diff --git a/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometConf.scala b/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometConf.scala
index 480eafdcb7..128de4544f 100644
--- a/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometConf.scala
+++ b/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometConf.scala
@@ -365,11 +365,26 @@ object CometConf extends ShimCometConf {
   val COMET_REPLACE_SMJ: ConfigEntry[Boolean] =
     conf(s"$COMET_EXEC_CONFIG_PREFIX.replaceSortMergeJoin")
       .category(CATEGORY_EXEC)
-      .doc("Experimental feature to force Spark to replace SortMergeJoin with ShuffledHashJoin " +
-        s"for improved performance. This feature is not stable yet. $TUNING_GUIDE.")
+      .doc("Experimental feature to replace SortMergeJoin with ShuffledHashJoin " +
+        "for improved performance. When enabled, Comet will only rewrite a " +
+        "SortMergeJoin to a ShuffledHashJoin if the build side is estimated to " +
+        "fit in memory (using Spark's autoBroadcastJoinThreshold * " +
+        "numShufflePartitions) and is significantly smaller than the probe side " +
+        s"(controlled by replaceSortMergeJoin.sizeRatio). $TUNING_GUIDE.")
       .booleanConf
       .createWithDefault(false)
 
+  val COMET_REPLACE_SMJ_SIZE_RATIO: ConfigEntry[Int] =
+    conf(s"$COMET_EXEC_CONFIG_PREFIX.replaceSortMergeJoin.sizeRatio")
+      .category(CATEGORY_EXEC)
+      .doc("Minimum ratio of probe side size to build side size required when " +
+        "replacing SortMergeJoin with ShuffledHashJoin. Building a hash table is " +
+        "more expensive than sorting, so the build side should be significantly " +
+        "smaller than the probe side. Matches Spark's " +
+        s"spark.sql.shuffledHashJoinFactor behavior. $TUNING_GUIDE.")
+      .intConf
+      .createWithDefault(3)
+
   val COMET_EXEC_SHUFFLE_WITH_HASH_PARTITIONING_ENABLED: ConfigEntry[Boolean] =
     conf("spark.comet.native.shuffle.partitioning.hash.enabled")
       .category(CATEGORY_SHUFFLE)
diff --git a/docs/source/user-guide/latest/tuning.md b/docs/source/user-guide/latest/tuning.md
index 5939e89ef3..1a5ee93724 100644
--- a/docs/source/user-guide/latest/tuning.md
+++ b/docs/source/user-guide/latest/tuning.md
@@ -116,6 +116,18 @@ to test with both for your specific workloads.
 
 To configure Comet to convert `SortMergeJoin` to `ShuffledHashJoin`, set `spark.comet.exec.replaceSortMergeJoin=true`.
 
+When this feature is enabled, Comet uses statistics-based guards to only rewrite joins where the build side is
+estimated to fit in memory. Specifically:
+
+- The build side must be small enough that each partition's hash table fits in memory, using Spark's
+  `autoBroadcastJoinThreshold * numShufflePartitions` as the threshold (matching Spark's own `canBuildLocalHashMapBySize`
+  logic).
+- The build side must be significantly smaller than the probe side. The required ratio is controlled by
+  `spark.comet.exec.replaceSortMergeJoin.sizeRatio` (default: 3), matching Spark's `SHUFFLE_HASH_JOIN_FACTOR`.
+
+If either check fails, the `SortMergeJoin` is kept as-is. To understand why a specific join was not rewritten, enable
+`spark.comet.explainFallback.enabled=true` and check the logs.
+
 ## Shuffle
 
 Comet provides accelerated shuffle implementations that can be used to improve the performance of your queries.
diff --git a/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/rules/RewriteJoin.scala b/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/rules/RewriteJoin.scala
index a4d31a59ac..a970f70717 100644
--- a/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/rules/RewriteJoin.scala
+++ b/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/rules/RewriteJoin.scala
@@ -24,13 +24,16 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.{LeftAnti, LeftSemi}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.logical.Join
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.{SortExec, SparkPlan}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.joins.{ShuffledHashJoinExec, SortMergeJoinExec}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.SQLConf
 
+import org.apache.comet.CometConf
 import org.apache.comet.CometSparkSessionExtensions.withInfo
 
