diff --git a/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/logical/categorical/string_cache.rs b/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/logical/categorical/string_cache.rs
index 6b8f0f65eb64..99d414d13440 100644
--- a/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/logical/categorical/string_cache.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/logical/categorical/string_cache.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use std::sync::{Mutex, RwLock, RwLockReadGuard, RwLockWriteGuard};
 use hashbrown::hash_table::Entry;
 use hashbrown::HashTable;
 use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
+use polars_error::{polars_ensure, PolarsResult};
 use polars_utils::aliases::PlRandomState;
 use polars_utils::pl_str::PlSmallStr;
 
@@ -190,8 +191,9 @@ impl SCacheInner {
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub(crate) fn get_current_payloads(&self) -> &[PlSmallStr] {
-        &self.payloads
+    pub(crate) fn get_current_payloads(&self, uuid: u32) -> PolarsResult<&[PlSmallStr]> {
+        polars_ensure!(self.uuid == uuid, ComputeError: "trying to perform operations with  values from different global string cache version");
+        Ok(&self.payloads)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/ops/row_encode.rs b/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/ops/row_encode.rs
index e60cab0de122..4c8436d194ae 100644
--- a/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/ops/row_encode.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-core/src/chunked_array/ops/row_encode.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use arrow::compute::utils::combine_validities_and_many;
+use arrow::legacy::trusted_len::TrustedLenPush;
 use polars_row::{
     convert_columns, RowEncodingCategoricalContext, RowEncodingContext, RowEncodingOptions,
     RowsEncoded,
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ pub fn encode_rows_vertical_par_unordered_broadcast_nulls(
     ))
 }
 
-pub fn get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype: &DataType) -> Option<RowEncodingContext> {
+pub fn get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype: &DataType) -> PolarsResult<Option<RowEncodingContext>> {
     match dtype {
         DataType::Boolean
         | DataType::UInt8
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ pub fn get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype: &DataType) -> Option<RowEncodingContex
         | DataType::Time
         | DataType::Date
         | DataType::Datetime(_, _)
-        | DataType::Duration(_) => None,
+        | DataType::Duration(_) => Ok(None),
 
         DataType::Unknown(_) => panic!("Unsupported in row encoding"),
 
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ pub fn get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype: &DataType) -> Option<RowEncodingContex
 
         #[cfg(feature = "dtype-decimal")]
         DataType::Decimal(precision, _) => {
-            Some(RowEncodingContext::Decimal(precision.unwrap_or(38)))
+            Ok(Some(RowEncodingContext::Decimal(precision.unwrap_or(38))))
         },
 
         #[cfg(feature = "dtype-array")]
@@ -111,24 +112,25 @@ pub fn get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype: &DataType) -> Option<RowEncodingContex
             let revmap = revmap.as_ref().unwrap();
 
             let (num_known_categories, lexical_sort_idxs) = match revmap.as_ref() {
-                RevMapping::Global(map, _, _) => {
+                RevMapping::Global(map, _, uuid) => {
                     let num_known_categories = map.keys().max().copied().map_or(0, |m| m + 1);
 
                     // @TODO: This should probably be cached.
-                    let lexical_sort_idxs =
-                        matches!(ordering, CategoricalOrdering::Lexical).then(|| {
-                            let read_map = crate::STRING_CACHE.read_map();
-                            let payloads = read_map.get_current_payloads();
-                            assert!(payloads.len() >= num_known_categories as usize);
-
-                            let mut idxs = (0..num_known_categories).collect::<Vec<u32>>();
-                            idxs.sort_by_key(|&k| payloads[k as usize].as_str());
-                            let mut sort_idxs = vec![0; num_known_categories as usize];
-                            for (i, idx) in idxs.into_iter().enumerate_u32() {
-                                sort_idxs[idx as usize] = i;
-                            }
-                            sort_idxs
-                        });
+                    let lexical_sort_idxs = if matches!(ordering, CategoricalOrdering::Lexical) {
+                        let read_map = crate::STRING_CACHE.read_map();
+                        let payloads = read_map.get_current_payloads(*uuid)?;
+                        assert!(payloads.len() >= num_known_categories as usize);
+
+                        let mut idxs = (0..num_known_categories).collect::<Vec<u32>>();
+                        idxs.sort_by_key(|&k| payloads[k as usize].as_str());
+                        let mut sort_idxs = vec![0; num_known_categories as usize];
+                        for (i, idx) in idxs.into_iter().enumerate_u32() {
+                            sort_idxs[idx as usize] = i;
+                        }
+                        Some(sort_idxs)
+                    } else {
+                        None
+                    };
 
