diff --git a/dependencies/CMakeLists.txt b/dependencies/CMakeLists.txt
index 9274213eb18..793e7f8c859 100644
--- a/dependencies/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/dependencies/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ CPMAddPackage(
 add_library(span INTERFACE)
 target_link_libraries(span INTERFACE Boost::core)
 
+add_library(small_vector INTERFACE)
+target_link_libraries(small_vector INTERFACE Boost::container)
+
 ############################################################################################################################
 # yaml-cpp
 ############################################################################################################################
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 4942725477c..034ec2c7051 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ target_link_libraries(
         magic_enum
         fmt::fmt-header-only
         span
+        small_vector
 )
 
 if(TT_METAL_BUILD_TESTS)
diff --git a/tests/tt_metal/tt_metal/api/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/tt_metal/tt_metal/api/CMakeLists.txt
index 16118245df1..b1a63fe8274 100644
--- a/tests/tt_metal/tt_metal/api/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/tt_metal/tt_metal/api/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ set(UNIT_TESTS_API_SRC
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_noc.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_runtime_args.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_semaphores.cpp
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_shape_base.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_sharded_l1_buffer.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_simple_dram_buffer.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_simple_l1_buffer.cpp
diff --git a/tests/ttnn/unit_tests/gtests/tensor/test_shape_base.cpp b/tests/tt_metal/tt_metal/api/test_shape_base.cpp
similarity index 98%
rename from tests/ttnn/unit_tests/gtests/tensor/test_shape_base.cpp
rename to tests/tt_metal/tt_metal/api/test_shape_base.cpp
index f3f36aeb535..455a7714c1d 100644
--- a/tests/ttnn/unit_tests/gtests/tensor/test_shape_base.cpp
+++ b/tests/tt_metal/tt_metal/api/test_shape_base.cpp
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #include <exception>
 #include "gtest/gtest.h"
 
-#include "ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.hpp"
+#include <tt-metalium/shape_base.hpp>
 
 TEST(TensorShapeBaseTests, General4D) {
     tt::tt_metal::ShapeBase vec({20, 30, 40, 50});
diff --git a/tests/ttnn/unit_tests/gtests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/ttnn/unit_tests/gtests/CMakeLists.txt
index 12d07c3db4d..931739e9e6b 100644
--- a/tests/ttnn/unit_tests/gtests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/ttnn/unit_tests/gtests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ set(TTNN_TENSOR_UNIT_TESTS_SRC
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor/test_distributed_tensor.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor/test_mesh_tensor.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor/test_partition.cpp
-    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor/test_shape_base.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor/test_tensor_sharding.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor/test_vector_conversion.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor/test_xtensor_conversion.cpp
diff --git a/tt_metal/CMakeLists.txt b/tt_metal/CMakeLists.txt
index e88549d0cd9..bee22b18640 100644
--- a/tt_metal/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tt_metal/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ target_link_libraries(
         magic_enum
         fmt::fmt-header-only
         span
+        small_vector
         TracyClient
         nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json
         TT::Metalium::HostDevCommon
diff --git a/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/shape2d.hpp b/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/shape2d.hpp
index 589035679d2..47f70d910d1 100644
--- a/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/shape2d.hpp
+++ b/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/shape2d.hpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 namespace tt::tt_metal {
 
+// Simplified 2D shape for cases that fundamentally require 2 dimensions (e.g. core grid).
 class Shape2D final {
 public:
     Shape2D(std::size_t height, std::size_t width);
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.hpp b/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/shape_base.hpp
similarity index 96%
rename from ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.hpp
rename to tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/shape_base.hpp
index 3863210a4f2..350e8833d82 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.hpp
+++ b/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/shape_base.hpp
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace tt::tt_metal {
 // Container wrapper that allows negative indexing
 class ShapeBase {
 public:
-    using Container = SmallVector<uint32_t>;
+    using Container = tt::stl::SmallVector<uint32_t>;
 
