diff --git a/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/KafkaOffsetGen.java b/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/KafkaOffsetGen.java
index 10bfd4adfe84f..bc4ee0c0e0199 100644
--- a/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/KafkaOffsetGen.java
+++ b/hudi-utilities/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/KafkaOffsetGen.java
@@ -313,10 +313,17 @@ public OffsetRange[] getNextOffsetRanges(Option<Checkpoint> lastCheckpoint, long
       } else {
         lastCheckpointStr = lastCheckpoint.isPresent() ? Option.of(lastCheckpoint.get().getCheckpointKey()) : Option.empty();
       }
+
+      long kafkaDelayCount = 0L;
+      if (lastCheckpointStr.isPresent() && !lastCheckpointStr.get().isEmpty()) {
+        kafkaDelayCount = delayOffsetCalculation(lastCheckpointStr, topicPartitions, consumer);
+      }
+      // Always emit the Kafka delay count metric (even when 0)
+      metrics.updateStreamerSourceDelayCount(METRIC_NAME_KAFKA_DELAY_COUNT, kafkaDelayCount);
+
       // Determine the offset ranges to read from
       if (lastCheckpointStr.isPresent() && !lastCheckpointStr.get().isEmpty() && checkTopicCheckpoint(lastCheckpointStr)) {
         fromOffsets = fetchValidOffsets(consumer, lastCheckpointStr, topicPartitions);
-        metrics.updateStreamerSourceDelayCount(METRIC_NAME_KAFKA_DELAY_COUNT, delayOffsetCalculation(lastCheckpointStr, topicPartitions, consumer));
       } else {
         switch (autoResetValue) {
           case EARLIEST:
diff --git a/hudi-utilities/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/TestKafkaOffsetGen.java b/hudi-utilities/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/TestKafkaOffsetGen.java
index e630d62139747..87d035a1db355 100644
--- a/hudi-utilities/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/TestKafkaOffsetGen.java
+++ b/hudi-utilities/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/utilities/sources/helpers/TestKafkaOffsetGen.java
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.Arguments;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.CsvSource;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
 import org.mockito.MockedStatic;
 
 import java.time.Instant;
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mockStatic;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
@@ -605,4 +607,70 @@ void mockDescribeTopicConfigs(MockedStatic<AdminClient> staticMock, Map kafkaPar
     when(mock.describeConfigs(Collections.singleton(resource))).thenReturn(mockResult);
     when(mockResult.all()).thenReturn(future);
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testKafkaDelayCountMetricEmittedWithLag() {
+    testUtils.createTopic(testTopicName, 1);
+    String[] messages = new String[1000];
+    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
+      messages[i] = String.format("{\"id\":\"%d\"}", i);
+    }
+    testUtils.sendMessages(testTopicName, messages);
+
+    HoodieIngestionMetrics mockMetrics = mock(HoodieIngestionMetrics.class);
+    KafkaOffsetGen kafkaOffsetGen = new KafkaOffsetGen(getConsumerConfigs("earliest", KAFKA_CHECKPOINT_TYPE_STRING));
+
+    // Read first 250 messages, then simulate lag
+    String lastCheckpointString = testTopicName + ",0:250";
+    kafkaOffsetGen.getNextOffsetRanges(
+        Option.of(new StreamerCheckpointV2(lastCheckpointString)), 500, mockMetrics);
+
+    // Verify metric was called with lag count of 750 (1000 - 250)
+    verify(mockMetrics, times(1)).updateStreamerSourceDelayCount("kafkaDelayCount", 750L);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testKafkaDelayCountMetricEmittedWithoutCheckpoint() {
+    testUtils.createTopic(testTopicName, 1);
+    String[] messages = new String[1000];
+    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
+      messages[i] = String.format("{\"id\":\"%d\"}", i);
+    }
+    testUtils.sendMessages(testTopicName, messages);
+
+    HoodieIngestionMetrics mockMetrics = mock(HoodieIngestionMetrics.class);
+    KafkaOffsetGen kafkaOffsetGen = new KafkaOffsetGen(getConsumerConfigs("earliest", KAFKA_CHECKPOINT_TYPE_STRING));
+
+    // First run without checkpoint
+    kafkaOffsetGen.getNextOffsetRanges(Option.empty(), 500, mockMetrics);
+
+    // Verify metric was called with 0 (no checkpoint = no lag)
+    verify(mockMetrics, times(1)).updateStreamerSourceDelayCount("kafkaDelayCount", 0L);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testKafkaDelayCountMetricEmittedWithMultiplePartitions() {
+    testUtils.createTopic(testTopicName, 2);
+    String[] messages = new String[1000];
+    for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
+      messages[i] = String.format("{\"id\":\"%d\"}", i);
+    }
+    testUtils.sendMessages(testTopicName, messages);
+
+    HoodieIngestionMetrics mockMetrics = mock(HoodieIngestionMetrics.class);
+    KafkaOffsetGen kafkaOffsetGen = new KafkaOffsetGen(getConsumerConfigs("earliest", KAFKA_CHECKPOINT_TYPE_STRING));
+
+    // Checkpoint with some consumed messages, creating lag (0:250, 1:249 = 499)
+    // Note: Cannot assert exact delay count because Kafka's message distribution across
+    // partitions is non-deterministic when messages don't have explicit partition keys
+    String lastCheckpointString = testTopicName + ",0:250,1:249";
+    kafkaOffsetGen.getNextOffsetRanges(
+        Option.of(new StreamerCheckpointV2(lastCheckpointString)), 300, mockMetrics);
+
+    // Verify metric was called with a reasonable lag count
+    ArgumentCaptor<Long> delayCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(Long.class);
+    verify(mockMetrics, times(1)).updateStreamerSourceDelayCount(eq("kafkaDelayCount"), delayCaptor.capture());
+    assertTrue(delayCaptor.getValue() > 0, "Delay count should be greater than 0 when there is lag");
+    assertTrue(delayCaptor.getValue() <= 1000, "Delay count should not exceed total messages sent");
+  }
 }