© 2017 Author(s). Transfer-induced contamination of graphene and the limited stability of adsorptive dopants are two of the main issues faced in the practical realization of graphene-based electronics. Herein, we assess the stability of HNO3, MoO3, and AuCl3 dopants upon transferred graphene with different extents of polymer contamination. Sheet resistivity measurements prove that polymer residues induce a significantly degenerative effect in terms of doping stability for HNO3 and MoO3 and a highly stabilizing effect for AuCl3. Further characterization by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides insight into the stability mechanism. Together, these findings demonstrate the relevance of contamination in the field of adsorptive doping for the realization of graphene-based functional devices.