diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/CompositeBytesReference.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/CompositeBytesReference.java
index 537082fedd602..94c7a324894ae 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/CompositeBytesReference.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/CompositeBytesReference.java
@@ -274,4 +274,8 @@ public double getDoubleLE(int index) {
         }
         return super.getDoubleLE(index);
     }
+
+    public BytesReference[] references() {
+        return references;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/ReleasableBytesReference.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/ReleasableBytesReference.java
index fa3789eaedc3b..1a461c6686000 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/ReleasableBytesReference.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/bytes/ReleasableBytesReference.java
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ public ReleasableBytesReference retainedSlice(int from, int length) {
         return new ReleasableBytesReference(slice, refCounted);
     }
 
+    public BytesReference delegate() {
+        return delegate;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void close() {
         refCounted.decRef();
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteable.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteable.java
index e1161f03cb8a7..23590a07a7d48 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteable.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteable.java
@@ -11,12 +11,15 @@
 
 import org.elasticsearch.TransportVersion;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesReference;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.CompositeBytesReference;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.ReleasableBytesReference;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.PageCacheRecycler;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Releasable;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -203,8 +206,7 @@ public boolean isSerialized() {
 
         @Override
         public long getSerializedSize() {
-            // We're already serialized
-            return serialized.length();
+            return pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(serialized);
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -213,6 +215,22 @@ public void close() {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Over-estimates retained RAM by rounding each component up to a
+     * {@link PageCacheRecycler#BYTE_PAGE_SIZE} page (composites sum per component).
+     * Matches how Netty retains page-sized buffers rather than exact payload lengths.
+     */
+    static long pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(BytesReference bytes) {
+        if (bytes instanceof ReleasableBytesReference r) {
+            return pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(r.delegate());
+        }
+        if (bytes instanceof CompositeBytesReference composited) {
+            return Arrays.stream(composited.references()).mapToLong(DelayableWriteable::pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes).sum();
+        }
+        final long numPages = (bytes.length() + PageCacheRecycler.BYTE_PAGE_SIZE - 1L) / PageCacheRecycler.BYTE_PAGE_SIZE;
+        return numPages * PageCacheRecycler.BYTE_PAGE_SIZE;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the serialized size in bytes of the provided {@link Writeable}.
      */
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteableTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteableTests.java
index 5603ddf647db1..5327c693c3b97 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteableTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/DelayableWriteableTests.java
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.TransportVersion;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesArray;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesReference;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.CompositeBytesReference;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.ReleasableBytesReference;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.PageCacheRecycler;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.TransportVersionUtils;
 
@@ -124,9 +129,12 @@ public void testRoundTripFromReferencingWithNamedWriteable() throws IOException
     }
 
     public void testRoundTripFromDelayed() throws IOException {
-        Example e = new Example(randomAlphaOfLength(5));
+        Example e = new Example(randomAlphaOfLengthBetween(100, 1000));
         DelayableWriteable<Example> original = DelayableWriteable.referencing(e).asSerialized(Example::new, writableRegistry());
         assertTrue(original.isSerialized());
+        long length = DelayableWriteable.getSerializedSize(e);
+        long page = PageCacheRecycler.BYTE_PAGE_SIZE;
+        assertThat(original.getSerializedSize(), equalTo(((length + page - 1) / page) * page));
         roundTripTestCase(original, Example::new);
     }
 
@@ -165,6 +173,26 @@ public void testAsSerializedIsNoopOnSerialized() throws IOException {
         assertSame(d, d.asSerialized(Example::new, writableRegistry()));
     }
 
+    public void testPageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes() {
+        final int page = PageCacheRecycler.BYTE_PAGE_SIZE;
+        assertThat(DelayableWriteable.pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(BytesArray.EMPTY), equalTo(0L));
+        assertThat(DelayableWriteable.pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(new BytesArray(new byte[1])), equalTo((long) page));
+        assertThat(DelayableWriteable.pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(new BytesArray(new byte[page])), equalTo((long) page));
+        assertThat(DelayableWriteable.pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(new BytesArray(new byte[page + 1])), equalTo(2L * page));
+
+        assertThat(
+            DelayableWriteable.pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(ReleasableBytesReference.wrap(new BytesArray(new byte[1]))),
+            equalTo((long) page)
+        );
+
+        BytesReference composite = CompositeBytesReference.of(
+            new BytesArray(new byte[1]),
+            new BytesArray(new byte[page / 2]),
+            new BytesArray(new byte[page + 1])
+        );
+        assertThat(DelayableWriteable.pageAlignedRamUsedByReferenceBytes(composite), equalTo(4L * page));
+    }
+
     private <T extends Writeable> void roundTripTestCase(DelayableWriteable<T> original, Writeable.Reader<T> reader) throws IOException {
         DelayableWriteable<T> roundTripped = roundTrip(original, reader, TransportVersion.current());
         assertThat(roundTripped.expand(), equalTo(original.expand()));