diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderator.java b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderator.java
index 578b1f32da2b..75066b4d84a2 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderator.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderator.java
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ public ListenableFuture<Object> persistAll(@Nullable final Committer committer)
       numPersistedRows += sink.getNumRowsInMemory();
       bytesPersisted += sink.getBytesInMemory();
 
-      final int limit = sink.isWritable() ? hydrants.size() - 1 : hydrants.size();
+      final int limit = sink.isWritable() ? Integer.max(0, hydrants.size() - 1) : hydrants.size();
 
       // gather hydrants that have not been persisted:
       for (FireHydrant hydrant : hydrants.subList(0, limit)) {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderatorTest.java b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderatorTest.java
index 22074f4f78f6..7f43f6d43172 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderatorTest.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/segment/realtime/appenderator/StreamAppenderatorTest.java
@@ -2546,6 +2546,65 @@ public void test_dropSegment_skipsUnlockInterval_ifOverlappingSinkIsActive() thr
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Tests an edge case where a writable sink exists but has no hydrants.
+   * <p>
+   * The test scenario is somewhat unrealistic, but we are trying to prevent a regression because this issue was seen in
+   * the wild and resulted in failed indexing tasks due to an IAE.
+   * </p>
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testPersistAllWithEmptySink() throws Exception
+  {
+    try (
+        final StreamAppenderatorTester tester =
+            new StreamAppenderatorTester.Builder().maxRowsInMemory(100)
+                                                  .basePersistDirectory(temporaryFolder.newFolder())
+                                                  .build()) {
+      final Appenderator appenderator = tester.getAppenderator();
+      final Supplier<Committer> committerSupplier = () -> new Committer()
+      {
+        @Override
+        public Object getMetadata()
+        {
+          return ImmutableMap.of("eventCount", 0);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void run()
+        {
+          // Do nothing
+        }
+      };
+
+      appenderator.startJob();
+      Assert.assertEquals(0, ((StreamAppenderator) appenderator).getRowsInMemory());
+
+      // Create a sink by adding a row, but use a timestamp outside the identifier's interval
+      // This will cause the row to not actually be added (filtered out by interval check)
+      // but the sink will be created
+      InputRow outOfBoundsRow = ir("1999", "foo", 1); // IDENTIFIERS.get(0) is for 2000/2001
+      try {
+        appenderator.add(IDENTIFIERS.get(0), outOfBoundsRow, committerSupplier);
+      }
+      catch (DruidException ignored) {
+        // For the purposes of this test we ignore that an exception is thrown. We got our sink with no hydrants created which is what we are testing.
+      }
+
+      // Verify the sink was created but is empty
+      List<SegmentIdWithShardSpec> segments = appenderator.getSegments();
+      if (!segments.isEmpty()) {
+        Assert.assertEquals(0, ((StreamAppenderator) appenderator).getRowsInMemory());
+
+        // Despite having an empty sink, persistAll should work without error
+        appenderator.persistAll(committerSupplier.get()).get();
+        Assert.assertEquals(0, ((StreamAppenderator) appenderator).getRowsInMemory());
+      }
+
+      appenderator.close();
+    }
+  }
+
   private static SegmentIdWithShardSpec si(String interval, String version, int partitionNum)
   {
     return new SegmentIdWithShardSpec(