diff --git a/eventstream.go b/eventstream.go
index 16c7f2e..ee8ae80 100644
--- a/eventstream.go
+++ b/eventstream.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 )
 
 // Event is a typed message published to the event stream.
@@ -58,5 +59,9 @@ func ReadEvent(r io.Reader) (*Event, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	if !utf8.Valid(topic) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("topic contains invalid UTF-8")
+	}
+
 	return &Event{Topic: string(topic), Payload: payload}, nil
 }
diff --git a/zz_event_wire_test.go b/zz_event_wire_test.go
index 934b6ab..dc919d2 100644
--- a/zz_event_wire_test.go
+++ b/zz_event_wire_test.go
@@ -143,3 +143,19 @@ func TestEventPayloadTooLarge(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("expected error for oversized payload, got nil")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestEventTopicInvalidUTF8(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	// Craft topic with invalid UTF-8: byte 0xFF is never valid
+	invalidTopic := []byte{0x48, 0xFF, 0x69} // H + invalid + i
+	binary.Write(&buf, binary.BigEndian, uint16(len(invalidTopic)))
+	buf.Write(invalidTopic)
+	// Valid payload
+	binary.Write(&buf, binary.BigEndian, uint32(0))
+
+	_, err := eventstream.ReadEvent(&buf)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error for invalid UTF-8 topic, got nil")
+	}
+}