diff --git a/src/rai_core/rai/tools/names.py b/src/rai_core/rai/tools/names.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c744834a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/rai_core/rai/tools/names.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2026 Robotec.AI
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""ROS name validation helpers shared by tools (stdlib-only)."""
+
+
+def require_non_empty_name(value: object, *, name: str = "name") -> str:
+    """Return stripped name or raise ValueError if empty/non-string."""
+    if not isinstance(value, str):
+        raise ValueError(f"{name} must be a non-empty string")
+    stripped = value.strip()
+    if not stripped:
+        raise ValueError(f"{name} must be a non-empty string")
+    return stripped
diff --git a/src/rai_core/rai/tools/ros2/generic/topics.py b/src/rai_core/rai/tools/ros2/generic/topics.py
index ad4a1cb67..ff8a45fa5 100644
--- a/src/rai_core/rai/tools/ros2/generic/topics.py
+++ b/src/rai_core/rai/tools/ros2/generic/topics.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 from rai.communication.ros2.api.conversion import ros2_message_to_dict
 from rai.messages import MultimodalArtifact, preprocess_image
 from rai.tools.ros2.base import BaseROS2Tool, BaseROS2Toolkit
+from rai.tools.names import require_non_empty_name
 from rai.tools.ros2.generic.interface_parser import render_interface_string
 
 
@@ -264,6 +265,8 @@ class GetROS2TransformTool(BaseROS2Tool):
     STALE_TRANSFORM_THRESHOLD_SEC: float = 1.0
 
     def _run(self, target_frame: str, source_frame: str, timeout_sec: float) -> str:
+        target_frame = require_non_empty_name(target_frame, name="target_frame")
+        source_frame = require_non_empty_name(source_frame, name="source_frame")
         transform = self.connector.get_transform(
             target_frame=target_frame,
             source_frame=source_frame,
diff --git a/tests/tools/test_require_non_empty_name.py b/tests/tools/test_require_non_empty_name.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c04294b30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/tools/test_require_non_empty_name.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2026 Robotec.AI
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import pytest
+
+from rai.tools.names import require_non_empty_name
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("value", ["", "   ", None, 1, True])
+def test_require_non_empty_name_rejects(value):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="non-empty"):
+        require_non_empty_name(value, name="topic")
+
+
+def test_require_non_empty_name_strips():
+    assert require_non_empty_name("  /chatter ", name="topic") == "/chatter"