 /**
  * Adapted from equivalent rule in Apache Gluten.
  *
- * This rule replaces [[SortMergeJoinExec]] with [[ShuffledHashJoinExec]].
+ * This rule replaces [[SortMergeJoinExec]] with [[ShuffledHashJoinExec]] when the build side
+ * is estimated to fit in memory and is significantly smaller than the probe side.
  */
 object RewriteJoin extends JoinSelectionHelper {
 
@@ -64,6 +67,59 @@ object RewriteJoin extends JoinSelectionHelper {
     case _ => plan
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Check whether the build side of a join is small enough to rewrite from SortMergeJoin
+   * to ShuffledHashJoin. Uses two checks mirroring Spark's JoinSelection logic:
+   *
+   * 1. Per-partition size: build side size / numShufflePartitions must be less than
+   *    autoBroadcastJoinThreshold (i.e., each partition's hash table fits in memory).
+   *    This matches Spark's canBuildLocalHashMapBySize().
+   *
+   * 2. Size ratio: the build side must be significantly smaller than the probe side,
+   *    controlled by spark.comet.exec.replaceSortMergeJoin.sizeRatio (default 3).
+   *    This matches Spark's muchSmaller() / SHUFFLE_HASH_JOIN_FACTOR.
+   *
+   * If no logical link with statistics is available, the rewrite is skipped to be safe.
+   */
+  private def canRewriteToHashJoin(
+      smj: SortMergeJoinExec,
+      buildSide: BuildSide): Option[String] = {
+    val conf = SQLConf.get
+    val sizeRatio = CometConf.COMET_REPLACE_SMJ_SIZE_RATIO.get()
+    val broadcastThreshold = conf.autoBroadcastJoinThreshold
+    val numPartitions = conf.numShufflePartitions
+
+    // If broadcast threshold is -1 (disabled), skip the per-partition check
+    // but still enforce the size ratio check
+    val maxBuildSize = if (broadcastThreshold > 0) {
+      broadcastThreshold * numPartitions
+    } else {
+      Long.MaxValue
+    }
+
+    smj.logicalLink match {
+      case Some(join: Join) =>
+        val (buildSize, probeSize) = buildSide match {
+          case BuildLeft => (join.left.stats.sizeInBytes, join.right.stats.sizeInBytes)
+          case BuildRight => (join.right.stats.sizeInBytes, join.left.stats.sizeInBytes)
+        }
+
+        if (maxBuildSize != Long.MaxValue && buildSize >= maxBuildSize) {
+          Some(s"build side too large: $buildSize bytes >= " +
+            s"autoBroadcastJoinThreshold($broadcastThreshold) * " +
+            s"numShufflePartitions($numPartitions) = $maxBuildSize bytes")
+        } else if (buildSize * sizeRatio > probeSize) {
+          Some(s"build side not much smaller than probe side: " +
+            s"buildSize($buildSize) * sizeRatio($sizeRatio) > probeSize($probeSize)")
+        } else {
+          None // OK to rewrite
+        }
+
+      case _ =>
+        Some("no logical plan statistics available to estimate join sizes")
+    }
+  }
+
   def rewrite(plan: SparkPlan): SparkPlan = plan match {
     case smj: SortMergeJoinExec =>
       getSmjBuildSide(smj) match {
@@ -76,15 +132,23 @@ object RewriteJoin extends JoinSelectionHelper {
               s"BuildRight with ${smj.joinType} is not supported")
           plan
         case Some(buildSide) =>
-          ShuffledHashJoinExec(
-            smj.leftKeys,
-            smj.rightKeys,
-            smj.joinType,
-            buildSide,
-            smj.condition,
-            removeSort(smj.left),
-            removeSort(smj.right),
-            smj.isSkewJoin)
+          canRewriteToHashJoin(smj, buildSide) match {
+            case Some(reason) =>
+              withInfo(
+                smj,
+                s"Not rewriting SortMergeJoin to HashJoin: $reason")
+              plan
+            case None =>
+              ShuffledHashJoinExec(
+                smj.leftKeys,
+                smj.rightKeys,
+                smj.joinType,
+                buildSide,
+                smj.condition,
+                removeSort(smj.left),
+                removeSort(smj.right),
+                smj.isSkewJoin)
+          }
         case _ => plan
       }
     case _ => plan