diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/chunked_read.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/chunked_read.rs
index 3a3dc05..7e21447 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/chunked_read.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/chunked_read.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use crate::datatype::Datatype;
 use crate::error::FormatError;
 use crate::extensible_array::{ExtensibleArrayHeader, read_extensible_array_chunks};
 use crate::filter_pipeline::FilterPipeline;
-use crate::filters::{all_filters_skipped, decompress_chunk_masked};
+use crate::filters::{all_filters_skipped, decompress_chunk_exact};
 use crate::fixed_array::{FixedArrayHeader, read_fixed_array_chunks};
 #[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::sync::Arc;
@@ -65,12 +65,13 @@ fn decompress_all_chunks(
         let raw_chunk = &file_data[c_addr..c_addr + size];
 
         let decompressed = if let Some(pl) = pipeline {
-            decompress_chunk_masked(
+            decompress_chunk_exact(
                 raw_chunk,
                 pl,
                 chunk_total_bytes,
                 element_size,
                 chunk_info.filter_mask,
+                &chunk_info.offsets,
             )?
         } else {
             raw_chunk.to_vec()
@@ -932,12 +933,13 @@ pub fn read_chunked_data_cached(
     let cache_them = total_bytes <= cache.max_bytes();
     if let Some(pl) = pipeline {
         let decode = |c: &&ChunkInfo| -> Result<Vec<u8>, FormatError> {
-            decompress_chunk_masked(
+            decompress_chunk_exact(
                 raw_bytes(c)?,
                 pl,
                 chunk_total_bytes,
                 elem_size as u32,
                 c.filter_mask,
+                &c.offsets,
             )
         };
         for batch in misses.chunks(DECODE_BATCH) {
@@ -1217,12 +1219,13 @@ pub fn read_chunked_data_sweep(
             ensure_len(file_data, c_addr, size)?;
             let raw_chunk = &file_data[c_addr..c_addr + size];
             let dec = if let Some(pl) = pipeline {
-                decompress_chunk_masked(
+                decompress_chunk_exact(
                     raw_chunk,
                     pl,
                     chunk_total_bytes,
                     elem_size as u32,
                     chunk_info.filter_mask,
+                    &coord,
                 )?
             } else {
                 raw_chunk.to_vec()
@@ -1346,12 +1349,13 @@ pub fn read_chunked_data_indexed(
             ensure_len(file_data, c_addr, size)?;
             let raw_chunk = &file_data[c_addr..c_addr + size];
             let decompressed = if let Some(pl) = pipeline {
-                decompress_chunk_masked(
+                decompress_chunk_exact(
                     raw_chunk,
                     pl,
                     chunk_total_bytes,
                     elem_size as u32,
                     *filter_mask,
+                    coord,
                 )?
             } else {
                 raw_chunk.to_vec()
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters.rs
index aa8847c..99a5d8e 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 extern crate alloc;
 
 #[cfg(not(feature = "std"))]
-use alloc::{boxed::Box, vec, vec::Vec};
+use alloc::{boxed::Box, format, vec, vec::Vec};
 
 use crate::error::FormatError;
 #[cfg(feature = "deflate")]
@@ -120,6 +120,34 @@ pub fn decompress_chunk_masked(
     Ok(data)
 }
 
