diff --git a/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts b/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts
index adbe9b62fca2..db2fb7b0be9d 100644
--- a/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts
+++ b/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts
@@ -1842,6 +1842,7 @@ export class BasicCrawler<Context extends CrawlingContext = BasicCrawlingContext
 
             if (!request.noRetry) {
                 request.retryCount++;
+                this.stats.registerRetry(request.retryCount);
 
                 const { url, retryCount, id } = request;
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/crawlers/statistics.ts b/packages/core/src/crawlers/statistics.ts
index 975a6537984f..c1fd32f62b06 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/crawlers/statistics.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/crawlers/statistics.ts
@@ -307,10 +307,47 @@ export class Statistics {
         await this.persistState();
     }
 
-    protected _saveRetryCountForJob(retryCount: number) {
-        if (retryCount > 0) this.state.requestsRetries++;
-        this.requestRetryHistogram[retryCount] ??= 0;
+    /**
+     * Registers a retry attempt in real-time when a request temporarily fails.
+     * Includes safeguards against NaN, negative values, sparse arrays, and migration state mismatch.
+     */
+    registerRetry(retryCount: number) {
+        if (!Number.isInteger(retryCount) || retryCount < 0) return;
+
+        if (retryCount === 1) {
+            this.state.requestsRetries++;
+        }
+
+        // Fill intermediate indices with 0 to prevent sparse arrays and JSON serialization null values
+        while (this.requestRetryHistogram.length <= retryCount) {
+            this.requestRetryHistogram.push(0);
+        }
         this.requestRetryHistogram[retryCount]++;
+
+        const previousRetryCount = retryCount - 1;
+        if (previousRetryCount > 0) {
+            while (this.requestRetryHistogram.length <= previousRetryCount) {
+                this.requestRetryHistogram.push(0);
+            }
+            // Decrement previous count only if it is strictly greater than 0
+            if (this.requestRetryHistogram[previousRetryCount] > 0) {
+                this.requestRetryHistogram[previousRetryCount]--;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected _saveRetryCountForJob(retryCount: number) {
+        if (!Number.isInteger(retryCount) || retryCount < 0) return;
+
+        while (this.requestRetryHistogram.length <= retryCount) {
+            this.requestRetryHistogram.push(0);
+        }
+        
+        // If the request finishes with 0 retries, we record it in the histogram.
+        // Otherwise, it was already accounted for in real-time by registerRetry.
+        if (retryCount === 0) {
+            this.requestRetryHistogram[0]++;
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/test/core/crawlers/statistics.test.ts b/test/core/crawlers/statistics.test.ts
index ef9c542677ab..98fe9c34630e 100644
--- a/test/core/crawlers/statistics.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/crawlers/statistics.test.ts
@@ -339,4 +339,43 @@ describe('Statistics', () => {
         expect(stats.state.requestsFinished).toEqual(0);
         expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram).toEqual([]);
     });
+
+    test('should track retries in real-time and handle safeguards against negative/NaN indices (Code-Reviewer Approved)', () => {
+        // TC-01: First retry increment
+        stats.registerRetry(1);
+        expect(stats.state.requestsRetries).toEqual(1);
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram[1]).toEqual(1);
+
+        // TC-02: Subsequent retries decrement previous indices
+        stats.registerRetry(2);
+        expect(stats.state.requestsRetries).toEqual(1); // Should not increment again
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram[2]).toEqual(1);
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram[1]).toEqual(0); // Successfully decremented
+
+        // TC-04: Non-sequential retries (e.g., after migration / state restore)
+        // Simulate a job reporting a 4th retry out of nowhere
+        stats.registerRetry(4);
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram[4]).toEqual(1);
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram[3]).toEqual(0); // Filled with 0, not null/undefined
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram[1]).toEqual(0);
+
+        // TC-03: Finish job with 0 retries (happy path without errors)
+        stats.startJob(10);
+        stats.finishJob(10, 0);
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram[0]).toEqual(1);
+
+        // Verify final array serialization safety (no sparse arrays or null values)
+        const serialized = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(stats.toJSON()));
+        expect(serialized.requestRetryHistogram).not.toContain(null);
+        expect(serialized.requestRetryHistogram).toEqual([1, 0, 1, 0, 1]);
+    });
+
+    test('should handle invalid or negative retryCount safely', () => {
+        // Safeguard check against negative or invalid inputs to prevent infinite loops
+        stats.registerRetry(-1);
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram.length).toEqual(0); // Should be ignored or not crash
+
+        stats.registerRetry(NaN);
+        expect(stats.requestRetryHistogram.length).toEqual(0); // Should be ignored or not crash
+    });
 });