A process for recovering butadiene from a C4 fraction is disclosed. The process may include: contacting a mixed C4 stream comprising butane, butene, and butadiene, with a solvent comprising an organic solvent and water in a butadiene pre-absorber column to recover an overheads fraction comprising at least a portion of the butane, butene, and water, and a first bottoms fraction comprising the organic solvent, butadiene, and at least a portion of the butene; and feeding the first bottoms fraction to a butadiene extraction unit to recover a butene fraction, a crude butadiene fraction, and a solvent fraction.