diff --git a/changelog.d/drop_empty_batches_fanout.fix.md b/changelog.d/drop_empty_batches_fanout.fix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..12ebfcd682555
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/drop_empty_batches_fanout.fix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Fixed a crash that could occur when a source or transform emitted an empty event batch into a topology with downstream buffers. Vector now
+drops empty batches before they reach those buffers and logs a warning identifying the upstream component.
+
+authors: graphcareful
diff --git a/lib/vector-core/src/fanout.rs b/lib/vector-core/src/fanout.rs
index 97e21bcc8db17..33ff30ae3e72a 100644
--- a/lib/vector-core/src/fanout.rs
+++ b/lib/vector-core/src/fanout.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 use tokio_util::sync::ReusableBoxFuture;
 use vector_buffers::topology::channel::BufferSender;
 
-use crate::{config::ComponentKey, event::EventArray};
+use crate::{
+    config::ComponentKey,
+    event::{EventArray, EventContainer},
+};
 
 pub enum ControlMessage {
     /// Adds a new sink to the fanout.
@@ -45,15 +48,17 @@ pub type ControlChannel = mpsc::UnboundedSender<ControlMessage>;
 pub struct Fanout {
     senders: IndexMap<ComponentKey, Option<Sender>>,
     control_channel: mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<ControlMessage>,
+    upstream_component: ComponentKey,
 }
 
 impl Fanout {
-    pub fn new() -> (Self, ControlChannel) {
+    pub fn new(upstream_component: ComponentKey) -> (Self, ControlChannel) {
         let (control_tx, control_rx) = mpsc::unbounded_channel();
 
         let fanout = Self {
             senders: Default::default(),
             control_channel: control_rx,
+            upstream_component,
         };
 
         (fanout, control_tx)
@@ -220,6 +225,27 @@ impl Fanout {
         // Wait for any senders that are paused to be replaced first before continuing with the send.
         self.wait_for_replacements().await;
 
+        // Drop empty event batches before they reach any downstream buffer, this is technically
+        // programmer error. In debug/test builds the `debug_assert!` makes the underlying bug fail
+        // loudly.
+        debug_assert!(
+            !events.is_empty(),
+            "Fanout received empty event batch from upstream component '{}'",
+            self.upstream_component,
+        );
+        // TODO: Wrap the conditional below with `std::hint::unlikely` once it stabilizes. This is an
+        // applicable situation to use it in since the following conditional should never evaluate to
+        // true.
+        #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+        if events.is_empty() {
+            warn!(
+                message = "Dropping empty event batch emitted by upstream component. This is likely a bug in that component.",
+                component_id = %self.upstream_component,
+                downstream_count = self.senders.len(),
+            );
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
         // Nothing to send if we have no sender.
         if self.senders.is_empty() {
             trace!("No senders present.");
@@ -525,7 +551,7 @@ mod tests {
         UnboundedSender<ControlMessage>,
         Vec<BufferReceiver<EventArray>>,
     ) {
-        let (mut fanout, control) = Fanout::new();
+        let (mut fanout, control) = Fanout::new(ComponentKey::from("test_upstream"));
         let pairs = build_sender_pairs(capacities);
 
         let mut receivers = Vec::new();
@@ -827,7 +853,7 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn fanout_no_sinks() {
-        let (mut fanout, _) = Fanout::new();
+        let (mut fanout, _) = Fanout::new(ComponentKey::from("test_upstream"));
         let events = make_events(2);
 
         fanout
@@ -840,6 +866,15 @@ mod tests {
             .expect("should not fail");
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "Fanout received empty event batch from upstream component")]
+    async fn fanout_panics_on_empty_event_array_in_debug_builds() {
+        let (mut fanout, _, _receivers) = fanout_from_senders(&[2, 2]);
+        let empty: EventArray = Vec::<LogEvent>::new().into();
+
+        let _ = fanout.send(empty, None).await;
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn fanout_replace() {
         let (mut fanout, control, mut receivers) = fanout_from_senders(&[4, 4, 4]);
diff --git a/lib/vector-core/src/transform/outputs.rs b/lib/vector-core/src/transform/outputs.rs
index 7918fb008f764..113f5f2b3418f 100644
--- a/lib/vector-core/src/transform/outputs.rs
+++ b/lib/vector-core/src/transform/outputs.rs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ impl TransformOutputs {
         let mut controls = HashMap::new();
 
         for output in outputs_in {
-            let (fanout, control) = Fanout::new();
+            let (fanout, control) = Fanout::new(component_key.clone());
 
             let log_schema_definitions = output
                 .log_schema_definitions
diff --git a/src/topology/builder.rs b/src/topology/builder.rs
index 8be9a0ce73d7a..6ed0206446597 100644
--- a/src/topology/builder.rs
+++ b/src/topology/builder.rs
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ impl<'a> Builder<'a> {
         for output in source_outputs.into_iter() {
             let rx = builder.add_source_output(output.clone(), key.clone());
 
-            let (fanout, control) = Fanout::new();
+            let (fanout, control) = Fanout::new(key.clone());
             let source_type = source.inner.get_component_name();
             let source = Arc::new(key.clone());
 
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ impl<'a> Builder<'a> {
         key: &ComponentKey,
         outputs: &[TransformOutput],
     ) -> (Task, HashMap<OutputId, fanout::ControlChannel>) {
-        let (mut fanout, control) = Fanout::new();
+        let (mut fanout, control) = Fanout::new(key.clone());
 
         let sender = self
             .utilization_registry