diff --git a/utilities/rate_limiters/write_amp_based_rate_limiter.cc b/utilities/rate_limiters/write_amp_based_rate_limiter.cc
index 3d5cfcd647af..7c406479fdf9 100644
--- a/utilities/rate_limiters/write_amp_based_rate_limiter.cc
+++ b/utilities/rate_limiters/write_amp_based_rate_limiter.cc
@@ -192,7 +192,11 @@ void WriteAmpBasedRateLimiter::Request(int64_t bytes, const Env::IOPriority pri,
          (!queue_[Env::IO_LOW].empty() && &r == queue_[Env::IO_LOW].front()))) {
       leader_ = &r;
       int64_t delta = next_refill_us_ - NowMicrosMonotonic(env_);
-      delta = delta > 0 ? delta : 0;
+      // Clamp delta between 0 and refill_period_us_:
+      // (1) set negative values to 0
+      // (2) cap maximum wait time to refill_period_us_ to prevent excessive
+      //     delays that could occur due to clock skew.
+      delta = delta > 0 ? std::min(delta, refill_period_us_) : 0;
       if (delta == 0) {
         timedout = true;
       } else {
@@ -328,19 +332,34 @@ Status WriteAmpBasedRateLimiter::Tune() {
   // lower bound for write amplification estimation
   const int kRatioLower = 10;
   const int kPercentDeltaMax = 6;
+  // Define the max limit of tick duration limits to handle clock skew.
+  const auto max_tune_tick_duration_limit =
+      std::chrono::microseconds(kSecondsPerTune * 1000 * 1000) * 7 /
+      4;  // 1.75x multiplier
 
-  std::chrono::microseconds prev_tuned_time = tuned_time_;
+  const std::chrono::microseconds prev_tuned_time = tuned_time_;
   tuned_time_ = std::chrono::microseconds(NowMicrosMonotonic(env_));
-  auto duration = tuned_time_ - prev_tuned_time;
-  auto duration_ms =
-      std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(duration).count();
+  // Validate tuning interval to detect system anomalies:
+  // (1) tuned_time_ < prev_tuned_time: Clock moved backwards (clock skew)
+  // (2) Interval > max_tune_tick_duration_limit: System stall or severe clock
+  // skew
+  if (tuned_time_ <= prev_tuned_time ||
+      tuned_time_ >= prev_tuned_time + max_tune_tick_duration_limit) {
+    // Fall back to max rate limiter for safety if duration is invalid or
+    // exceeds max limit.
+    SetActualBytesPerSecond(max_bytes_per_sec_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed));
+    return Status::Aborted();
+  }
+  auto duration_ms = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(
+                         tuned_time_ - prev_tuned_time)
+                         .count();
 
   int64_t prev_bytes_per_sec = GetBytesPerSecond();
-
   // This function can be called less frequent than we anticipate when
   // compaction rate is low. Loop through the actual time slice to correct
   // the estimation.
-  for (uint32_t i = 0; i < duration_ms / kMillisPerTune; i++) {
+  auto sampling_count = duration_ms / kMillisPerTune;
+  for (uint32_t i = 0; i < sampling_count; i++) {
     bytes_sampler_.AddSample(duration_bytes_through_ * 1000 / duration_ms);
     highpri_bytes_sampler_.AddSample(duration_highpri_bytes_through_ * 1000 /
                                      duration_ms);
@@ -409,8 +428,8 @@ void WriteAmpBasedRateLimiter::PaceUp(bool critical) {
 }
 
 RateLimiter* NewWriteAmpBasedRateLimiter(
-    int64_t rate_bytes_per_sec, int64_t refill_period_us /* = 100 * 1000 */,
-    int32_t fairness /* = 10 */,
+    int64_t rate_bytes_per_sec /* = 10GiB */,
+    int64_t refill_period_us /* = 100 * 1000 */, int32_t fairness /* = 10 */,
     RateLimiter::Mode mode /* = RateLimiter::Mode::kWritesOnly */,
     bool auto_tuned /* = false */) {
   assert(rate_bytes_per_sec > 0);