diff --git a/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_deterministic_location_test.go b/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_deterministic_location_test.go
index 8cccdddadc..256efb68c7 100644
--- a/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_deterministic_location_test.go
+++ b/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_deterministic_location_test.go
@@ -115,6 +115,9 @@ SELECT 'duckdb deterministic-location describe ok' AS marker;
 	t.Logf("DuckDB output:\n%s", outputStr)
 
 	if err != nil {
+		if testutil.IsIllegalInstruction(err) {
+			t.Skipf("DuckDB image cannot run on this CPU: %v", err)
+		}
 		// Tolerate environments where the Iceberg extension/version is too
 		// limited to exercise this code path. The intent is to gain
 		// coverage where it's available, not to require it everywhere.
diff --git a/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_oauth_test.go b/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_oauth_test.go
index 346cd2d096..aa151f48e3 100644
--- a/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_oauth_test.go
+++ b/test/s3tables/catalog/duckdb_oauth_test.go
@@ -351,6 +351,9 @@ SELECT 'DuckDB Iceberg OAuth secret created successfully' as result;
 	t.Logf("DuckDB output:\n%s", outputStr)
 
 	if err != nil {
+		if testutil.IsIllegalInstruction(err) {
+			t.Skipf("DuckDB image cannot run on this CPU: %v", err)
+		}
 		if strings.Contains(outputStr, "iceberg extension is not available") ||
 			strings.Contains(outputStr, "Failed to load") {
 			t.Skip("Skipping: Iceberg extension not available in DuckDB Docker image")
@@ -379,6 +382,9 @@ SELECT 'DuckDB Iceberg OAuth secret created successfully' as result;
 			t.Logf("DuckDB fallback output:\n%s", fallbackStr)
 
 			if fallbackErr != nil {
+				if testutil.IsIllegalInstruction(fallbackErr) {
+					t.Skipf("DuckDB image cannot run on this CPU: %v", fallbackErr)
+				}
 				if strings.Contains(fallbackStr, "NotFound_404") && strings.Contains(fallbackStr, "/v1/oauth/tokens") {
 					t.Fatal("OAuth token endpoint returned 404 - the fix is not working")
 				}
diff --git a/test/s3tables/catalog/iceberg_catalog_test.go b/test/s3tables/catalog/iceberg_catalog_test.go
index 908f54b176..d8490fa629 100644
--- a/test/s3tables/catalog/iceberg_catalog_test.go
+++ b/test/s3tables/catalog/iceberg_catalog_test.go
@@ -574,6 +574,9 @@ SELECT 'Iceberg extension loaded successfully' as result;
 	output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Logf("DuckDB output: %s", output)
+		if testutil.IsIllegalInstruction(err) {
+			t.Skipf("DuckDB image cannot run on this CPU: %v", err)
+		}
 		// Check for expected errors in certain CI environments
 		outputStr := string(output)
 		if strings.Contains(outputStr, "iceberg extension is not available") ||
diff --git a/test/s3tables/catalog/issue_9103_test.go b/test/s3tables/catalog/issue_9103_test.go
index be3dddbd13..0d2f86b360 100644
--- a/test/s3tables/catalog/issue_9103_test.go
+++ b/test/s3tables/catalog/issue_9103_test.go
@@ -218,6 +218,9 @@ SELECT * FROM test_catalog.%s.%s LIMIT 0;
 	}
 
 	if runErr != nil {
+		if testutil.IsIllegalInstruction(runErr) {
+			t.Skipf("DuckDB image cannot run on this CPU: %v", runErr)
+		}
 		if strings.Contains(outStr, "does not exist because schema") &&
 			strings.Contains(outStr, namespace) {
 			t.Fatalf("reproduced issue #9103: DuckDB cannot see namespace %q after ATTACH 's3://%s/'; see output above",
diff --git a/test/s3tables/catalog/lance_client_test.go b/test/s3tables/catalog/lance_client_test.go
index e44d032060..a9abac6f42 100644
--- a/test/s3tables/catalog/lance_client_test.go
+++ b/test/s3tables/catalog/lance_client_test.go
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@ package catalog
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/s3api/s3tables"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/test/testutil"
+	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/s3api/s3tables"
 )
 
