diff --git a/src/smt-solver/Sidekick_smt_solver.ml b/src/smt-solver/Sidekick_smt_solver.ml
index 62034103..8e17923d 100644
--- a/src/smt-solver/Sidekick_smt_solver.ml
+++ b/src/smt-solver/Sidekick_smt_solver.ml
@@ -838,7 +838,8 @@ module Make(A : ARG)
     Profile.with_ "smt-solver.mk-model" @@ fun () ->
     let module M = Term.Tbl in
     let model = M.create 128 in
-    let {Solver_internal.tst; cc=lazy cc; model_ask; model_complete; _} = self.si in
+    let {Solver_internal.tst; cc=lazy cc;
+         model_ask=model_ask_hooks; model_complete; _} = self.si in
 
     (* first, add all literals to the model using the given propositional model
        [lits]. *)
@@ -867,16 +868,25 @@ module Make(A : ARG)
       | None ->
 
         (* try each model hook *)
-        let rec aux = function
+        let rec try_hooks_ = function
           | [] -> N.term repr
           | h :: hooks ->
             begin match h ~recurse:(fun _ n -> val_for_class n) self.si repr with
-              | None -> aux hooks
+              | None -> try_hooks_ hooks
               | Some t -> t
             end
         in
 
-        let t_val = aux model_ask in
+        let t_val =
+          match
+            (* look for a value in the model for any term in the class *)
+            N.iter_class repr
+            |> Iter.find_map (fun n -> M.get model (N.term n))
+          with
+          | Some v -> v
+          | None -> try_hooks_ model_ask_hooks
+        in
+
         M.replace model (N.term repr) t_val; (* be sure to cache the value *)
         t_val
     in