diff --git a/src/sampling.jl b/src/sampling.jl
index 2dffbbacd..e6569ba21 100644
--- a/src/sampling.jl
+++ b/src/sampling.jl
@@ -515,16 +515,28 @@ function efraimidis_ares_wsample_norep!(a::AbstractArray, wv::WeightVec, x::Abst
 
     # initialize priority queue
     pq = Vector{Pair{Float64,Int}}(k)
-    @inbounds for i in 1:k
-        pq[i] = (wv.values[i]/randexp() => i)
+    i = 0
+    s = 0
+    @inbounds for s in 1:n
+        w = wv.values[s]
+        w < 0 && error("Negative weight found in weight vector at index $s")
+        if w > 0
+            i += 1
+            pq[i] = (w/randexp() => s)
+        end
+        i >= k && break
     end
+    i < k && throw(DimensionMismatch("wv must have at least $k strictly positive entries (got $i)"))
     heapify!(pq)
 
     # set threshold
     @inbounds threshold = pq[1].first
 
-    @inbounds for i in k+1:n
-        key = wv.values[i]/randexp()
+    @inbounds for i in s+1:n
+        w = wv.values[i]
+        w < 0 && error("Negative weight found in weight vector at index $i")
+        w > 0 || continue
+        key = w/randexp()
 
         # if key is larger than the threshold
         if key > threshold
@@ -561,17 +573,28 @@ function efraimidis_aexpj_wsample_norep!(a::AbstractArray, wv::WeightVec, x::Abs
 
     # initialize priority queue
     pq = Vector{Pair{Float64,Int}}(k)
-    @inbounds for i in 1:k
-        pq[i] = (wv.values[i]/randexp() => i)
+    i = 0
+    s = 0
+    @inbounds for s in 1:n
+        w = wv.values[s]
+        w < 0 && error("Negative weight found in weight vector at index $s")
+        if w > 0
+            i += 1
+            pq[i] = (w/randexp() => s)
+        end
+        i >= k && break
     end
+    i < k && throw(DimensionMismatch("wv must have at least $k strictly positive entries (got $i)"))
     heapify!(pq)
 
     # set threshold
     @inbounds threshold = pq[1].first
     X = threshold*randexp()
 
-    @inbounds for i in k+1:n
+    @inbounds for i in s+1:n
         w = wv.values[i]
+        w < 0 && error("Negative weight found in weight vector at index $i")
+        w > 0 || continue
         X -= w
         X <= 0 || continue
 
diff --git a/test/sampling.jl b/test/sampling.jl
index c19094f99..bc6027cd7 100644
--- a/test/sampling.jl
+++ b/test/sampling.jl
@@ -149,3 +149,28 @@ check_sample_norep(a, (3, 12), 0; ordered=false)
 
 a = sample(3:12, 5; replace=false, ordered=true)
 check_sample_norep(a, (3, 12), 0; ordered=true)
+
+# test of weighted sampling without replacement
+a = [1:10;]
+wv = WeightVec([zeros(6); 1:4])
+x = vcat([sample(a, wv, 1, replace=false) for j in 1:100000]...)
+@test minimum(x) == 7
+@test maximum(x) == 10
+@test maximum(abs(proportions(x) - (1:4)/10)) < 0.01
+
+x = vcat([sample(a, wv, 2, replace=false) for j in 1:50000]...)
+exact2 = [0.117261905, 0.220634921, 0.304166667, 0.357936508]
+@test minimum(x) == 7
+@test maximum(x) == 10
+@test maximum(abs(proportions(x) - exact2)) < 0.01
+
+x = vcat([sample(a, wv, 4, replace=false) for j in 1:10000]...)
+@test minimum(x) == 7
+@test maximum(x) == 10
+@test maximum(abs(proportions(x) - 0.25)) == 0
+
+@test_throws DimensionMismatch sample(a, wv, 5, replace=false)
+
+wv = WeightVec([zeros(5); 1:4; -1])
+@test_throws ErrorException sample(a, wv, 1, replace=false)
+