+/// Decode one stored chunk of a chunked dataset: [`decompress_chunk_masked`],
+/// then require exactly `chunk_size` bytes (when `chunk_size` is known).
+///
+/// HDF5 stores every chunk at the full chunk size — edge chunks are padded
+/// before they are filtered, and an edge chunk left unfiltered is written
+/// full-size too — so a pipeline that decodes to fewer bytes means a
+/// corrupt chunk. libhdf5 fails such a read (or returns uninitialised
+/// memory); it must never read back as zeros. `coords` (the chunk's offset
+/// in the dataset) is named in the error.
+pub fn decompress_chunk_exact(
+    compressed: &[u8],
+    pipeline: &FilterPipeline,
+    chunk_size: usize,
+    element_size: u32,
+    filter_mask: u32,
+    coords: &[u64],
+) -> Result<Vec<u8>, FormatError> {
+    let data =
+        decompress_chunk_masked(compressed, pipeline, chunk_size, element_size, filter_mask)?;
+    if chunk_size != 0 && data.len() != chunk_size {
+        return Err(FormatError::ChunkedReadError(format!(
+            "chunk at {coords:?} decoded to {} bytes, expected {chunk_size}",
+            data.len()
+        )));
+    }
+    Ok(data)
+}
+
 /// Apply a filter pipeline to compress a chunk.
 /// Filters are applied in FORWARD order for compression.
 pub fn compress_chunk(
@@ -1516,6 +1544,39 @@ fn pcodec_decompress(
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+
+    /// A chunk whose pipeline decodes to fewer bytes than the chunk holds is
+    /// an error naming the chunk, never a short buffer the reader pads.
+    #[test]
+    fn short_decoded_chunk_is_an_error() {
+        let pipeline = FilterPipeline {
+            version: 2,
+            filters: vec![FilterDescription {
+                filter_id: FILTER_SHUFFLE,
+                name: None,
+                flags: 0,
+                client_data: vec![4],
+            }],
+        };
+        let full = [7u8; 32];
+        assert_eq!(
+            decompress_chunk_exact(&full, &pipeline, 32, 4, 0, &[8]).unwrap(),
+            full
+        );
+        let err = decompress_chunk_exact(&full[..16], &pipeline, 32, 4, 0, &[8, 0]).unwrap_err();
+        let msg = err.to_string();
+        assert!(
+            msg.contains("[8, 0]") && msg.contains("16") && msg.contains("32"),
+            "{msg}"
+        );
+        // Every filter skipped: the stored bytes are the chunk, still checked.
+        assert!(decompress_chunk_exact(&full[..16], &pipeline, 32, 4, 1, &[0]).is_err());
+        // Unknown chunk size: not checked.
+        assert_eq!(
+            decompress_chunk_exact(&full[..16], &pipeline, 0, 4, 0, &[0]).unwrap(),
+            &full[..16]
+        );
+    }
     use super::*;
     use crate::filter_pipeline::FilterDescription;
 
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc.rs
index 625676b..3edc964 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc.rs
@@ -113,8 +113,15 @@ fn decode_stream(
 }
 
 /// Decode a Blosc-filtered chunk: one Blosc 1 frame.
+///
+/// An HDF5 chunk is never empty, so a frame that decodes to nothing where
+/// the chunk size is known is corrupt (libhdf5's filter fails it too).
 pub(crate) fn blosc_decode(input: &[u8], ctx: &FilterContext<'_>) -> Result<Vec<u8>, FormatError> {
-    blosc_decompress(input, ctx.output_limit())
+    let out = blosc_decompress(input, ctx.output_limit())?;
+    if out.is_empty() && ctx.max_output != 0 {
+        return Err(err("empty frame for a non-empty chunk"));
+    }
+    Ok(out)
 }
 
 /// Decompress a Blosc 1 frame, refusing more than `limit` bytes of output.
@@ -606,6 +613,23 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(blosc_encode(&data, &ctx0).is_err());
     }
 
+    /// A frame that declares no data, for a chunk that has some.
+    #[test]
+    fn empty_frame_for_a_non_empty_chunk_is_an_error() {
+        let mut frame = vec![2u8, 1, 0x20, 4];
+        for v in [0u32, 64, 16] {
+            frame.extend_from_slice(&v.to_le_bytes());
+        }
+        assert_eq!(blosc_decompress(&frame, 64).unwrap(), b"");
+        let f = desc(vec![2, 2, 4, 64, 5, 1, 1]);
+        let ctx = FilterContext {
+            filter: &f,
+            element_size: 4,
+            max_output: 64,
+        };
+        assert!(blosc_decode(&frame, &ctx).is_err());
+    }
+
     /// A frame whose header claims a compressed size smaller than the
     /// header itself, not stored raw: an error, not an arithmetic overflow
     /// (it panicked in debug builds).
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/parallel_read.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/parallel_read.rs
index 0bb2785..6593132 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/parallel_read.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/parallel_read.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 use crate::chunked_read::ChunkInfo;
 use crate::error::FormatError;
 use crate::filter_pipeline::FilterPipeline;
-use crate::filters::decompress_chunk_masked;
+use crate::filters::decompress_chunk_exact;
 use crate::lane_partition::{self, LaneStats, PartitionStats};
 
