diff --git a/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs b/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs
index ec626ae9f253..dde680142221 100644
--- a/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs
+++ b/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs
@@ -1599,13 +1599,18 @@ function assertProcessResourceCeiling(sample, { label, maxRssMiB, requireSample
     }
     return;
   }
+  if (!Number.isFinite(sample.rssMiB) || sample.rssMiB <= 0) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} RSS sample was invalid: ${String(sample.rssMiB)} MiB`);
+  }
+  const aggregateRssMiB = sample.aggregateRssMiB ?? sample.rssMiB;
+  if (!Number.isFinite(aggregateRssMiB) || aggregateRssMiB <= 0) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} aggregate RSS sample was invalid: ${String(aggregateRssMiB)} MiB`);
+  }
   if (sample.rssMiB > maxRssMiB) {
     throw new Error(`${label} RSS exceeded ${maxRssMiB} MiB: ${sample.rssMiB} MiB`);
   }
-  if ((sample.aggregateRssMiB ?? sample.rssMiB) > maxRssMiB) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `${label} aggregate RSS exceeded ${maxRssMiB} MiB: ${sample.aggregateRssMiB} MiB`,
-    );
+  if (aggregateRssMiB > maxRssMiB) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} aggregate RSS exceeded ${maxRssMiB} MiB: ${aggregateRssMiB} MiB`);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/e2e/lib/docker-stats/assert-resource-ceiling.mjs b/scripts/e2e/lib/docker-stats/assert-resource-ceiling.mjs
index 710d80e0394a..27d7b265c105 100644
--- a/scripts/e2e/lib/docker-stats/assert-resource-ceiling.mjs
+++ b/scripts/e2e/lib/docker-stats/assert-resource-ceiling.mjs
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ function assertSampleValue(value, raw, name, labelLocal) {
       `docker stats sample for ${labelLocal} had invalid ${name}: ${JSON.stringify(raw)}`,
     );
   }
+  if (name === "MemUsage" && value <= 0) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `docker stats sample for ${labelLocal} had non-positive ${name}: ${JSON.stringify(raw)}`,
+    );
+  }
 }
 
 async function scanStatsFileLines(file, onLine) {
diff --git a/test/scripts/docker-stats-resource-ceiling.test.ts b/test/scripts/docker-stats-resource-ceiling.test.ts
index d3ca1b334ccb..ec94b4cacf28 100644
--- a/test/scripts/docker-stats-resource-ceiling.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/docker-stats-resource-ceiling.test.ts
@@ -89,4 +89,11 @@ describe("scripts/e2e/lib/docker-stats/assert-resource-ceiling.mjs", () => {
     expect(result.status).toBe(0);
     expect(result.stdout).toContain("samples=1");
   });
+
+  it("rejects zero-memory Docker stats samples as invalid proof", () => {
+    const result = runAssert(writeStats('{"MemUsage":"0B / 2GiB","CPUPerc":"0.0%"}\n'));
+
+    expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("had non-positive MemUsage");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts b/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts
index bc4608e6337f..de722520942a 100644
--- a/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts
@@ -1188,6 +1188,15 @@ describe("kitchen-sink RPC process sampling", () => {
     expect(() => assertResourceCeiling(null)).toThrow("gateway RSS sample was not captured");
   });
 
+  it("fails zero-valued process RSS samples", () => {
+    expect(() => assertResourceCeiling({ rssMiB: 0 })).toThrow(
+      "gateway RSS sample was invalid: 0 MiB",
+    );
+    expect(() => assertCommandResourceCeiling({ aggregateRssMiB: 0, rssMiB: 128 })).toThrow(
+      "command aggregate RSS sample was invalid: 0 MiB",
+    );
+  });
+
   it("fails missing command samples and command RSS spikes", () => {
     expect(() => assertCommandResourceCeiling(null)).toThrow("command RSS sample was not captured");
     expect(() => assertCommandResourceCeiling({ aggregateRssMiB: 8193, rssMiB: 1024 })).toThrow(