This paper argues that knowledge management activities can significantly contribute to an increase of the resilience in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It shows how the knowledge management standards ISO 30401 and DIN SPEC 91443 relate to the international, resilience-related standards ISO 22316 and BS 65000. Focusing on SME’s characteristics in contrast to global and stock noted companies’, reveals a long list of SME-specific limitations, which negatively impact their resilience in turbulent contexts. These limitations refer to their volume of financial resources, their ability to attract top talent, their ability to leverage state of the art technology, and their limitations to develop extra-firm networks needed to lower transaction costs and to establish trust. Most of these limitations can be overcome by larger companies, by utilizing scale effects, a shared brand and, by analogy, a shared boundary to the environment. However, all these factors require more knowledge and tangible resources than available for a typical SME. The paper shows how knowledge management can support SMEs in achieving or increasing the competences associated to resilient organizations. This is accomplished by: analysing the level of compatibility and alignment between internationally-recognized standards, related to organizational resilience and knowledge management; and, providing guidance for further convergence of these management frameworks. The results of a semantic analysis show a high degree of compatibility between the requirements for knowledge management and resilience. For SMEs aiming to become more resilient, it seems to be more effective for them to fulfill the requirements for a knowledge management system (ISO 30401), as most of the requirements of the standards for resilience (BS 65000 and ISO 22316) are covered as well. The Fraunhofer framework for resilience helps to operationalize the idea of resilience with a circular approach, covering phases to prepare for, prevent, protect from, respond to, and recover from disruptive events.