diff --git a/bindings/java/src/executor.rs b/bindings/java/src/executor.rs
index ef4a863915d6..36730dfee9f5 100644
--- a/bindings/java/src/executor.rs
+++ b/bindings/java/src/executor.rs
@@ -112,10 +112,17 @@ impl Executor {
 pub extern "system" fn Java_org_apache_opendal_AsyncExecutor_makeTokioExecutor<'local>(
     mut env: EnvUnowned<'local>,
     _: JClass<'local>,
-    cores: usize,
+    cores: jint,
 ) -> jlong {
     env.with_env(|env| -> Result<jlong> {
-        let executor = make_tokio_executor(env, cores)?;
+        if cores <= 0 {
+            env.throw_new(
+                jni_str!("java/lang/IllegalArgumentException"),
+                jni_str!("cores must be positive"),
+            )?;
+            return Ok(0);
+        }
+        let executor = make_tokio_executor(env, cores as usize)?;
         Ok(Box::into_raw(Box::new(executor)) as jlong)
     })
     .resolve::<ThrowException>()
diff --git a/bindings/java/src/main/java/org/apache/opendal/AsyncExecutor.java b/bindings/java/src/main/java/org/apache/opendal/AsyncExecutor.java
index 797280b99bb1..c38e57a7653f 100644
--- a/bindings/java/src/main/java/org/apache/opendal/AsyncExecutor.java
+++ b/bindings/java/src/main/java/org/apache/opendal/AsyncExecutor.java
@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@
  * Completion callbacks that change it must restore it before returning.</p>
  */
 public class AsyncExecutor extends NativeObject {
+    /**
+     * Create a Tokio executor with the specified number of worker threads.
+     *
+     * @param cores the number of worker threads; must be positive
+     * @return the executor
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code cores} is zero or negative
+     */
     public static AsyncExecutor createTokioExecutor(int cores) {
         return new AsyncExecutor(makeTokioExecutor(cores));
     }
diff --git a/bindings/java/src/test/java/org/apache/opendal/test/AsyncExecutorTest.java b/bindings/java/src/test/java/org/apache/opendal/test/AsyncExecutorTest.java
index 23241c868588..abbb98ef9922 100644
--- a/bindings/java/src/test/java/org/apache/opendal/test/AsyncExecutorTest.java
+++ b/bindings/java/src/test/java/org/apache/opendal/test/AsyncExecutorTest.java
@@ -20,14 +20,71 @@
 package org.apache.opendal.test;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import lombok.Cleanup;
 import org.apache.opendal.AsyncExecutor;
 import org.apache.opendal.AsyncOperator;
 import org.apache.opendal.ServiceConfig;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
 
 public class AsyncExecutorTest {
+    @TempDir
+    Path tempDir;
+
+    @Test
+    void testInvalidCoresDoNotTerminateJvm() throws Exception {
+        final String executable = System.getProperty("os.name").startsWith("Windows") ? "java.exe" : "java";
+        final Path java = Paths.get(System.getProperty("java.home"), "bin", executable);
+        final Path log = tempDir.resolve("invalid-cores.log");
+        final Process process = new ProcessBuilder(
+                        java.toString(),
+                        "-Xcheck:jni",
+                        "-Djava.library.path=" + System.getProperty("java.library.path"),
+                        "-cp",
+                        System.getProperty("surefire.test.class.path", System.getProperty("java.class.path")),
+                        InvalidCoresApplication.class.getName())
+                .directory(tempDir.toFile())
+                .redirectErrorStream(true)
+                .redirectOutput(log.toFile())
+                .start();
+        final boolean exited;
+        try {
+            exited = process.waitFor(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        } finally {
+            if (process.isAlive()) {
+                process.destroyForcibly();
+                process.waitFor(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+            }
+        }
+        final String output = new String(Files.readAllBytes(log), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        assertThat(exited).as("JVM must exit after main returns: %s", output).isTrue();
+        assertThat(process.exitValue()).as(output).isZero();
+        assertThat(output).contains("INVALID_CORES_REJECTED");
+    }
+
+    public static class InvalidCoresApplication {
+        public static void main(String[] args) {
+            for (int cores : new int[] {0, -1, Integer.MIN_VALUE}) {
+                assertThatThrownBy(() -> AsyncExecutor.createTokioExecutor(cores))
+                        .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+            }
+            try (final AsyncExecutor executor = AsyncExecutor.createTokioExecutor(1);
+                    final AsyncOperator op =
+                            AsyncOperator.of(ServiceConfig.Memory.builder().build(), executor)) {
+                final byte[] content = "Hello, OpenDAL!".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+                op.write("example.txt", content).join();
+                assertThat(op.read("example.txt").join()).isEqualTo(content);
+            }
+            System.out.println("INVALID_CORES_REJECTED");
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testDedicatedTokioExecutor() {
         final ServiceConfig.Memory memory =