diff --git a/descriptor.c b/descriptor.c
index 35234c1..4556863 100644
--- a/descriptor.c
+++ b/descriptor.c
@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ read_lstring(struct epg *epg, unsigned int *len)
 	if (epg->binsize - epg->offset < l)
 		l = epg->binsize - epg->offset;
 
+	if (l < 1)
+		return strdup("Short file");
+
 	c = malloc(l + 1);
 	memcpy(c, epg->bin + epg->offset, l);
 	c[l] = '\0';