diff --git a/src/setup_payload/QRCodeSetupPayloadParser.cpp b/src/setup_payload/QRCodeSetupPayloadParser.cpp
index 150662675f9405..0eb88be7c9d2ab 100644
--- a/src/setup_payload/QRCodeSetupPayloadParser.cpp
+++ b/src/setup_payload/QRCodeSetupPayloadParser.cpp
@@ -365,6 +365,11 @@ CHIP_ERROR QRCodeSetupPayloadParser::populatePayload(SetupPayload & outPayload)
     outPayload.setUpPINCode = static_cast<uint32_t>(dest);
 
     ReturnErrorOnFailure(readBits(buf, indexToReadFrom, dest, kPaddingFieldLengthInBits));
+    if (dest != 0)
+    {
+        ChipLogError(SetupPayload, "Payload padding bits are not all 0: 0x%x", static_cast<unsigned>(dest));
+        return CHIP_ERROR_INVALID_ARGUMENT;
+    }
 
     return populateTLV(outPayload, buf, indexToReadFrom);
 }