // allocation, which is freed when the output `ArrayRef` is dropped downstream.
+        let mut first_n_offsets = std::mem::take(&mut self.offsets);
+        self.offsets = first_n_offsets.split_off(n);
         let offset_n = *self.offsets.first().unwrap();
         self.offsets
             .iter_mut()
diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes_view.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes_view.rs
index 9267cf4f27f35..8645f786ee5b8 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes_view.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/bytes_view.rs
@@ -363,7 +363,11 @@ impl<B: ByteViewType> ByteViewGroupValueBuilder<B> {
         //
         //   - Shift the `buffer index` of remaining non-inlined `views`
         //
-        let first_n_views = self.views.drain(0..n).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+        // `split_off` reclaims capacity on the retained `self.views` (sized to `len - n`);
+        // `drain(..n).collect()` would leave it at the pre-emit capacity, which defeats
+        // the OOM-emit signal.
+        let mut first_n_views = std::mem::take(&mut self.views);
+        self.views = first_n_views.split_off(n);
 
         let last_non_inlined_view = first_n_views
             .iter()
diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/primitive.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/primitive.rs
index bdc06fa553de5..4dd8efdb1a4e3 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/primitive.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/aggregates/group_values/multi_group_by/primitive.rs
@@ -267,7 +267,11 @@ impl<T: ArrowPrimitiveType, const NULLABLE: bool> GroupColumn
     }
 
     fn take_n(&mut self, n: usize) -> ArrayRef {
-        let first_n = self.group_values.drain(0..n).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+        // `split_off` reclaims capacity on the retained `self.group_values` (sized to
+        // `len - n`); `drain(..n).collect()` would leave it at the pre-emit capacity,
+        // which defeats the OOM-emit signal.
+        let mut first_n = std::mem::take(&mut self.group_values);
+        self.group_values = first_n.split_off(n);
 
         let first_n_nulls = if NULLABLE { self.nulls.take_n(n) } else { None };