diff --git a/doc/jemalloc.xml.in b/doc/jemalloc.xml.in
index 123fb3a2..bb15ae4f 100644
--- a/doc/jemalloc.xml.in
+++ b/doc/jemalloc.xml.in
@@ -1964,10 +1964,12 @@ malloc_conf = "xmalloc:true";]]></programlisting>
           [<option>--enable-stats</option>]
         </term>
         <listitem><para>Total number of bytes in active chunks mapped by the
-        allocator.  This is a multiple of the chunk size, and is at least as
-        large as <link
-        linkend="stats.resident"><mallctl>stats.resident</mallctl></link>.  This
-        does not include inactive chunks.</para></listitem>
+        allocator.  This is a multiple of the chunk size, and is larger than
+        <link linkend="stats.active"><mallctl>stats.active</mallctl></link>.
+        This does not include inactive chunks, even those that contain unused
+        dirty pages, which means that there is no strict ordering between this
+        and <link
+        linkend="stats.resident"><mallctl>stats.resident</mallctl></link>.</para></listitem>
       </varlistentry>
 
       <varlistentry id="stats.arenas.i.dss">
diff --git a/src/base.c b/src/base.c
index 1a9b829a..3ab46ec8 100644
--- a/src/base.c
+++ b/src/base.c
@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ base_stats_get(size_t *allocated, size_t *resident, size_t *mapped)
 {
 
 	malloc_mutex_lock(&base_mtx);
+	assert(base_allocated <= base_resident);
+	assert(base_resident <= base_mapped);
 	*allocated = base_allocated;
 	*resident = base_resident;
 	*mapped = base_mapped;
diff --git a/test/unit/stats.c b/test/unit/stats.c
index 10999670..81ef0b72 100644
--- a/test/unit/stats.c
+++ b/test/unit/stats.c
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 TEST_BEGIN(test_stats_summary)
 {
 	size_t *cactive;
-	size_t sz, allocated, active, mapped;
+	size_t sz, allocated, active, resident, mapped;
 	int expected = config_stats ? 0 : ENOENT;
 
 	sz = sizeof(cactive);
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ TEST_BEGIN(test_stats_summary)
 	    expected, "Unexpected mallctl() result");
 	assert_d_eq(mallctl("stats.active", &active, &sz, NULL, 0), expected,
 	    "Unexpected mallctl() result");
+	assert_d_eq(mallctl("stats.resident", &resident, &sz, NULL, 0),
+	    expected, "Unexpected mallctl() result");
 	assert_d_eq(mallctl("stats.mapped", &mapped, &sz, NULL, 0), expected,
 	    "Unexpected mallctl() result");
 
@@ -23,8 +25,10 @@ TEST_BEGIN(test_stats_summary)
 		    "active should be no larger than cactive");
 		assert_zu_le(allocated, active,
 		    "allocated should be no larger than active");
-		assert_zu_le(active, mapped,
-		    "active should be no larger than mapped");
+		assert_zu_lt(active, resident,
+		    "active should be less than resident");
+		assert_zu_lt(active, mapped,
+		    "active should be less than mapped");
 	}
 }
 TEST_END