diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc2.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc2.rs
index d2b1ef0..812ff24 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc2.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-format/src/filters_blosc2.rs
@@ -209,7 +209,10 @@ fn read_header(src: &[u8]) -> Result<ChunkHeader, FormatError> {
     if flags2 & VL_BLOCKS != 0 {
         return Err(err("variable-length blocks are not supported"));
     }
-    if nbytes > 0 && blocksize > nbytes {
+    // c-blosc2 clamps only a non-empty chunk's block size; clamping an
+    // empty one too keeps its scratch blocks from being sized by the
+    // header (up to 512 MiB each).
+    if blocksize > nbytes {
         blocksize = nbytes;
     }
     h.blocksize = blocksize;
@@ -234,9 +237,6 @@ pub fn blosc2_decompress_chunk(src: &[u8], limit: usize) -> Result<Vec<u8>, Form
     if memcpyed && h.cbytes != h.nbytes + h.overhead {
         return Err(err("stored chunk has the wrong size"));
     }
-    if h.nbytes == 0 && h.cbytes == h.overhead && h.special == 0 {
-        return Ok(Vec::new());
-    }
     let nbytes = h.nbytes;
     let mut out = vec![0u8; nbytes];
     if h.special != 0 {
@@ -288,6 +288,9 @@ pub fn blosc2_decompress_chunk(src: &[u8], limit: usize) -> Result<Vec<u8>, Form
             return Err(err(&format!("filter {f} is not supported")));
         }
     }
+    if nbytes == 0 {
+        return Ok(out);
+    }
     let blocksize = h.blocksize;
     let nblocks = nbytes.div_ceil(blocksize);
     let leftover = nbytes % blocksize;
@@ -524,7 +527,11 @@ fn parse_frame(buf: &[u8], limit: usize) -> Result<Frame<'_>, FormatError> {
     } else {
         blosc2_decompress_chunk(off_src, off_len)?
     };
-    let expected = if chunksize > 0 { off_len } else { offsets.len() };
+    let expected = if chunksize > 0 {
+        off_len
+    } else {
+        offsets.len()
+    };
     if !offsets.len().is_multiple_of(8) || offsets.len() != expected {
         return Err(err("offsets chunk does not match the number of chunks"));
     }
@@ -548,15 +555,18 @@ impl Frame<'_> {
         }
         let raw: [u8; 8] = self.offsets[8 * n..8 * n + 8].try_into().unwrap();
         let offset = i64::from_le_bytes(raw);
+        // Every chunk but the last holds `chunksize` bytes.
+        let size = if self.chunksize == 0 {
+            None
+        } else if n == self.nchunks - 1 && !self.nbytes.is_multiple_of(self.chunksize) {
+            Some(self.nbytes % self.chunksize)
+        } else {
+            Some(self.chunksize)
+        };
         if offset < 0 {
             // A special chunk, recorded in the offset's top byte.
-            if self.chunksize == 0 {
+            let Some(size) = size else {
                 return Err(err("special chunk in a frame without a chunk size"));
-            }
-            let size = if n == self.nchunks - 1 && !self.nbytes.is_multiple_of(self.chunksize) {
-                self.nbytes % self.chunksize
-            } else {
-                self.chunksize
             };
             if size > limit {
                 return Err(err("decoded size exceeds the limit"));
@@ -586,7 +596,12 @@ impl Frame<'_> {
             .and_then(|o| self.header_len.checked_add(o))
             .filter(|&s| s < end && end - s >= MIN_HEADER)
             .ok_or_else(|| err("chunk offset out of range"))?;
-        blosc2_decompress_chunk(&self.buf[start..end], limit)
+        let data =
+            blosc2_decompress_chunk(&self.buf[start..end], limit.min(size.unwrap_or(limit)))?;
+        if size.is_some_and(|s| s != data.len()) {
+            return Err(err("chunk size does not match the frame's chunk size"));
+        }
+        Ok(data)
     }
 
     /// The content of metalayer `name`, if the frame has it.
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-format/tests/blosc2_alloc_bounds.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-format/tests/blosc2_alloc_bounds.rs
index 11e7812..833cd53 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-format/tests/blosc2_alloc_bounds.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-format/tests/blosc2_alloc_bounds.rs
@@ -83,7 +83,13 @@ fn chunk_header(ts: u8, nbytes: i32, blocksize: i32, cbytes: i32, special: u8) -
 
 /// A chunk of `nbytes` bytes that repeats one value (special type 3).
 fn repeated(value: &[u8], nbytes: i32, blocksize: i32) -> Vec<u8> {
-    let mut c = chunk_header(value.len() as u8, nbytes, blocksize, 32 + value.len() as i32, 3);
+    let mut c = chunk_header(
+        value.len() as u8,
+        nbytes,
+        blocksize,
+        32 + value.len() as i32,
+        3,
+    );
     c.extend_from_slice(value);
     c
 }
@@ -189,3 +195,28 @@ fn small_frames_still_decode() {
     assert_eq!(blosc2_decompress(&f, 64).unwrap(), vec![0; 64]);
     let _ = blosc2_decompress_chunk;
 }
+
+/// A chunk that decodes to nothing kept its declared block size (up to
+/// 512 MiB) and allocated two scratch blocks of it: about 1 GiB for a
+/// 20-byte chunk.
+#[test]
+fn empty_chunk_does_not_allocate_its_block_size() {
+    let _g = lock();
+    let mut c = vec![5u8, 1, 0x01, 1];
+    for v in [0i32, 0x1FFF_F000, 20] {
+        c.extend_from_slice(&v.to_le_bytes());
+    }
+    c.resize(20, 0);
+    let (r, peak) = peak_during(|| blosc2_decompress_chunk(&c, 1 << 20));
+    assert_eq!(r.map(|v| v.len()).unwrap_or(0), 0);
+    assert!(
+        peak <= bound(0, &c),
+        "peak {peak} bytes for a 20-byte chunk"
+    );
+    // Inside a frame for a non-empty HDF5 chunk it is an error, not data.
+    let offsets = repeated(&0i64.to_le_bytes(), 8, 8);
+    let f = frame(None, 64, 4, 64, &c, &offsets);
+    let (r, peak) = peak_during(|| blosc2_decompress(&f, 64));
+    assert!(r.is_err(), "decoded {:?}", r.map(|v| v.len()));
+    assert!(peak <= bound(64, &f), "in a frame: peak {peak} bytes");
+}