diff --git a/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALInputFormat.java b/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALInputFormat.java
index badf581efefc..e06269f4474e 100644
--- a/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALInputFormat.java
+++ b/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALInputFormat.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.LocatedFileStatus;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.RemoteIterator;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.wal.WALHeaderEOFException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.LeaseNotRecoveredException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.wal.AbstractFSWALProvider;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.wal.WAL;
@@ -161,6 +162,17 @@ private WALStreamReader openReader(Path path, long startPosition) throws IOExcep
           reader =
             WALFactory.createStreamReader(path.getFileSystem(conf), path, conf, startPosition);
           return reader;
+        } catch (WALHeaderEOFException wheofe) {
+          // We hit EOF while reading the WAL header. A file that ever had an entry synced to it
+          // necessarily has a complete, readable header (a sync flushes the header too), so a
+          // header EOF means the file holds nothing recoverable right now. For a file that is not
+          // being actively written (a closed/archived WAL, or one left empty by a crashed
+          // RegionServer) the header never appears, so retrying only delays an inevitable skip.
+          // The one case a retry could help is a WAL still being written by the legacy
+          // (non-async) writer that has not yet flushed its header; but we skip that too.
+          LOG.warn("Got WALHeaderEOFException opening reader for {}, skipping empty WAL file.",
+            path, wheofe);
+          return null;
         } catch (LeaseNotRecoveredException lnre) {
           // HBASE-15019 the WAL was not closed due to some hiccup.
           LOG.warn("Try to recover the WAL lease " + path, lnre);
diff --git a/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestWALInputFormat.java b/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestWALInputFormat.java
index 92138e7dfe72..6cd331ccd966 100644
--- a/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestWALInputFormat.java
+++ b/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestWALInputFormat.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.mapreduce;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.InputSplit;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Job;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.JobContext;
+import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.TaskAttemptContext;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.lib.input.FileInputFormat;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Tag;
@@ -120,4 +122,44 @@ public void testHandlesArchivedWALFiles() throws Exception {
     assertEquals(archiveWal.toString(), split.getLogFileName());
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Test that an empty WAL file (which causes WALHeaderEOFException) is gracefully handled and
+   * skipped rather than causing the job to fail.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testHandlesEmptyWALFile() throws Exception {
+    Configuration conf = TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration();
+
+    // Create an empty WAL file
+    Path walRootDir = CommonFSUtils.getWALRootDir(conf);
+    Path emptyWalFile =
+      new Path(walRootDir, "WALs/empty-wal-test/empty." + EnvironmentEdgeManager.currentTime());
+    TEST_UTIL.getTestFileSystem().mkdirs(emptyWalFile.getParent());
+    TEST_UTIL.getTestFileSystem().create(emptyWalFile).close();
+
+    JobContext ctx = Mockito.mock(JobContext.class);
+    conf.set(FileInputFormat.INPUT_DIR, emptyWalFile.toString());
+    conf.set(WALPlayer.INPUT_FILES_SEPARATOR_KEY, ";");
+    Mockito.when(ctx.getConfiguration()).thenReturn(conf);
+    Job job = Job.getInstance(conf);
+    TableMapReduceUtil.initCredentialsForCluster(job, conf);
+    Mockito.when(ctx.getCredentials()).thenReturn(job.getCredentials());
+
+    // Create record reader and verify it handles the empty file gracefully
+    try (WALInputFormat.WALKeyRecordReader reader = new WALInputFormat.WALKeyRecordReader()) {
+      TaskAttemptContext taskCtx = Mockito.mock(TaskAttemptContext.class);
+      Mockito.when(taskCtx.getConfiguration()).thenReturn(conf);
+
+      WALInputFormat wif = new WALInputFormat();
+      List<InputSplit> splits = wif.getSplits(ctx);
+      assertEquals(1, splits.size());
+      WALInputFormat.WALSplit split = (WALInputFormat.WALSplit) splits.get(0);
+
+      // This should not throw WALHeaderEOFException - it should return false for nextKeyValue()
+      reader.initialize(split, taskCtx);
+      // nextKeyValue() should return false since the file is empty (reader is null)
+      assertFalse(reader.nextKeyValue());
+    }
+  }
+
 }