diff --git a/doc/APIreference/APItypes.rst b/doc/APIreference/APItypes.rst
index eda4dc70..355eb3a7 100644
--- a/doc/APIreference/APItypes.rst
+++ b/doc/APIreference/APItypes.rst
@@ -1871,7 +1871,10 @@ mjfOpenResource
 
    typedef int (*mjfOpenResource)(mjResource* resource);
 
-This callback is for opening a resource; returns zero on failure.
+This callback is for opening a resource; returns zero on failure. Note that
+if this callback returns zero, the ``close`` callback will not be called.
+Therefore, the ``open`` callback is responsible for cleaning up any allocated
+memory or resources before returning zero to avoid memory leaks.
 
 .. _mjfReadResource:
 
diff --git a/include/mujoco/mjplugin.h b/include/mujoco/mjplugin.h
index a0ee0076..e1656d34 100644
--- a/include/mujoco/mjplugin.h
+++ b/include/mujoco/mjplugin.h
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ struct mjResource_ {
 };
 typedef struct mjResource_ mjResource;
 
-// callback for opening a resource, returns zero on failure
+// callback for opening a resource, returns zero on failure.
+// Note: If opening fails, the close callback will not be called. Therefore, the
+// open callback is responsible for cleaning up any allocated memory before
+// returning 0.
 typedef int (*mjfOpenResource)(mjResource* resource);
 
 // callback for reading a resource
diff --git a/python/mujoco/experimental/studio/native_viewer.cc b/python/mujoco/experimental/studio/native_viewer.cc
index 71d6cf51..3cc587d4 100644
--- a/python/mujoco/experimental/studio/native_viewer.cc
+++ b/python/mujoco/experimental/studio/native_viewer.cc
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ class Viewer {
     resource_provider.open = [](mjResource* resource) {
       auto* data = new ResourceData();
       data->bytes = LoadAsset(resource->name);
+      if (data->bytes.empty()) {
+        delete data;
+        return 0;
+      }
       resource->data = data;
       return static_cast<int>(data->bytes.size());
     };
@@ -135,9 +139,7 @@ class Viewer {
                                   bytes_per_pixel);
   }
 
-  std::string GetDropFile() {
-    return window_->GetDropFile();
-  }
+  std::string GetDropFile() { return window_->GetDropFile(); }
 
   void Present(const mujoco::python::MjModelWrapper& model,
                mujoco::python::MjDataWrapper& data,
diff --git a/src/experimental/studio/main.cc b/src/experimental/studio/main.cc
index ca84aa4f..c6bc03e8 100644
--- a/src/experimental/studio/main.cc
+++ b/src/experimental/studio/main.cc
@@ -84,6 +84,10 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv, char** envp) {
   resource_provider.open = [](mjResource* resource) {
     const std::string resolved_path = Resolve(resource->name);
     FileResource* f = new FileResource(resolved_path);
+    if (f->Size() == 0) {
+      delete f;
+      return 0;
+    }
     resource->data = f;
     return f->Size();
   };