 /// Threshold: only use parallel decompression when chunk count exceeds this.
@@ -84,12 +84,13 @@ pub fn decompress_chunks_lane_partitioned(
                 }
                 let raw_chunk = &file_data[c_addr..c_addr + size];
 
-                let decompressed = decompress_chunk_masked(
+                let decompressed = decompress_chunk_exact(
                     raw_chunk,
                     pipeline,
                     chunk_total_bytes,
                     element_size,
                     chunk_info.filter_mask,
+                    &chunk_info.offsets,
                 )?;
 
                 stats.chunks_processed += 1;
@@ -160,12 +161,13 @@ pub fn decompress_chunks_parallel(
             }
             let raw_chunk = &file_data[c_addr..c_addr + size];
 
-            let decompressed = decompress_chunk_masked(
+            let decompressed = decompress_chunk_exact(
                 raw_chunk,
                 pipeline,
                 chunk_total_bytes,
                 element_size,
                 chunk_info.filter_mask,
+                &chunk_info.offsets,
             )?;
 
             Ok(DecompressedChunk {
@@ -204,12 +206,13 @@ pub fn decompress_chunks_sequential(
         let raw_chunk = &file_data[c_addr..c_addr + size];
 
         let decompressed = if let Some(pl) = pipeline {
-            decompress_chunk_masked(
+            decompress_chunk_exact(
                 raw_chunk,
                 pl,
                 chunk_total_bytes,
                 element_size,
                 chunk_info.filter_mask,
+                &chunk_info.offsets,
             )?
         } else {
             raw_chunk.to_vec()
@@ -218,3 +221,60 @@ pub fn decompress_chunks_sequential(
     }
     Ok(result)
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::filter_pipeline::{FILTER_SHUFFLE, FilterDescription};
+
+    /// Eight shuffled 32-byte chunks; chunk 5 is stored short when `short`.
+    fn chunks(short: bool) -> (Vec<u8>, Vec<ChunkInfo>) {
+        let mut file = Vec::new();
+        let mut infos = Vec::new();
+        for i in 0..8u64 {
+            let len = if short && i == 5 { 16 } else { 32 };
+            infos.push(ChunkInfo {
+                chunk_size: len as u32,
+                filter_mask: 0,
+                offsets: vec![i * 8],
+                address: file.len() as u64,
+            });
+            file.extend(core::iter::repeat_n(i as u8, len));
+        }
+        (file, infos)
+    }
+
+    /// Every parallel decoder refuses a chunk that decodes short, naming it.
+    #[test]
+    fn short_decoded_chunk_is_an_error() {
+        let pipeline = FilterPipeline {
+            version: 2,
+            filters: vec![FilterDescription {
+                filter_id: FILTER_SHUFFLE,
+                name: None,
+                flags: 0,
+                client_data: vec![4],
+            }],
+        };
+        let (file, good) = chunks(false);
+        assert_eq!(
+            decompress_chunks_parallel(&file, &good, &pipeline, 32, 4).unwrap()[5],
+            [5u8; 32]
+        );
+        let (file, bad) = chunks(true);
+        let errs = [
+            decompress_chunks_lane_partitioned(&file, &bad, &pipeline, 32, 4, 1, Some(3))
+                .map(|_| ())
+                .unwrap_err(),
+            decompress_chunks_parallel(&file, &bad, &pipeline, 32, 4)
+                .map(|_| ())
+                .unwrap_err(),
+            decompress_chunks_sequential(&file, &bad, Some(&pipeline), 32, 4)
+                .map(|_| ())
+                .unwrap_err(),
+        ];
+        for e in errs {
+            assert!(e.to_string().contains("[40]"), "{e}");
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/partial_read.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/partial_read.rs
index 5cc3aaa..7d73599 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/partial_read.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/partial_read.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use crate::data_read::extract_selection_from_buffer;
 use crate::dataspace::Dataspace;
 use crate::error::FormatError;
 use crate::filter_pipeline::FilterPipeline;
-use crate::filters::{all_filters_skipped, decompress_chunk_masked};
+use crate::filters::{all_filters_skipped, decompress_chunk_exact};
 use crate::selection::Selection;
 