                     (num_known_categories, lexical_sort_idxs)
                 },
@@ -157,14 +159,14 @@ pub fn get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype: &DataType) -> Option<RowEncodingContex
                 is_enum: matches!(dtype, DataType::Enum(_, _)),
                 lexical_sort_idxs,
             };
-            Some(RowEncodingContext::Categorical(ctx))
+            Ok(Some(RowEncodingContext::Categorical(ctx)))
         },
         #[cfg(feature = "dtype-struct")]
         DataType::Struct(fs) => {
             let mut out = Vec::new();
 
             for (i, f) in fs.iter().enumerate() {
-                if let Some(dict) = get_row_encoding_dictionary(f.dtype()) {
+                if let Some(dict) = get_row_encoding_dictionary(f.dtype())? {
                     out.reserve(fs.len());
                     out.extend(std::iter::repeat_n(None, i));
                     out.push(Some(dict));
@@ -173,16 +175,18 @@ pub fn get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype: &DataType) -> Option<RowEncodingContex
             }
 
             if out.is_empty() {
-                return None;
+                return Ok(None);
             }
 
-            out.extend(
-                fs[out.len()..]
-                    .iter()
-                    .map(|f| get_row_encoding_dictionary(f.dtype())),
-            );
+            unsafe {
+                out.try_extend_trusted_len_unchecked(
+                    fs[out.len()..]
+                        .iter()
+                        .map(|f| get_row_encoding_dictionary(f.dtype())),
+                )
+            }?;
 
-            Some(RowEncodingContext::Struct(out))
+            Ok(Some(RowEncodingContext::Struct(out)))
         },
     }
 }
@@ -210,7 +214,7 @@ pub fn _get_rows_encoded_unordered(by: &[Column]) -> PolarsResult<RowsEncoded> {
         let by = by.as_materialized_series();
         let arr = by.to_physical_repr().rechunk().chunks()[0].to_boxed();
         let opt = RowEncodingOptions::new_unsorted();
-        let dict = get_row_encoding_dictionary(by.dtype());
+        let dict = get_row_encoding_dictionary(by.dtype())?;
 
         cols.push(arr);
         opts.push(opt);
@@ -241,7 +245,7 @@ pub fn _get_rows_encoded(
         let by = by.as_materialized_series();
         let arr = by.to_physical_repr().rechunk().chunks()[0].to_boxed();
         let opt = RowEncodingOptions::new_sorted(*desc, *null_last);
-        let dict = get_row_encoding_dictionary(by.dtype());
+        let dict = get_row_encoding_dictionary(by.dtype())?;
 
