diff --git a/src/core/lib/event_engine/ares_resolver.cc b/src/core/lib/event_engine/ares_resolver.cc
index 70813eb649a..28568ba20d9 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/event_engine/ares_resolver.cc
+++ b/src/core/lib/event_engine/ares_resolver.cc
@@ -241,7 +241,13 @@ void AresResolver::LookupHostname(
              "Unparseable name: ", name))]() mutable { callback(status); });
     return;
   }
-  GPR_ASSERT(!host.empty());
+  if (host.empty()) {
+    event_engine_->Run([callback = std::move(callback),
+                        status = absl::InvalidArgumentError(absl::StrCat(
+                            "host must not be empty in name: ",
+                            name))]() mutable { callback(status); });
+    return;
+  }
   if (port_string.empty()) {
     if (default_port.empty()) {
       event_engine_->Run([callback = std::move(callback),
@@ -307,7 +313,13 @@ void AresResolver::LookupSRV(
              "Unparseable name: ", name))]() mutable { callback(status); });
     return;
   }
-  GPR_ASSERT(!host.empty());
+  if (host.empty()) {
+    event_engine_->Run([callback = std::move(callback),
+                        status = absl::InvalidArgumentError(absl::StrCat(
+                            "host must not be empty in name: ",
+                            name))]() mutable { callback(status); });
+    return;
+  }
   // Don't query for SRV records if the target is "localhost"
   if (absl::EqualsIgnoreCase(host, "localhost")) {
     event_engine_->Run([callback = std::move(callback)]() mutable {
@@ -336,7 +348,13 @@ void AresResolver::LookupTXT(
              "Unparseable name: ", name))]() mutable { callback(status); });
     return;
   }
-  GPR_ASSERT(!host.empty());
+  if (host.empty()) {
+    event_engine_->Run([callback = std::move(callback),
+                        status = absl::InvalidArgumentError(absl::StrCat(
+                            "host must not be empty in name: ",
+                            name))]() mutable { callback(status); });
+    return;
+  }
   // Don't query for TXT records if the target is "localhost"
   if (absl::EqualsIgnoreCase(host, "localhost")) {
     event_engine_->Run([callback = std::move(callback)]() mutable {
diff --git a/test/core/event_engine/test_suite/tests/dns_test.cc b/test/core/event_engine/test_suite/tests/dns_test.cc
index 587b7094f97..909fb34e03e 100644
--- a/test/core/event_engine/test_suite/tests/dns_test.cc
+++ b/test/core/event_engine/test_suite/tests/dns_test.cc
@@ -591,4 +591,9 @@ TEST_F(EventEngineDNSTest, UnparseableHostPortsBadLocalhostWithPort) {
   TestUnparseableHostPort(CreateDNSResolverWithoutSpecifyingServer(),
                           &dns_resolver_signal_, "[localhost]:1");
 }
+
+TEST_F(EventEngineDNSTest, UnparseableHostPortsEmptyHostname) {
+  TestUnparseableHostPort(CreateDNSResolverWithoutSpecifyingServer(),
+                          &dns_resolver_signal_, ":443");
+}
 // END