diff --git a/src/roboticstoolbox/ets/cpp-extensions/ik.cpp b/src/roboticstoolbox/ets/cpp-extensions/ik.cpp
index 937fa3bad..8196ac455 100644
--- a/src/roboticstoolbox/ets/cpp-extensions/ik.cpp
+++ b/src/roboticstoolbox/ets/cpp-extensions/ik.cpp
@@ -7,9 +7,13 @@
 
 #include <Python.h>
 #include <math.h>
+#include <cmath>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <functional>
 #include <Eigen/Dense>
+#include <nanobind/nanobind.h>
+
+namespace nb = nanobind;
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Shared loop kernel — all five IK solvers use this.
@@ -290,6 +294,19 @@ extern "C"
         Eigen::Map<Eigen::ArrayXd> qlim_l(ets->qlim_l, ets->n);
         Eigen::Map<Eigen::ArrayXd> q_range2(ets->q_range2, ets->n);
 
+        // A joint with a non-finite limit (inf/-inf/NaN, typically a bad
+        // value baked into a robot model's own joint-limit data) would
+        // otherwise silently propagate inf/NaN into q below, with no
+        // diagnostic at all -- mirrors the equivalent check in the
+        // pure-Python solver path (IK.py's _random_q()).
+        for (int i = 0; i < ets->n; i++)
+        {
+            if (!std::isfinite(qlim_l(i)) || !std::isfinite(q_range2(i)))
+                throw nb::value_error(
+                    "Joint limit(s) are not finite -- can't generate a "
+                    "random configuration within an infinite/undefined range.");
+        }
+
         q = VectorX::Random(ets->n);
 
         q = (q.array() + 1) * q_range2;
diff --git a/src/roboticstoolbox/robot/IK.py b/src/roboticstoolbox/robot/IK.py
index 075412b3c..15155e7fe 100644
--- a/src/roboticstoolbox/robot/IK.py
+++ b/src/roboticstoolbox/robot/IK.py
@@ -406,24 +406,35 @@ def _random_q(self, ets: "rtb.ETS", i: int = 1) -> np.ndarray:
         :returns: An ``i x n`` ndarray of random valid joint configurations, where n
             is the number of joints in the ``ets``
         :rtype: numpy.ndarray
+        :raises ValueError: a joint's qlim is not finite (e.g. ``inf``/``-inf``
+            or ``NaN``, typically from a bad value in a robot model's own
+            joint-limit data)
 
         Generates a random q vector within the joint limits defined by ``ets.qlim``.
         """
 
+        qlim = ets.qlim
+
+        if not np.all(np.isfinite(qlim)):
+            bad = np.flatnonzero(~np.all(np.isfinite(qlim), axis=0))
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Joint limit(s) for joint index(es) {bad.tolist()} are not "
+                f"finite (qlim={qlim[:, bad].tolist()}) -- can't generate a "
+                "random configuration within an infinite/undefined range."
+            )
+
         if i == 1:
             q = np.zeros((1, ets.n))
 
             for i in range(ets.n):
-                q[0, i] = self._private_random.uniform(ets.qlim[0, i], ets.qlim[1, i])
+                q[0, i] = self._private_random.uniform(qlim[0, i], qlim[1, i])
 
         else:
             q = np.zeros((i, ets.n))
 
             for j in range(i):
                 for i in range(ets.n):
-                    q[j, i] = self._private_random.uniform(
-                        ets.qlim[0, i], ets.qlim[1, i]
-                    )
+                    q[j, i] = self._private_random.uniform(qlim[0, i], qlim[1, i])
 
         return q
 
diff --git a/tests/test_IK.py b/tests/test_IK.py
index 7c5858fef..412aaad59 100644
--- a/tests/test_IK.py
+++ b/tests/test_IK.py
@@ -846,6 +846,37 @@ def test_iter_iksol(self):
         self.assertEqual(e, 0.1)
         self.assertEqual(f, "")
 
+    def test_random_q_rejects_non_finite_qlim(self):
+        # _random_q() used to sample straight from ets.qlim with no check --
+        # a joint with a bad (non-finite) limit baked into its model data
+        # would silently produce garbage (NaN, or an opaque numpy internal
+        # error) instead of a clear diagnostic. A finite joint's random_q
+        # should be unaffected.
+        et = rtb.ET.Rz(qlim=[-np.inf, np.inf])
+        ets = rtb.ETS([et])
+        solver = rtb.IK_LM()
+
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            solver._random_q(ets, 1)
+
+        good_et = rtb.ET.Rz(qlim=[-np.pi, np.pi])
+        good_ets = rtb.ETS([good_et])
+        q = solver._random_q(good_ets, 5)
+        self.assertTrue(np.all(np.isfinite(q)))
+        self.assertEqual(q.shape, (5, 1))
+
+    def test_ik_lm_c_rejects_non_finite_qlim(self):
+        # Same guard, mirrored in the compiled fast-path solver (ets.ik_LM(),
+        # backed by ik.cpp's own _rand_q()) -- this is a genuinely separate
+        # implementation from IK_LM/_random_q() above, and used to silently
+        # return a NaN "solution" (success=0) after burning through every
+        # random restart, rather than raising.
+        et = rtb.ET.Rz(qlim=[-np.inf, np.inf])
+        ets = rtb.ETS([et])
+
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            ets.ik_LM(np.eye(4))
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()