         cols.push(arr);
         opts.push(opt);
diff --git a/crates/polars-expr/src/groups/row_encoded.rs b/crates/polars-expr/src/groups/row_encoded.rs
index 1b90a8254bbe..30cebe1180b0 100644
--- a/crates/polars-expr/src/groups/row_encoded.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-expr/src/groups/row_encoded.rs
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ impl RowEncodedHashGrouper {
         let dicts = self
             .key_schema
             .iter()
-            .map(|(_, dt)| get_row_encoding_dictionary(dt))
+            // @TODO: Get this unwrap out of here. That is a bit difficult to do.
+            .map(|(_, dt)| get_row_encoding_dictionary(dt).unwrap())
             .collect::<Vec<_>>();
         let fields = vec![RowEncodingOptions::new_unsorted(); key_dtypes.len()];
         let key_columns =
diff --git a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/eval.rs b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/eval.rs
index e5e506c5ac04..1615eaac2f96 100644
--- a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/eval.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/eval.rs
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ impl Eval {
         let mut dicts = Vec::with_capacity(self.key_columns_expr.len());
         for phys_e in self.key_columns_expr.iter() {
             let s = phys_e.evaluate(chunk, &context.execution_state)?;
-            dicts.push(get_row_encoding_dictionary(s.dtype()));
+            dicts.push(get_row_encoding_dictionary(s.dtype())?);
             let s = s.to_physical_repr().into_owned();
             let s = prepare_key(&s, chunk);
             keys_columns.push(s.to_arrow(0, CompatLevel::newest()));
diff --git a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/hash_table.rs b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/hash_table.rs
index 5c17243c4475..61c6c4a39b80 100644
--- a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/hash_table.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/group_by/generic/hash_table.rs
@@ -263,6 +263,8 @@ impl<const FIXED: bool> AggHashTable<FIXED> {
             .iter_values()
             .take(self.num_keys)
             .map(get_row_encoding_dictionary)
+            // @TODO: get this unwrap out of here.
+            .map(|v| v.unwrap())
             .collect::<Vec<_>>();
         let fields = vec![Default::default(); self.num_keys];
         let key_columns =
diff --git a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/generic_build.rs b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/generic_build.rs
index f9a3e901b1a0..c7686ac9b4c3 100644
--- a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/generic_build.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/generic_build.rs
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ impl<K: ExtraPayload> GenericBuild<K> {
             let s = phys_e.evaluate(chunk, &context.execution_state)?;
             let arr = s.to_physical_repr().rechunk().array_ref(0).clone();
             self.join_columns.push(arr);
-            dicts.push(get_row_encoding_dictionary(s.dtype()));
+            dicts.push(get_row_encoding_dictionary(s.dtype())?);
         }
         let rows_encoded = polars_row::convert_columns_no_order(
             self.join_columns[0].len(), // @NOTE: does not work for ZFS
diff --git a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/row_values.rs b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/row_values.rs
index 73287f518555..71349b6152ac 100644
--- a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/row_values.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/joins/row_values.rs
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ impl RowValues {
                 names.push(s.name().to_string());
             }
             self.join_columns_material.push(s.array_ref(0).clone());
-            dicts.push(get_row_encoding_dictionary(s.dtype()));
+            dicts.push(get_row_encoding_dictionary(s.dtype())?);
         }
 
         // We determine the indices of the columns that have to be removed
diff --git a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/sink_multiple.rs b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/sink_multiple.rs
index 175a6b707430..2ad333919ce8 100644
--- a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/sink_multiple.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/sink_multiple.rs
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ impl SortSinkMultiple {
                 let (_, dtype) = schema.get_at_index(*i).unwrap();
                 get_row_encoding_dictionary(dtype)
             })
-            .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+            .collect::<PolarsResult<Vec<_>>>()?;
 
         polars_ensure!(sort_idx.iter().collect::<PlHashSet::<_>>().len() == sort_idx.len(), ComputeError: "only supports sorting by unique columns");
 
diff --git a/crates/polars-python/src/series/general.rs b/crates/polars-python/src/series/general.rs
index a3a80505596f..4aec0724a322 100644
--- a/crates/polars-python/src/series/general.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-python/src/series/general.rs
@@ -550,7 +550,8 @@ impl PySeries {
             let dicts = dtypes
                 .iter()
                 .map(|(_, dtype)| get_row_encoding_dictionary(&dtype.0))
-                .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+                .collect::<PolarsResult<Vec<_>>>()
+                .map_err(PyPolarsErr::from)?;
 
             // Get the BinaryOffset array.
             let arr = self.series.rechunk();
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/test_row_encoding.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/test_row_encoding.py
index 89363c295b6b..2fb119214356 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/test_row_encoding.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/test_row_encoding.py
@@ -373,3 +373,14 @@ def test_null(
         .to_series(),
         s,
     )
+
+
+def test_wrong_version_categorical_20364() -> None:
+    with pl.StringCache():
+        s = pl.Series("s", ["a"], pl.Categorical(ordering="lexical"))
+
+    with pytest.raises(
+        pl.exceptions.ComputeError,
+        match="trying to perform operations with values from different global string cache version",
+    ):
+        s.to_frame()._row_encode([(False, False, False)])