diff --git a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/ryml_document.h b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/ryml_document.h
index 9d464e63be..7f22660902 100644
--- a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/ryml_document.h
+++ b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/ryml_document.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class RymlDocument : public Document
 public:
   static std::unique_ptr<Document> Parse(const std::string &source, const std::string &content);
 
-  RymlDocument() {}
+  RymlDocument() : event_handler_(MakeCallbacks()) {}
   RymlDocument(RymlDocument &&)                      = delete;
   RymlDocument(const RymlDocument &)                 = delete;
   RymlDocument &operator=(RymlDocument &&)           = delete;
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ class RymlDocument : public Document
   DocumentNodeLocation Location(ryml::ConstNodeRef node) const;
 
 private:
+  static ryml::Callbacks MakeCallbacks();
+  [[noreturn]] static void OnError(const char *msg,
+                                   size_t msg_len,
+                                   ryml::Location location,
+                                   void *user_data);
+
   ryml::ParserOptions opts_;
   ryml::Parser::handler_type event_handler_;
   std::unique_ptr<ryml::Parser> parser_;
diff --git a/sdk/src/configuration/ryml_document.cc b/sdk/src/configuration/ryml_document.cc
index 83a067455e..ac0e051c2e 100644
--- a/sdk/src/configuration/ryml_document.cc
+++ b/sdk/src/configuration/ryml_document.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+#include <stddef.h>
 #include <exception>
 #include <memory>
 #include <ostream>
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/common/global_log_handler.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/document.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/document_node.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/invalid_schema_exception.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/ryml_document.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/configuration/ryml_document_node.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/version.h"
@@ -21,6 +23,30 @@ namespace sdk
 namespace configuration
 {
 
+// Custom ryml error callback that throws instead of calling abort().
+// This ensures the try-catch in ParseDocument works regardless of how
+// ryml was compiled (with or without RYML_DEFAULT_CALLBACK_USES_EXCEPTIONS).
+void RymlDocument::OnError(const char *msg,
+                           size_t msg_len,
+                           ryml::Location location,
+                           void * /*user_data*/)
+{
+  DocumentNodeLocation loc;
+  loc.offset   = location.offset;
+  loc.line     = location.line;
+  loc.col      = location.col;
+  loc.filename = std::string(location.name.str, location.name.len);
+
+  throw InvalidSchemaException(loc, std::string(msg, msg_len));
+}
+
+ryml::Callbacks RymlDocument::MakeCallbacks()
+{
+  ryml::Callbacks cb = ryml::get_callbacks();
+  cb.m_error         = &RymlDocument::OnError;
+  return cb;
+}
+
 std::unique_ptr<Document> RymlDocument::Parse(const std::string &source, const std::string &content)
 {
   auto doc     = std::make_unique<RymlDocument>();
diff --git a/sdk/test/configuration/yaml_test.cc b/sdk/test/configuration/yaml_test.cc
index 9b8f2212f9..180dbe1b6e 100644
--- a/sdk/test/configuration/yaml_test.cc
+++ b/sdk/test/configuration/yaml_test.cc
@@ -717,3 +717,26 @@ file_format: "1.0"
   auto config = DoParse(yaml);
   ASSERT_EQ(config, nullptr);
 }
+
+TEST(Yaml, malformed_yaml)
+{
+  // "headers" is indented under "client_certificate" instead of "otlp_http"
+  std::string yaml = R"(
+file_format: "1.0"
+tracer_provider:
+  processors:
+    - simple:
+        exporter:
+          otlp_http:
+            endpoint: http://localhost:4318/v1/traces
+            certificate: /app/cert.pem
+            client_key: /app/cert.pem
+            client_certificate: /app/cert.pem
+              headers:
+                - name: header_name
+                  value: header_value
+)";
+
+  auto config = DoParse(yaml);
+  ASSERT_EQ(config, nullptr);
+}