diff --git a/libcrux-kem/CHANGELOG.md b/libcrux-kem/CHANGELOG.md
index 27680b9862..d6d026f897 100644
--- a/libcrux-kem/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/libcrux-kem/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- [#1560](https://github.com/celabshq/libcrux/pull/1560): Reject malformed hybrid key encodings without panicking
+
 ## [0.0.9] (2026-07-15)
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/libcrux-kem/src/kem.rs b/libcrux-kem/src/kem.rs
index 062f54f2fa..31daee0718 100644
--- a/libcrux-kem/src/kem.rs
+++ b/libcrux-kem/src/kem.rs
@@ -156,13 +156,13 @@ pub struct X25519MlKem768Draft00PrivateKey {
 
 impl X25519MlKem768Draft00PrivateKey {
     pub fn decode(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        let key: &[u8; MlKem768PrivateKey::len() + 32] =
+            bytes.try_into().map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPrivateKey)?;
+        let (mlkem, x25519) = key.split_at(MlKem768PrivateKey::len());
+
         Ok(Self {
-            mlkem: bytes[..2400]
-                .try_into()
-                .map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPrivateKey)?,
-            x25519: bytes[2400..]
-                .try_into()
-                .map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPrivateKey)?,
+            mlkem: mlkem.try_into().map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPrivateKey)?,
+            x25519: x25519.try_into().map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPrivateKey)?,
         })
     }
 
@@ -210,18 +210,20 @@ pub struct X25519MlKem768Draft00PublicKey {
 
 impl X25519MlKem768Draft00PublicKey {
     pub fn decode(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        let key: &[u8; MlKem768PublicKey::len() + 32] =
+            bytes.try_into().map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?;
+        let (mlkem, x25519) = key.split_at(MlKem768PublicKey::len());
+
         Ok(Self {
             mlkem: {
-                let key = MlKem768PublicKey::try_from(&bytes[..1184])
-                    .map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?;
+                let key =
+                    MlKem768PublicKey::try_from(mlkem).map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?;
                 if !mlkem768::validate_public_key(&key) {
                     return Err(Error::InvalidPublicKey);
                 }
                 key
             },
-            x25519: bytes[1184..]
-                .try_into()
-                .map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?,
+            x25519: x25519.try_into().map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?,
         })
     }
 
@@ -241,18 +243,19 @@ pub struct XWingKemDraft06PublicKey {
 
 impl XWingKemDraft06PublicKey {
     pub fn decode(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        let key: &[u8; MlKem768PublicKey::len() + 32] =
+            bytes.try_into().map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?;
+        let (pk_m, pk_x) = key.split_at(MlKem768PublicKey::len());
+
         Ok(Self {
             pk_m: {
-                let key = MlKem768PublicKey::try_from(&bytes[0..1184])
-                    .map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?;
+                let key = MlKem768PublicKey::try_from(pk_m).map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?;
                 if !mlkem768::validate_public_key(&key) {
                     return Err(Error::InvalidPublicKey);
                 }
                 key
             },
-            pk_x: bytes[1184..]
-                .try_into()
-                .map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?,
+            pk_x: pk_x.try_into().map_err(|_| Error::InvalidPublicKey)?,
         })
     }
 
diff --git a/libcrux-kem/tests/decode.rs b/libcrux-kem/tests/decode.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..731182e86c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libcrux-kem/tests/decode.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+use libcrux_kem::{
+    key_gen,
+    Algorithm::{X25519MlKem768Draft00, XWingKemDraft06},
+    Error, MlKem768PrivateKey, MlKem768PublicKey, PrivateKey, PublicKey,
+};
+
+const X25519_KEY_LEN: usize = 32;
+
+#[test]
+fn hybrid_private_key_decode_rejects_invalid_lengths() {
+    const MLKEM_KEY_LEN: usize = MlKem768PrivateKey::len();
+    const KEY_LEN: usize = MLKEM_KEY_LEN + X25519_KEY_LEN;
+
+    for len in [
+        0,
+        1,
+        MLKEM_KEY_LEN - 1,
+        MLKEM_KEY_LEN,
+        KEY_LEN - 1,
+        KEY_LEN + 1,
+    ] {
+        let encoded = vec![0; len];
+        assert!(
+            matches!(
+                PrivateKey::decode(X25519MlKem768Draft00, &encoded),
+                Err(Error::InvalidPrivateKey)
+            ),
+            "accepted an invalid {len}-byte private key"
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn hybrid_public_key_decode_rejects_invalid_lengths() {
+    const MLKEM_KEY_LEN: usize = MlKem768PublicKey::len();
+    const KEY_LEN: usize = MLKEM_KEY_LEN + X25519_KEY_LEN;
+
+    for algorithm in [X25519MlKem768Draft00, XWingKemDraft06] {
+        for len in [
+            0,
+            1,
+            MLKEM_KEY_LEN - 1,
+            MLKEM_KEY_LEN,
+            KEY_LEN - 1,
+            KEY_LEN + 1,
+        ] {
+            let encoded = vec![0; len];
+            assert!(
+                matches!(
+                    PublicKey::decode(algorithm, &encoded),
+                    Err(Error::InvalidPublicKey)
+                ),
+                "{algorithm:?} accepted an invalid {len}-byte public key"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn hybrid_keys_round_trip_decoding() {
+    let mut rng = rand::rng();
+
+    for algorithm in [X25519MlKem768Draft00, XWingKemDraft06] {
+        let (private_key, public_key) = key_gen(algorithm, &mut rng).unwrap();
+
+        assert!(PrivateKey::decode(algorithm, &private_key.encode()).is_ok());
+        assert!(PublicKey::decode(algorithm, &public_key.encode()).is_ok());
+    }
+}