 /// The smallest axis-aligned box containing every selected element, as
@@ -330,12 +330,13 @@ pub fn read_selection(
                 let decoded;
                 let data: &[u8] = match pipeline {
                     Some(pl) if !all_filters_skipped(pl, chunk.filter_mask) => {
-                        decoded = decompress_chunk_masked(
+                        decoded = decompress_chunk_exact(
                             raw,
                             pl,
                             chunk_bytes,
                             elem_size as u32,
                             chunk.filter_mask,
+                            &chunk.offsets[..rank],
                         )?;
                         &decoded
                     }
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5/tests/h5py_chunked_read_tests.rs b/crates/clawhdf5/tests/h5py_chunked_read_tests.rs
index 2b9e902..71fff7a 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5/tests/h5py_chunked_read_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5/tests/h5py_chunked_read_tests.rs
@@ -343,3 +343,77 @@ print("OK")
     let want: Vec<u8> = line[990..].iter().flat_map(|v| v.to_le_bytes()).collect();
     assert_eq!(tail, want);
 }
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Chunks that decode short
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// HDF5 stores every chunk at the full chunk size, so a chunk whose filters
+/// decode to fewer bytes is corrupt. libhdf5 returns the rest of such a
+/// chunk uninitialised (or, for filters that check, fails); clawhdf5 padded
+/// it with zeros and returned it as data. Every read path must fail,
+/// naming the chunk, and chunks that decode fully must still read.
+#[test]
+fn h5py_short_decoded_chunk_is_an_error() {
+    skip_if_no_python!();
+    let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    let path = dir.path().join("short.h5");
+    let p = path.display().to_string();
+    run_python(&format!(
+        r#"
+import h5py, numpy as np, zlib
+with h5py.File("{p}", "w") as f:
+    # 1-D, 4 gzip chunks of 8 i4; chunk 2 (offset 16) inflates to 16 bytes.
+    ds = f.create_dataset("line", shape=(32,), chunks=(8,), dtype="<i4", compression="gzip")
+    ds[...] = np.arange(32, dtype="<i4") + 1
+    ds.id.write_direct_chunk((16,), zlib.compress(np.arange(4, dtype="<i4").tobytes()))
+    # 2-D with a partial edge chunk; the short chunk is the edge one (8, 4).
+    g = f.create_dataset("grid", shape=(10, 7), chunks=(4, 4), dtype="<f8", compression="gzip")
+    g[...] = np.arange(70, dtype="<f8").reshape(10, 7) + 1
+    g.id.write_direct_chunk((8, 4), zlib.compress(np.ones(3, dtype="<f8").tobytes()))
+    # 40 chunks (enough for the parallel decoder), one short, shuffle + gzip.
+    m = f.create_dataset("many", shape=(320,), chunks=(8,), dtype="<i4",
+                         compression="gzip", shuffle=True)
+    m[...] = np.arange(320, dtype="<i4") + 1
+    m.id.write_direct_chunk((200,), zlib.compress(bytes(31)))
+"#
+    ));
+
+    let hyperslab = |start: u64, count: u64| Selection::Hyperslab {
+        start: vec![start],
+        stride: vec![1],
+        count: vec![1],
+        block: vec![count],
+    };
+    let file = File::open(&path).unwrap();
+    for (name, coords) in [("line", "[16"), ("grid", "[8, 4"), ("many", "[200")] {
+        let ds = file.dataset(name).unwrap();
+        let full = || {
+            if name == "grid" {
+                ds.read_f64().map(|_| ())
+            } else {
+                ds.read_i32().map(|_| ())
+            }
+        };
+        let err = full().expect_err(name).to_string();
+        assert!(err.contains(coords), "{name}: {err}");
+        // Cached reads decode the same way; a second read fails too.
