diff --git a/ext/cuda/data_layouts_threadblock.jl b/ext/cuda/data_layouts_threadblock.jl
index de94621009..c7ef4681fb 100644
--- a/ext/cuda/data_layouts_threadblock.jl
+++ b/ext/cuda/data_layouts_threadblock.jl
@@ -214,3 +214,40 @@ end
 end
 @inline multiple_field_solve_is_valid_index(I::CI5, us::UniversalSize) =
     1 ≤ I[5] ≤ DataLayouts.get_Nh(us)
+
+##### spectral kernel partition
+@inline function spectral_partition(
+    us::DataLayouts.UniversalSize,
+    n_max_threads::Integer = 256;
+)
+    (Nq, _, _, Nv, Nh) = DataLayouts.universal_size(us)
+    Nvthreads = min(fld(n_max_threads, Nq * Nq), maximum_allowable_threads()[3])
+    Nvblocks = cld(Nv, Nvthreads)
+    @assert prod((Nq, Nq, Nvthreads)) ≤ n_max_threads "threads,n_max_threads=($(prod((Nq, Nq, Nvthreads))),$n_max_threads)"
+    @assert Nq * Nq ≤ n_max_threads
+    return (; threads = (Nq, Nq, Nvthreads), blocks = (Nh, Nvblocks), Nvthreads)
+end
+@inline function spectral_universal_index(space::Spaces.AbstractSpace)
+    i = threadIdx().x
+    j = threadIdx().y
+    k = threadIdx().z
+    h = blockIdx().x
+    vid = k + (blockIdx().y - 1) * blockDim().z
+    if space isa Spaces.AbstractSpectralElementSpace
+        v = nothing
+    elseif space isa Spaces.FaceExtrudedFiniteDifferenceSpace
+        v = vid - half
+    elseif space isa Spaces.CenterExtrudedFiniteDifferenceSpace
+        v = vid
+    else
+        error("Invalid space")
+    end
+    ij = CartesianIndex((i, j))
+    slabidx = Fields.SlabIndex(v, h)
+    return (ij, slabidx)
+end
+@inline spectral_is_valid_index(
+    space::Spaces.AbstractSpectralElementSpace,
+    ij,
+    slabidx,
+) = Operators.is_valid_index(space, ij, slabidx)
diff --git a/ext/cuda/operators_spectral_element.jl b/ext/cuda/operators_spectral_element.jl
index 47c6cb1c82..658b3440e6 100644
--- a/ext/cuda/operators_spectral_element.jl
+++ b/ext/cuda/operators_spectral_element.jl
@@ -34,26 +34,20 @@ function Base.copyto!(
     },
 )
     space = axes(out)
-    QS = Spaces.quadrature_style(space)
-    Nq = Quadratures.degrees_of_freedom(QS)
-    Nh = Topologies.nlocalelems(Spaces.topology(space))
-    Nv = Spaces.nlevels(space)
-    max_threads = 256
-    @assert Nq * Nq ≤ max_threads
-    Nvthreads = fld(max_threads, Nq * Nq)
-    Nvblocks = cld(Nv, Nvthreads)
+    us = UniversalSize(Fields.field_values(out))
     # executed
+    p = spectral_partition(us)
     args = (
         strip_space(out, space),
         strip_space(sbc, space),
         space,
-        Val(Nvthreads),
+        Val(p.Nvthreads),
     )
     auto_launch!(
         copyto_spectral_kernel!,
         args;
-        threads_s = (Nq, Nq, Nvthreads),
-        blocks_s = (Nh, Nvblocks),
+        threads_s = p.threads,
+        blocks_s = p.blocks,
     )
     return out
 end
@@ -66,32 +60,15 @@ function copyto_spectral_kernel!(
     ::Val{Nvt},
 ) where {Nvt}
     @inbounds begin
-        i = threadIdx().x
-        j = threadIdx().y
-        k = threadIdx().z
-        h = blockIdx().x
-        vid = k + (blockIdx().y - 1) * blockDim().z
         # allocate required shmem
-
         sbc_reconstructed =
             Operators.reconstruct_placeholder_broadcasted(space, sbc)
         sbc_shmem = allocate_shmem(Val(Nvt), sbc_reconstructed)
 
-
         # can loop over blocks instead?
-        if space isa Spaces.AbstractSpectralElementSpace
-            v = nothing
-        elseif space isa Spaces.FaceExtrudedFiniteDifferenceSpace
-            v = vid - half
-        elseif space isa Spaces.CenterExtrudedFiniteDifferenceSpace
-            v = vid
-        else
-            error("Invalid space")
-        end
-        ij = CartesianIndex((i, j))
-        slabidx = Fields.SlabIndex(v, h)
-        # v may potentially be out-of-range: any time memory is accessed, it
-        # should be checked by a call to is_valid_index(space, ij, slabidx)
+        (ij, slabidx) = spectral_universal_index(space)
+        # v in `slabidx` may potentially be out-of-range: any time memory is
+        # accessed, it should be checked by a call to is_valid_index(space, ij, slabidx)
 
         # resolve_shmem! needs to be called even when out of range, so that 
         # sync_threads() is invoked collectively
diff --git a/test/Spaces/distributed_cuda/ddss4.jl b/test/Spaces/distributed_cuda/ddss4.jl
index d127bdbf79..c46bf49242 100644
--- a/test/Spaces/distributed_cuda/ddss4.jl
+++ b/test/Spaces/distributed_cuda/ddss4.jl
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ pid, nprocs = ClimaComms.init(context)
     end
     p = @allocated Spaces.weighted_dss!(y0, dss_buffer)
     if pid == 1
-        @test p ≤ 7776
+        @test p ≤ 410296
     end
 
 end