diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/lib.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/lib.rs
index 8cba650b79770..0d22313c07031 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/lib.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/lib.rs
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ pub mod filter_pushdown;
 pub mod joins;
 pub mod limit;
 pub mod memory;
+pub mod memory_guard;
 pub mod metrics;
 pub mod operator_statistics;
 pub mod placeholder_row;
diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/memory_guard.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/memory_guard.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..95adef472a897
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/memory_guard.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering};
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use datafusion_execution::memory_pool::{MemoryConsumer, MemoryPool, MemoryReservation};
+use datafusion_common::DataFusionError;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct OperatorMemoryGuard {
+    consumer: MemoryConsumer,
+    used: AtomicUsize,
+}
+
+impl OperatorMemoryGuard {
+    pub fn new(name: &str, pool: &Arc<dyn MemoryPool>) -> Self {
+        let consumer = MemoryConsumer::new(name).register(pool);
+        Self { consumer, used: AtomicUsize::new(0) }
+    }
+
+    pub fn try_reserve(&self, bytes: usize) -> Result<MemoryReservation, DataFusionError> {
+        if bytes == 0 { return self.consumer.try_reserve(0).map_err(|e| DataFusionError::ResourcesExhausted(e.to_string())); }
+        let current = self.used.load(Ordering::Relaxed);
+        let next = current.saturating_add(bytes);
+        let reservation = self.consumer.try_reserve(bytes).map_err(|e| DataFusionError::ResourcesExhausted(format!("operator memory budget exceeded: {e}")))?;
+        self.used.store(next, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        Ok(reservation)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/tests/memory_guard.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/tests/memory_guard.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..117e7bb1cb33d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/tests/memory_guard.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#[test]
+fn guard_rejects_when_pool_exhausted() {
+    // placeholder unit test skeleton; concrete pool plumbing uses GreedyMemoryPool
+}