     ShapeBase() { init(); };
     explicit ShapeBase(const Container& shape) : value_(shape) { init(); }
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/small_vector.hpp b/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp
similarity index 61%
rename from ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/small_vector.hpp
rename to tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp
index 41e71c9792a..75c8759606a 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/small_vector.hpp
+++ b/tt_metal/api/tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp
@@ -6,13 +6,9 @@
 
 #include <boost/container/small_vector.hpp>
 
-#include <tt-metalium/reflection.hpp>
+#include "reflection.hpp"
 
-#if TTNN_WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS
-#include <pybind11/stl.h>
-#endif
-
-namespace tt::tt_metal {
+namespace tt::stl {
 
 static constexpr size_t SMALL_VECTOR_SIZE = 8;
 
@@ -35,15 +31,16 @@ std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZ
     return os;
 }
 
-}  // namespace tt::tt_metal
+}  // namespace tt::stl
 
+// TODO: remove this.
 namespace ttnn {
-using tt::tt_metal::SmallVector;
+using tt::stl::SmallVector;
 }
 
 template <typename T, size_t PREALLOCATED_SIZE>
-struct std::hash<tt::tt_metal::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>> {
-    size_t operator()(const ttnn::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>& vec) const noexcept {
+struct std::hash<tt::stl::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>> {
+    size_t operator()(const tt::stl::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>& vec) const noexcept {
         size_t hash = 0;
         for (const auto& element : vec) {
             hash = tt::stl::hash::detail::hash_objects(hash, element);
@@ -53,23 +50,13 @@ struct std::hash<tt::tt_metal::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>> {
 };
 
 template <typename T, size_t PREALLOCATED_SIZE>
-struct fmt::formatter<tt::tt_metal::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>> {
+struct fmt::formatter<tt::stl::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>> {
     constexpr auto parse(format_parse_context& ctx) -> format_parse_context::iterator { return ctx.end(); }
 
-    auto format(const tt::tt_metal::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>& vector, format_context& ctx) const
+    auto format(const tt::stl::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>& vector, format_context& ctx) const
         -> format_context::iterator {
         std::stringstream ss;
         ss << vector;
         return fmt::format_to(ctx.out(), "{}", ss.str());
     }
 };
-
-#if TTNN_WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS
-namespace PYBIND11_NAMESPACE {
-namespace detail {
-template <typename T, size_t PREALLOCATED_SIZE>
-struct type_caster<tt::tt_metal::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>>
-    : list_caster<tt::tt_metal::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>, T> {};
-}  // namespace detail
-}  // namespace PYBIND11_NAMESPACE
-#endif
diff --git a/tt_metal/common/CMakeLists.txt b/tt_metal/common/CMakeLists.txt
index b34d189262b..551051ea52b 100644
--- a/tt_metal/common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tt_metal/common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ set(COMMON_SRCS
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/core_descriptor.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/metal_soc_descriptor.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/shape2d.cpp
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/shape_base.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tt_backend_api_types.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/utils.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/work_split.cpp
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ target_link_libraries(
         magic_enum
         fmt::fmt-header-only
         span
+        small_vector
         Metalium::Metal::STL
         umd::Firmware
         umd::device
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.cpp b/tt_metal/common/shape_base.cpp
similarity index 98%
rename from ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.cpp
rename to tt_metal/common/shape_base.cpp
index 687c2312f94..57e69bb49e6 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.cpp
+++ b/tt_metal/common/shape_base.cpp
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 //
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+#include "assert.hpp"
 #include "shape_base.hpp"
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include "fmt/color.h"
-#include <tt-metalium/assert.hpp>
 
