diff --git a/docs/root/start/sandboxes/kafka.rst b/docs/root/start/sandboxes/kafka.rst
index ae12f4dd525c6..6debfe8788db6 100644
--- a/docs/root/start/sandboxes/kafka.rst
+++ b/docs/root/start/sandboxes/kafka.rst
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ Start by creating a Kafka topic with the name ``envoy-kafka-broker``:
 .. code-block:: console
 
   $ export TOPIC="envoy-kafka-broker"
-  $ docker-compose run --rm kafka-client --bootstrap-server proxy:10000 --create --topic $TOPIC
+  $ docker-compose run --rm kafka-client kafka-topics --bootstrap-server proxy:10000 --create --topic $TOPIC
 
 
 Step 3: Check the Kafka topic
@@ -92,17 +92,23 @@ Step 6: Check admin ``kafka_broker`` stats
 
 When you proxy to the Kafka broker, Envoy records various stats.
 
-You can check the broker stats by querying the Envoy admin interface:
+You can check the broker stats by querying the Envoy admin interface
+(the numbers might differ a little as the kafka-client does not expose precise control over its network traffic):
 
 .. code-block:: console
 
-  $ curl -s "http://localhost:8001/stats?filter=kafka.kafka_broker" | grep -v ": 0"
-  kafka.kafka_broker.request.api_versions_request: 4
-  kafka.kafka_broker.request.find_coordinator_request: 1
-  kafka.kafka_broker.request.metadata_request: 4
-  kafka.kafka_broker.response.api_versions_response: 4
-  kafka.kafka_broker.response.find_coordinator_response: 1
-  kafka.kafka_broker.response.metadata_response: 4
+  $ curl -s "http://localhost:8001/stats?filter=kafka.kafka_broker" | grep -v ": 0" | grep "_request:"
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.api_versions_request: 9
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.create_topics_request: 1
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.fetch_request: 2
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.find_coordinator_request: 8
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.join_group_request: 2
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.leave_group_request: 1
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.list_offsets_request: 1
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.metadata_request: 12
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.offset_fetch_request: 1
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.produce_request: 1
+  kafka.kafka_broker.request.sync_group_request: 1
 
 
 Step 7: Check admin ``kafka_service`` cluster stats
diff --git a/examples/kafka/docker-compose.yaml b/examples/kafka/docker-compose.yaml
index 64882996a75d7..2c06cc79f329f 100644
--- a/examples/kafka/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/examples/kafka/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -27,9 +27,10 @@ services:
     environment:
       KAFKA_BROKER_ID: 1
       KAFKA_ZOOKEEPER_CONNECT: zookeeper:2181
-      # Listener value needs to be equal to cluster value in Envoy config
-      # (will receive payloads from Envoy).
-      KAFKA_LISTENER: INTERNAL://kafka-server:9092,EXTERNAL://proxy:10000
+      # This Kafka server instance sets up two listener sockets:
+      # - external one for client traffic (this traffic will go through Envoy proxy),
+      # - internal one for cluster traffic (if we add more brokers).
+      KAFKA_LISTENERS: INTERNAL://kafka-server:9092,EXTERNAL://kafka-server:10000
       # Advertised listener value needs to be equal to Envoy's listener
       # (will make clients discovering this broker talk to it through Envoy).
       KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS: INTERNAL://kafka-server:9092,EXTERNAL://proxy:10000
diff --git a/examples/kafka/envoy.yaml b/examples/kafka/envoy.yaml
index a758285d33b81..f6d762e594fa8 100644
--- a/examples/kafka/envoy.yaml
+++ b/examples/kafka/envoy.yaml
@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@ static_resources:
         - endpoint:
             address:
               socket_address:
+                # Kafka server's listener for client traffic ('EXTERNAL').
                 address: kafka-server
-                port_value: 9092
+                port_value: 10000
 
 admin:
   address:
diff --git a/examples/kafka/verify.sh b/examples/kafka/verify.sh
index 0652b13025c72..b12876bc385dc 100755
--- a/examples/kafka/verify.sh
+++ b/examples/kafka/verify.sh
@@ -30,18 +30,38 @@ run_log "Receive a message using the Kafka consumer"
 kafka_client kafka-console-consumer --bootstrap-server proxy:10000 --topic $TOPIC --from-beginning --max-messages 1 | grep "$MESSAGE"
 
 run_log "Check admin kafka_broker stats"
+
+# This function verifies whether a given metric exists and has a value > 0.
+has_metric_with_at_least_1 () {
+    local stat response value
+    stat="$1"
+    shift
+    response=$(_curl "http://localhost:${PORT_ADMIN}/stats?filter=${stat}")
+    # Extract number from rows like 'kafka.kafka_broker.request.api_versions_request: 123'.
+    value=$(echo "${response}" | grep "${stat}:" | cut -f2 -d':' | tr -d ' ')
+    re='^[0-9]+$'
+    [[ ${value} =~ ${re} && ${value} -gt 0 ]] || {
+        echo "ERROR: metric check for [${stat}]" >&2
+        echo "EXPECTED: numeric value greater than 0" >&2
+        echo "RECEIVED:" >&2
+        echo "${response}" >&2
+        return 1
+    }
+}
+
 EXPECTED_BROKER_STATS=(
-    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.api_versions_request: 4"
-    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.find_coordinator_request: 1"
-    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.metadata_request: 4"
-    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.api_versions_response: 4"
-    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.find_coordinator_response: 1"
-    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.metadata_response: 4")
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.api_versions_request"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.metadata_request"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.create_topics_request"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.produce_request"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.request.fetch_request"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.api_versions_response"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.metadata_response"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.create_topics_response"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.produce_response"
+    "kafka.kafka_broker.response.fetch_response")
 for stat in "${EXPECTED_BROKER_STATS[@]}"; do
-    filter="$(echo "$stat" | cut -d: -f1)"
-    responds_with \
-        "$stat" \
-        "http://localhost:${PORT_ADMIN}/stats?filter=${filter}"
+    has_metric_with_at_least_1 "${stat}"
 done
 
 run_log "Check admin kafka_service stats"