diff --git a/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncoding.java b/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncoding.java
index 343b2fdc7..9c35c83e9 100644
--- a/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncoding.java
+++ b/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncoding.java
@@ -116,6 +116,8 @@ public static int getDigit(final int index, final char value)
      * @param cs     to parse.
      * @param index  at which the number begins.
      * @param length of the encoded number in characters.
+     * @throws AsciiNumberFormatException if <code>cs</code> is not an int value
+     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if <code>cs</code> is empty
      * @return the parsed value.
      */
     public static int parseIntAscii(final CharSequence cs, final int index, final int length)
@@ -124,7 +126,7 @@ public static int parseIntAscii(final CharSequence cs, final int index, final in
         final int first = cs.charAt(index);
         int i = index;
 
-        if (first == MINUS_SIGN)
+        if (first == MINUS_SIGN && length > 1)
         {
             i++;
         }
@@ -149,6 +151,8 @@ public static int parseIntAscii(final CharSequence cs, final int index, final in
      * @param cs     to parse.
      * @param index  at which the number begins.
      * @param length of the encoded number in characters.
+     * @throws AsciiNumberFormatException if <code>cs</code> is not a long value
+     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if <code>cs</code> is empty
      * @return the parsed value.
      */
     public static long parseLongAscii(final CharSequence cs, final int index, final int length)
@@ -157,7 +161,7 @@ public static long parseLongAscii(final CharSequence cs, final int index, final
         final int first = cs.charAt(index);
         int i = index;
 
-        if (first == MINUS_SIGN)
+        if (first == MINUS_SIGN && length > 1)
         {
             i++;
         }
diff --git a/agrona/src/test/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncodingTest.java b/agrona/src/test/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncodingTest.java
index 69fe0baf6..e5dc00efe 100644
--- a/agrona/src/test/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncodingTest.java
+++ b/agrona/src/test/java/org/agrona/AsciiEncodingTest.java
@@ -43,14 +43,44 @@ public void shouldParseLong()
     }
 
     @Test(expected = AsciiNumberFormatException.class)
-    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenDecodingCharNonAsciiValue()
+    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenDecodingCharNonNumericValue()
     {
         AsciiEncoding.getDigit(0, 'a');
     }
 
     @Test(expected = AsciiNumberFormatException.class)
-    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenDecodingByteNonAsciiValue()
+    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenDecodingByteNonNumericValue()
     {
         AsciiEncoding.getDigit(0, (byte)'a');
     }
+
+    @Test(expected = AsciiNumberFormatException.class)
+    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenParsingLongContainingLoneMinusSign()
+    {
+        AsciiEncoding.parseLongAscii("-", 0, 1);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = AsciiNumberFormatException.class)
+    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenParsingIntegerContainingLoneMinusSign()
+    {
+        AsciiEncoding.parseIntAscii("-", 0, 1);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = AsciiNumberFormatException.class)
+    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenParsingLongContainingLonePlusSign()
+    {
+        AsciiEncoding.parseLongAscii("+", 0, 1);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = IndexOutOfBoundsException.class)
+    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenParsingEmptyLong()
+    {
+        AsciiEncoding.parseLongAscii("", 0, 0);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = IndexOutOfBoundsException.class)
+    public void shouldThrowExceptionWhenParsingEmptyInteger()
+    {
+        AsciiEncoding.parseIntAscii("", 0, 0);
+    }
 }
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