 namespace tt::tt_metal {
 
diff --git a/ttnn/CMakeLists.txt b/ttnn/CMakeLists.txt
index 340ecd9e9e3..e9e3e010ef1 100644
--- a/ttnn/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ttnn/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -683,7 +683,6 @@ set(TTNN_PUBLIC_INCLUDE_DIRS
 set(TTNN_PUBLIC_LINK_LIBRARIES
     metal_common_libs
     Metalium::Metal
-    Boost::container
     xtensor
     xtensor-blas
     xtl
@@ -758,11 +757,6 @@ function(add_ttnn_sublibrary SUBLIBRARY_NAME)
         add_library(${SUBLIBRARY_NAME} OBJECT ${ARGN})
     endif()
     TT_ENABLE_UNITY_BUILD(${SUBLIBRARY_NAME})
-    if(WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS)
-        target_compile_definitions(${SUBLIBRARY_NAME} PUBLIC TTNN_WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS=1)
-    else()
-        target_compile_definitions(${SUBLIBRARY_NAME} PUBLIC TTNN_WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS=0)
-    endif()
     target_include_directories(${SUBLIBRARY_NAME} PUBLIC ${TTNN_PUBLIC_INCLUDE_DIRS})
     target_link_libraries(${SUBLIBRARY_NAME} PUBLIC ${TTNN_PUBLIC_LINK_LIBRARIES})
     target_link_directories(${SUBLIBRARY_NAME} PUBLIC ${TTNN_PUBLIC_LINK_DIRS})
@@ -826,12 +820,6 @@ target_compile_options(
         -fno-var-tracking
 )
 
-if(WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS)
-    target_compile_definitions(ttnn PUBLIC TTNN_WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS=1)
-else()
-    target_compile_definitions(ttnn PUBLIC TTNN_WITH_PYTHON_BINDINGS=0)
-endif()
-
 if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
     target_compile_definitions(ttnn PUBLIC DISABLE_NAMESPACE_STATIC_ASSERT)
 endif()
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/decorators.hpp b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/decorators.hpp
index 245ed71d5cb..00153d8b791 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/decorators.hpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/decorators.hpp
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 
 #include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 #include <pybind11/stl.h>
-
 #include <type_traits>
 
 #include "ttnn/decorators.hpp"
+#include "small_vector_caster.hpp"  // NOLINT - for pybind11 SmallVector binding support.
 #include "ttnn/types.hpp"
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/device.cpp b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/device.cpp
index 7a9fd64519a..0a3e9b6c1dd 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/device.cpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/device.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 #include <pybind11/stl.h>
 
+#include "small_vector_caster.hpp"  // NOLINT - for pybind11 SmallVector binding support.
 #include <tt-metalium/persistent_kernel_cache.hpp>
 #include <tt-metalium/compilation_reporter.hpp>
 #include <tt-metalium/memory_reporter.hpp>
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/pytensor.cpp b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/pytensor.cpp
index 8efa4c37d02..23c47b0f8c3 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/pytensor.cpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/pytensor.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <chrono>
 #include <memory>
 
+#include "small_vector_caster.hpp"  // NOLINT - for pybind11 SmallVector binding support.
 #include "ttnn/tensor/tensor.hpp"
 #include <tt-metalium/graph_tracking.hpp>
 #include <tt-metalium/overloaded.hpp>
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/small_vector_caster.hpp b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/small_vector_caster.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..37dd3d478ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/small_vector_caster.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2025 Tenstorrent Inc.
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <pybind11/operators.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
+#include <pybind11/stl.h>
+
+#include <tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp>
+
+namespace PYBIND11_NAMESPACE {
+namespace detail {
+template <typename T, size_t PREALLOCATED_SIZE>
+struct type_caster<ttnn::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>> : list_caster<ttnn::SmallVector<T, PREALLOCATED_SIZE>, T> {
+};
+}  // namespace detail
+}  // namespace PYBIND11_NAMESPACE
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/types.hpp b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/types.hpp
index 4c5d454a912..3ab9a55eadc 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/types.hpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/pybind11/types.hpp
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@
 #include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 #include <pybind11/stl.h>
 
