diff --git a/client/client-waiters/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/client/waiters/backoff/DefaultBackoffStrategy.java b/client/client-waiters/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/client/waiters/backoff/DefaultBackoffStrategy.java
index cce8b3d56f..9baa6acf04 100644
--- a/client/client-waiters/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/client/waiters/backoff/DefaultBackoffStrategy.java
+++ b/client/client-waiters/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/client/waiters/backoff/DefaultBackoffStrategy.java
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ public long computeNextDelayInMills(int attempt, long remainingTime) {
         if (((double) attempt) < attemptCeiling) {
             delay = Math.min(maxDelayMillis, (long) Math.pow(minDelayMillis * 2, attempt));
         }
-        delay = rng.nextLong(minDelayMillis, delay);
+        // Math.pow can return a delay <= minDelayMillis on early attempts (e.g. attempt=0
+        // gives 1 when minDelayMillis=2). Random.nextLong(origin, bound) requires bound > origin,
+        // so floor the upper bound at minDelayMillis + 1.
+        long upper = Math.max(minDelayMillis + 1, delay);
+        delay = rng.nextLong(minDelayMillis, upper);
         if (remainingTime - delay <= minDelayMillis) {
             delay = remainingTime;
         }
diff --git a/client/client-waiters/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/client/waiters/backoff/DefaultBackoffStrategyTest.java b/client/client-waiters/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/client/waiters/backoff/DefaultBackoffStrategyTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7230312814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/client-waiters/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/client/waiters/backoff/DefaultBackoffStrategyTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+package software.amazon.smithy.java.client.waiters.backoff;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+public class DefaultBackoffStrategyTest {
+
+    private static final long REMAINING = Long.MAX_VALUE / 2;
+
+    @Test
+    void earlyAttemptDoesNotThrowWhenComputedDelayIsBelowMinDelay() {
+        // Regression: on early attempts Math.pow(minDelay*2, attempt) can be <= minDelay
+        // (e.g. attempt=0 with minDelay=2 gives 1). The upper bound then fell below the
+        // origin and Random.nextLong(origin, bound) threw IllegalArgumentException, breaking
+        // the very first retry of any waiter using the default (2ms) min delay.
+        var strategy = BackoffStrategy.getDefault(2L, 20L);
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> strategy.computeNextDelayInMills(0, REMAINING));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void defaultStrategyDoesNotThrowOnFirstAttempt() {
+        // The default min delay (2ms) is exactly the value that triggered the bug.
+        var strategy = BackoffStrategy.getDefault();
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> strategy.computeNextDelayInMills(0, REMAINING));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void delayStaysWithinBoundsAcrossAttempts() {
+        long minDelay = 2;
+        long maxDelay = 20;
+        var strategy = BackoffStrategy.getDefault(minDelay, maxDelay);
+        // Sweep early attempts (including the buggy attempt=0) and beyond the attempt ceiling.
+        for (int attempt = 0; attempt < 64; attempt++) {
+            long delay = strategy.computeNextDelayInMills(attempt, REMAINING);
+            assertTrue(
+                    delay >= minDelay && delay <= maxDelay,
+                    "attempt " + attempt + " produced out-of-range delay: " + delay);
+        }
+    }
+}