diff --git a/src/translate.ts b/src/translate.ts
index 3157fa7..d4b75b0 100644
--- a/src/translate.ts
+++ b/src/translate.ts
@@ -4,12 +4,21 @@ import type { Config, SUUID, UUID } from './types';
  * Translate back to hex and into UUID format with dashes
  * Pad with zeros if necessary to accommodate unusual IDs
  */
-export const restoreUUID = (config:Config, shortId:SUUID):UUID =>
-  config.hexFromAlphabet(shortId)
-    .padStart(32, '0')
-    .match(/(\w{8})(\w{4})(\w{4})(\w{4})(\w{12})/)
+export const restoreUUID = (config:Config, shortId:SUUID):UUID => {
+  const hex = config.hexFromAlphabet(shortId).padStart(32, '0');
+
+  // An id that decodes to more than 128 bits cannot represent a UUID. Without
+  // this guard the unanchored match below would silently keep the first 32 hex
+  // characters and drop the overflow, returning a wrong UUID.
+  if (hex.length > 32) {
+    throw new Error(`The id "${shortId}" is out of range to represent a UUID.`);
+  }
+
+  return hex
+    .match(/^(\w{8})(\w{4})(\w{4})(\w{4})(\w{12})$/)
     ?.slice(1)
     .join('-') as UUID;
+};
 
 export const shortenUUID = (config:Config, longId:UUID):SUUID => {
   const translated = config.hexToAlphabet(longId.toLowerCase().replace(/-/g, ''));
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index 2cd25f4..68caccc 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -139,6 +139,20 @@ test('Handle UUIDs with all "f"s', (t) => {
   t.equal(allFs, b36.toUUID(b36.fromUUID(allFs)), 'Supports all "f"s');
 });
 
+test('should reject an id that is out of range for a UUID', (t) => {
+  t.plan(3);
+
+  // 22 flickrBase58 characters can encode a value larger than 2^128-1, which
+  // cannot be a UUID; this id decodes to more than 32 hex characters.
+  const outOfRange = 'ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ';
+
+  t.throws(() => b58.toUUID(outOfRange), /out of range/, 'toUUID throws instead of silently truncating');
+
+  const valid = b58.fromUUID(crypto.randomUUID());
+  t.doesNotThrow(() => b58.toUUID(valid), 'a valid id does not throw');
+  t.equal(b58.fromUUID(b58.toUUID(valid)), valid, 'a valid id still round-trips');
+});
+
 test('should handle UUID with uppercase letters', (t) => {
   t.plan(4);