diff --git a/promql/engine.go b/promql/engine.go
index 5b54ad9649..b06a57be0d 100644
--- a/promql/engine.go
+++ b/promql/engine.go
@@ -2279,12 +2279,13 @@ func (ev *evaluator) eval(ctx context.Context, expr parser.Expr) (parser.Value,
 						counter++
 					}
 				}
-				var samplesReadCount int64
+				var maxt int64
 				// Evaluate the matrix selector for this series
 				// for this step, but only if this is the 1st
 				// iteration or no @ modifier has been used.
-				if ts == ev.startTimestamp || selVS.Timestamp == nil {
-					maxt := ts - offset
+				refetch := ts == ev.startTimestamp || selVS.Timestamp == nil
+				if refetch {
+					maxt = ts - offset
 					mint := maxt - selRange
 					switch {
 					case selVS.Anchored:
@@ -2294,16 +2295,9 @@ func (ev *evaluator) eval(ctx context.Context, expr parser.Expr) (parser.Value,
 						maxt += durationMilliseconds(ev.lookbackDelta)
 					}
 					floats, histograms, startTimestamps = ev.matrixIterSlice(it, mint, maxt, floats, histograms, startTimestamps)
-					// For subquery-derived matrices, SamplesRead was already counted
-					// inside evalSubquery via MergeSamplesReadFromSubquery; skip here
-					// to avoid double-counting the storage I/O.
-					if !matrixFromSubquery {
-						if step == 0 {
-							samplesReadCount = int64(len(floats) + totalHPointSize(histograms))
-						} else {
-							samplesReadCount = countSamplesAfter(floats, histograms, maxt-ev.interval)
-						}
-					}
+				}
+				if len(floats)+len(histograms) == 0 {
+					continue
 				}
 				// fullWindowCount reflects the matrix window consumed at this
 				// step. With an @ modifier the same window is reused across all
@@ -2311,8 +2305,18 @@ func (ev *evaluator) eval(ctx context.Context, expr parser.Expr) (parser.Value,
 				// this after the conditional re-fetch handles both cases
 				// uniformly.
 				fullWindowCount := int64(len(floats) + totalHPointSize(histograms))
-				if len(floats)+len(histograms) == 0 {
-					continue
+				// For subquery-derived matrices, SamplesRead was already counted
+				// inside evalSubquery via MergeSamplesReadFromSubquery; skip here
+				// to avoid double-counting the storage I/O. On step 0 the full
+				// window is new; on later steps only points past the previous
+				// step's cutoff are new.
+				var samplesReadCount int64
+				if refetch && !matrixFromSubquery {
+					if step == 0 {
+						samplesReadCount = fullWindowCount
+					} else {
+						samplesReadCount = countSamplesAfter(floats, histograms, maxt-ev.interval)
+					}
 				}
 				inMatrix[0].Floats = floats
 				inMatrix[0].Histograms = histograms
@@ -2323,7 +2327,7 @@ func (ev *evaluator) eval(ctx context.Context, expr parser.Expr) (parser.Value,
 				outVec, annos := call(vectorVals, inMatrix, e.Args, enh)
 				warnings.Merge(annos)
 				ev.samplesStats.IncrementSamplesAtStep(step, fullWindowCount)
-				if !matrixFromSubquery {
+				if samplesReadCount > 0 {
 					ev.samplesStats.IncrementSamplesReadAtStep(step, samplesReadCount)
 				}
 
diff --git a/promql/value.go b/promql/value.go
index 40f010152d..c35e525f3f 100644
--- a/promql/value.go
+++ b/promql/value.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
-	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -193,19 +192,20 @@ func totalHPointSize(histograms []HPoint) int {
 // countSamplesAfter returns the number of sample equivalents in floats and histograms
 // with timestamp strictly after cutoff. Float samples count as 1; histogram samples
 // count via HPoint.size. Used for range-vector sample stats to count only new points per step.
+//
+// Both slices are sorted by timestamp ascending. We scan backwards from the end
+// because the call site uses cutoff = maxt - interval, which is typically close
+// to the end of the window, so only the last one or two points satisfy the
+// predicate. Backwards linear scan is O(k) for k matches and avoids the closure
+// overhead that sort.Search imposes on these very small slices.
 func countSamplesAfter(floats []FPoint, histograms []HPoint, cutoff int64) int64 {
 	var n int64
-
-	// Both slices are sorted by timestamp; binary-search for the first
-	// element after cutoff then count from there.
-	i := sort.Search(len(floats), func(i int) bool { return floats[i].T > cutoff })
-	n += int64(len(floats) - i)
-
-	j := sort.Search(len(histograms), func(j int) bool { return histograms[j].T > cutoff })
-	for _, h := range histograms[j:] {
-		n += int64(h.size())
+	for i := len(floats) - 1; i >= 0 && floats[i].T > cutoff; i-- {
+		n++
+	}
+	for i := len(histograms) - 1; i >= 0 && histograms[i].T > cutoff; i-- {
+		n += int64(histograms[i].size())
 	}
-
 	return n
 }