diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1cb01d9..b9ea0bc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 
 This document describes the changes to Minimq between releases.
 
+# [Unreleased]
+
+## Fixed
+* Fixed an issue where a corrupted mqtt header length could result in a crash
+
 # [0.8.0] - 2023-11-01
 
 ## Changed
diff --git a/src/de/packet_reader.rs b/src/de/packet_reader.rs
index 1b49594..6225638 100644
--- a/src/de/packet_reader.rs
+++ b/src/de/packet_reader.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@ impl<'a> PacketReader<'a> {
             self.read_bytes + 1
         };
 
-        Ok(&mut self.buffer[self.read_bytes..end])
+        if end <= self.buffer.len() {
+            Ok(&mut self.buffer[self.read_bytes..end])
+        } else {
+            Err(Error::MalformedPacket)
+        }
     }
 
     pub fn commit(&mut self, count: usize) {
@@ -85,3 +89,17 @@ impl<'a> PacketReader<'a> {
         ReceivedPacket::from_buffer(&self.buffer[..packet_length])
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::PacketReader;
+    #[test]
+    fn dont_panic_on_bad_data() {
+        let mut buffer: [u8; 4] = [0x20, 0x99, 0x00, 0x00];
+        let mut packet_reader = PacketReader::new(&mut buffer);
+        packet_reader.commit(4);
+        packet_reader
+            .receive_buffer()
+            .expect_err("parsed packet with invalid length");
+    }
+}