 // TestLanceNamespaceRealClient drives the namespace with the Lance client rather
@@ -58,6 +60,9 @@ func TestLanceNamespaceRealClient(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Logf("Running Lance client test against %s", namespaceURL)
 	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		if testutil.IsIllegalInstruction(err) {
+			t.Skipf("Lance client image cannot run on this CPU: %v", err)
+		}
 		t.Errorf("Lance client test failed: %v", err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/test/s3tables/catalog_lancedb/lancedb_catalog_test.go b/test/s3tables/catalog_lancedb/lancedb_catalog_test.go
index 96613937c0..be45fd7f18 100644
--- a/test/s3tables/catalog_lancedb/lancedb_catalog_test.go
+++ b/test/s3tables/catalog_lancedb/lancedb_catalog_test.go
@@ -272,6 +272,9 @@ func (env *environment) runClient(t *testing.T, bucket string) {
 	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	t.Logf("LanceDB client output:\n%s", out)
 	if err != nil {
+		if testutil.IsIllegalInstruction(err) {
+			t.Skipf("LanceDB client image cannot run on this CPU: %v", err)
+		}
 		t.Fatalf("the LanceDB client failed: %v", err)
 	}
 	if !strings.Contains(string(out), "PASS") {
diff --git a/test/s3tables/catalog_risingwave/setup_test.go b/test/s3tables/catalog_risingwave/setup_test.go
index 155c390eed..f2adf83433 100644
--- a/test/s3tables/catalog_risingwave/setup_test.go
+++ b/test/s3tables/catalog_risingwave/setup_test.go
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ func (env *TestEnvironment) StartRisingWave(t *testing.T) {
 	if output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to start RisingWave container: %v\n%s", err, string(output))
 	}
+	env.checkRisingWaveContainer(t)
 
 	// Start a sidecar postgres container for running psql commands
 	sidecarName := "seaweed-risingwave-sidecar-" + randomString(8)
@@ -205,6 +206,7 @@ func (env *TestEnvironment) StartRisingWave(t *testing.T) {
 		"sleep", "infinity",
 	)
 	if output, err := sidecarCmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
+		env.checkRisingWaveContainer(t)
 		t.Fatalf("failed to start postgres sidecar: %v\n%s", err, string(output))
 	}
 
@@ -220,6 +222,7 @@ func (env *TestEnvironment) waitForRisingWave(timeout time.Duration) bool {
 	deadline := time.Now().Add(timeout)
 	env.t.Logf(">>> Waiting for RisingWave to be ready (timeout %v)...\n", timeout)
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		env.checkRisingWaveContainer(env.t)
 		if output, err := runPostgresClientSQL(env.postgresSidecar, "SELECT 1;"); err == nil {
 			env.t.Logf(">>> RisingWave is ready.\n")
 			return true
@@ -231,6 +234,26 @@ func (env *TestEnvironment) waitForRisingWave(timeout time.Duration) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func (env *TestEnvironment) checkRisingWaveContainer(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+	out, err := exec.Command("docker", "inspect", "--format", "{{.State.Running}} {{.State.ExitCode}} {{.State.OOMKilled}}", env.risingwaveContainer).CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("inspect RisingWave container: %v\n%s", err, out)
+	}
+	state := strings.Fields(string(out))
+	if len(state) != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected RisingWave container state: %s", out)
+	}
+	if state[0] == "true" {
+		return
+	}
+	if state[1] == "132" && state[2] == "false" {
+		t.Skip("RisingWave image exited with illegal instruction on this CPU")
+	}
+	logs, _ := exec.Command("docker", "logs", env.risingwaveContainer).CombinedOutput()
+	t.Fatalf("RisingWave container exited before it became ready (code %s, OOM killed: %s):\n%s", state[1], state[2], logs)
+}
+
 func runPostgresClientSQL(containerName, sql string) ([]byte, error) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
diff --git a/test/testutil/helpers.go b/test/testutil/helpers.go
index 8d2d6b2806..e0eafb33f3 100644
--- a/test/testutil/helpers.go
+++ b/test/testutil/helpers.go
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ func RequireImageRunnable(t *testing.T, args ...string) {
 	}
 }
 
+func IsIllegalInstruction(err error) bool {
+	var exitErr *exec.ExitError
+	return errors.As(err, &exitErr) && exitErr.ExitCode() == 132
+}
+
 func FindBindIP() string {
 	addrs, err := net.InterfaceAddrs()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/test/testutil/helpers_test.go b/test/testutil/helpers_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..efc302fc6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/testutil/helpers_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package testutil
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strconv"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestIsIllegalInstruction(t *testing.T) {
+	if code := os.Getenv("SEAWEEDFS_TEST_EXIT_CODE"); code != "" {
+		status, _ := strconv.Atoi(code)
+		os.Exit(status)
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name string
+		code string
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"illegal instruction", "132", true},
+		{"ordinary failure", "1", false},
+		{"out of memory", "137", false},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			cmd := exec.Command(os.Args[0], "-test.run=^TestIsIllegalInstruction$")
+			cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "SEAWEEDFS_TEST_EXIT_CODE="+tc.code)
+			err := cmd.Run()
+			if got := IsIllegalInstruction(fmt.Errorf("docker run: %w", err)); got != tc.want {
+				t.Fatalf("IsIllegalInstruction(%v) = %v, want %v", err, got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+	if IsIllegalInstruction(nil) || IsIllegalInstruction(errors.New("exit status 132")) {
+		t.Fatal("non-process errors must not be treated as illegal instructions")
+	}
+}