+        assert!(full().is_err(), "{name}");
+        assert!(ds.read_selection(&Selection::All).is_err(), "{name}");
+    }
+    let line = file.dataset("line").unwrap();
+    assert!(line.read_selection(&hyperslab(14, 4)).is_err());
+    // A selection that avoids the short chunk still reads.
+    let want: Vec<u8> = (1..=16i32).flat_map(i32::to_le_bytes).collect();
+    assert_eq!(line.read_selection(&hyperslab(0, 16)).unwrap(), want);
+    let many = file.dataset("many").unwrap();
+    assert!(many.read_selection(&hyperslab(190, 20)).is_err());
+
+    // The memory-mapped and lazy readers.
+    let mm = clawhdf5::MmapFile::open(&path).unwrap();
+    assert!(mm.dataset("line").unwrap().read_i32().is_err());
+    assert!(mm.dataset("many").unwrap().read_i32().is_err());
+    let lazy = clawhdf5::LazyFile::open_mmap(&path).unwrap();
+    assert!(lazy.dataset("line").unwrap().read_i32().is_err());
+    assert!(lazy.dataset("grid").unwrap().read_f64().is_err());
+}
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5/tests/plugin_filters_interop.rs b/crates/clawhdf5/tests/plugin_filters_interop.rs
index 647c007..81cc87c 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5/tests/plugin_filters_interop.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5/tests/plugin_filters_interop.rs
@@ -415,3 +415,55 @@ with h5py.File(sys.argv[1], 'w') as f:
         );
     }
 }
+
+/// A corrupt chunk must never read as zeros: a Blosc frame that declares no
+/// data (libhdf5's filter fails it), and Blosc, LZF and bzip2 chunks that
+/// decode short (libhdf5 returns the rest of the chunk uninitialised).
+#[test]
+fn short_decoding_chunks_are_errors() {
+    if !have_python("h5py, hdf5plugin") {
+        return;
+    }
+    let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    let path = dir.path().join("short.h5");
+    run_python(
+        r#"
+import sys, struct, bz2
+import numpy as np, h5py, hdf5plugin
+def lzf(b):
+    # One literal run per 32 bytes: a valid LZF stream.
+    return b"".join(bytes([len(b[i:i+32]) - 1]) + b[i:i+32] for i in range(0, len(b), 32))
+with h5py.File(sys.argv[1], 'w') as f:
+    kw = dict(shape=(16,), dtype='<i4', chunks=(16,))
+    empty = f.create_dataset('blosc_empty', **kw, **hdf5plugin.Blosc(cname='lz4'))
+    empty.id.write_direct_chunk((0,), bytes([2, 1, 0x20, 4]) + struct.pack('<III', 0, 64, 16))
+    short = f.create_dataset('blosc_short', **kw, **hdf5plugin.Blosc(cname='lz4'))
+    short.id.write_direct_chunk((0,), bytes([2, 1, 0x22, 4]) + struct.pack('<III', 32, 32, 48) + bytes(32))
+    try:
+        f['blosc_empty'][...]
+    except OSError:
+        pass
+    else:
+        raise SystemExit('blosc_empty: libhdf5 read it')
+    lz = f.create_dataset('lzf_short', **kw, compression='lzf')
+    lz.id.write_direct_chunk((0,), lzf(np.arange(8, dtype='<i4').tobytes()))
+    bz = f.create_dataset('bzip2_short', **kw, **hdf5plugin.BZip2())
+    bz.id.write_direct_chunk((0,), bz2.compress(np.arange(8, dtype='<i4').tobytes()))
+    ok = f.create_dataset('lzf_ok', **kw, compression='lzf')
+    ok.id.write_direct_chunk((0,), lzf(np.arange(16, dtype='<i4').tobytes()))
+"#,
+        &[path.to_str().unwrap()],
+    );
+    let file = File::open(&path).unwrap();
+    for name in ["blosc_empty", "blosc_short", "lzf_short", "bzip2_short"] {
+        let ds = file.dataset(name).unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            ds.read_i32().is_err(),
+            "{name}: {:?}",
+            ds.read_i32().unwrap()
+        );
+        assert!(ds.read_selection(&Selection::All).is_err(), "{name}");
+    }
+    let want: Vec<i32> = (0..16).collect();
+    assert_eq!(file.dataset("lzf_ok").unwrap().read_i32().unwrap(), want);
+}