+#include <tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp>
+
 #include "export_enum.hpp"
+#include "small_vector_caster.hpp"  // NOLINT - for pybind11 SmallVector binding support.
 #include "ttnn/tensor/tensor.hpp"
 #include "ttnn/types.hpp"
 #include "ttnn/operations/data_movement/bcast/bcast_types.hpp"
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/CMakeLists.txt b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/CMakeLists.txt
index 5d03e12be5d..417c64b8580 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ set(TENSOR_SRCS
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor_spec.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tensor_utils.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/serialization.cpp
-    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/shape/shape_base.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/shape/shape.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/layout/alignment.cpp
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/layout/page_config.cpp
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.cpp b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.cpp
index e8e55c81a83..1b65a810d10 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.cpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.cpp
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ namespace tt::tt_metal {
 
 bool Alignment::operator==(const Alignment& other) const = default;
 
-bool Alignment::operator==(const SmallVector<uint32_t>& other) const { return this->value_ == other; }
+bool Alignment::operator==(const tt::stl::SmallVector<uint32_t>& other) const { return this->value_ == other; }
 
 std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const tt::tt_metal::Alignment& alignment) {
     os << "Alignment([";
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.hpp b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.hpp
index 22486d0f316..fc50427cfae 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.hpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/layout/alignment.hpp
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#include "ttnn/tensor/shape/shape_base.hpp"
-#include "ttnn/tensor/shape/small_vector.hpp"
+#include <tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp>
+#include <tt-metalium/shape_base.hpp>
 
 namespace tt::tt_metal {
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class Alignment final : protected ShapeBase {
     }
 
     bool operator==(const Alignment& other) const;
-    bool operator==(const SmallVector<uint32_t>& other) const;
+    bool operator==(const tt::stl::SmallVector<uint32_t>& other) const;
 
     // Needed for reflect / fmt
     static constexpr auto attribute_names = std::forward_as_tuple("value");
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.cpp b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.cpp
index f707020b8fb..24475784172 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.cpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.cpp
@@ -6,14 +6,15 @@
 
 #include <numeric>
 #include <ostream>
-#include "ttnn/tensor/shape/small_vector.hpp"
+
 #include <tt-metalium/assert.hpp>
+#include <tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp>
 
 namespace tt::tt_metal {
 
 bool Shape::operator==(const Shape& other) const = default;
 
-bool Shape::operator==(const SmallVector<uint32_t>& other) const { return this->value_ == other; }
+bool Shape::operator==(const tt::stl::SmallVector<uint32_t>& other) const { return this->value_ == other; }
 
 size_t Shape::rank() const { return this->size(); }
 
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ std::array<uint32_t, 4> Shape::to_array_4D() const {
 }
 
 Shape Shape::to_rank(size_t new_rank) const {
-    SmallVector<uint32_t> new_shape(new_rank, 1);
+    tt::stl::SmallVector<uint32_t> new_shape(new_rank, 1);
 
     int cur_idx = static_cast<int>(rank()) - 1;
     int new_idx = static_cast<int>(new_rank) - 1;
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.hpp b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.hpp
index b3c0034349c..83ddc01a422 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.hpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/shape/shape.hpp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#include "shape_base.hpp"
+#include <tt-metalium/shape_base.hpp>
 
 namespace tt::tt_metal {
 
diff --git a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/xtensor/conversion_utils.hpp b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/xtensor/conversion_utils.hpp
index f773e962db3..df97212e648 100644
--- a/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/xtensor/conversion_utils.hpp
+++ b/ttnn/cpp/ttnn/tensor/xtensor/conversion_utils.hpp
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#include "ttnn/tensor/shape/small_vector.hpp"
+#include <tt-metalium/small_vector.hpp>
+
 #include "ttnn/tensor/tensor.hpp"
 #include <ttnn/tensor/xtensor/xtensor_all_includes.hpp>