diff --git a/pkg/scheduler/framework/types_test.go b/pkg/scheduler/framework/types_test.go
index 6f5cda24aff..3e91e64a3db 100644
--- a/pkg/scheduler/framework/types_test.go
+++ b/pkg/scheduler/framework/types_test.go
@@ -1308,14 +1308,20 @@ func TestSetNodeDeclaredFeatures(t *testing.T) {
 			gotFeatures := ni.GetNodeDeclaredFeatures()
 			if !tt.featureGateEnabled {
 				if !gotFeatures.IsEmpty() {
-					got := ndfFramework.Unmap(gotFeatures)
+					got, err := ndfFramework.Unmap(gotFeatures)
+					if err != nil {
+						t.Fatalf("Failed to unmap features: %v", err)
+					}
 					t.Errorf("Expected GetNodeDeclaredFeatures() to return nil; got %v", got)
 				}
 				return
 			}
 			expected := ndfFramework.MustMapSorted(tt.expectedFeatures)
 			if !gotFeatures.Equal(expected) {
-				got := ndfFramework.Unmap(gotFeatures)
+				got, err := ndfFramework.Unmap(gotFeatures)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Failed to unmap features: %v", err)
+				}
 				t.Errorf("SetNode() or GetNodeDeclaredFeatures() unexpected result, got: %v, want: %v", got, tt.expectedFeatures)
 			}
 		})
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset.go
index 5b2f38bb5c3..ad749b457ca 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package nodedeclaredfeatures
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"math/bits"
 	"slices"
 )
 
@@ -91,16 +92,19 @@ func (m *FeatureMapper) mapSorted(sortedFeatures []string, ignoreUnknown bool) (
 }
 
 // Unmap returns the names of the features set in the FeatureSet (sorted).
-func (m *FeatureMapper) Unmap(s FeatureSet) []string {
-	if s.IsEmpty() {
-		return nil
+func (m *FeatureMapper) Unmap(s FeatureSet) ([]string, error) {
+	if s.size != len(m.registeredFeatures) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("feature size mismatch! s.size=%d; len(m.registeredFeatures)=%d", s.size, len(m.registeredFeatures))
 	}
 
 	var keys []string
-	for i, k := range m.registeredFeatures {
-		if s.Get(i) {
-			keys = append(keys, k)
+	for i, w := range s.words {
+		for w != 0 {
+			t := bits.TrailingZeros64(w) // Find the index of the least significant bit.
+			index := i*64 + t
+			keys = append(keys, m.registeredFeatures[index])
+			w &^= 1 << uint(t) // Clear the least significant bit.
 		}
 	}
-	return keys
+	return keys, nil
 }
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset_test.go
index b82d9e68757..24217934aeb 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/featureset_test.go
@@ -117,8 +117,11 @@ func TestFeatureMapper(t *testing.T) {
 				}
 			}
 
-			// Test Unmap
-			unmapped := mapper.Unmap(fs)
+			// Test Unmap and UnmapSparse
+			unmapped, err := mapper.Unmap(fs)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected Unmap error: %v", err)
+			}
 			if len(unmapped) != tt.expectedSet.Len() {
 				t.Errorf("len(unmapped) = %d, want %d", len(unmapped), tt.expectedSet.Len())
 			}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework.go
index 4f7046f5c13..285a2edbb65 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework.go
@@ -143,7 +143,10 @@ func (f *Framework) MatchNodeFeatureSet(requiredFeatures FeatureSet, nodeFeature
 	}
 
 	diff, _ := requiredFeatures.Difference(nodeFeatures) // Difference will error IFF IsSubset also does, so we can ignore the error here.
-	unsatisfiedRequirements := f.Unmap(diff)
+	unsatisfiedRequirements, err := f.Unmap(diff)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return &MatchResult{IsMatch: false, UnsatisfiedRequirements: unsatisfiedRequirements}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework_test.go
index 9ba0c6dabd2..0bdf368a220 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/nodedeclaredfeatures/framework_test.go
@@ -318,7 +318,10 @@ func TestInferForPodScheduling(t *testing.T) {
 				if err != nil {
 					t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
 				}
-				unmappedReqs := framework.Unmap(reqs)
+				unmappedReqs, err := framework.Unmap(reqs)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
+				}
 				if !reflect.DeepEqual(tc.expectedReqs, unmappedReqs) {
 					t.Errorf("expected %#v, got %#v", tc.expectedReqs, unmappedReqs)
 				}
@@ -467,7 +470,10 @@ func TestInferForPodUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 				if err != nil {
 					t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
 				}
-				unmappedReqs := framework.Unmap(reqs)
+				unmappedReqs, err := framework.Unmap(reqs)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
+				}
 				if !reflect.DeepEqual(tc.expectedReqs, unmappedReqs) {
 					t.Errorf("expected %#v, got %#v", tc.expectedReqs, unmappedReqs)
 				}