diff --git a/src/sstable.rs b/src/sstable.rs
index 3890a81..d865d05 100644
--- a/src/sstable.rs
+++ b/src/sstable.rs
@@ -181,13 +181,17 @@ impl SsTable {
         if !self.zone_map.contains(key) || !self.bloom.may_contain(key) {
             return Ok(None);
         }
-        let offset = self.seek_offset(key);
+        let offset = self.seek_offset(key) as usize;
         if let Some(root) = storage.local_path() {
             let path = root.join(&self.path);
             let file = File::open(path)?;
             // memory-map the file for efficient slicing
             let mmap = unsafe { MmapOptions::new().map(&file)? };
-            if let Some(enc) = Self::scan_from(&mmap[offset as usize..], key) {
+            // The sparse index comes from a separately stored meta file; an
+            // offset beyond the data file means the index is stale or
+            // corrupt, so fall back to scanning the whole table.
+            let slice = mmap.get(offset..).unwrap_or(&mmap[..]);
+            if let Some(enc) = Self::scan_from(slice, key) {
                 let val = STANDARD
                     .decode(enc)
                     .map_err(std::io::Error::other)?;
@@ -197,7 +201,8 @@ impl SsTable {
         }
         // fallback to reading entire file from storage
         let raw = storage.get(&self.path).await?;
-        if let Some(enc) = Self::scan_from(&raw[offset as usize..], key) {
+        let slice = raw.get(offset..).unwrap_or(&raw[..]);
+        if let Some(enc) = Self::scan_from(slice, key) {
             let val = STANDARD
                 .decode(enc)
                 .map_err(std::io::Error::other)?;
diff --git a/tests/sstable_test.rs b/tests/sstable_test.rs
index b3fa8b1..a8d753e 100644
--- a/tests/sstable_test.rs
+++ b/tests/sstable_test.rs
@@ -23,3 +23,51 @@ async fn sstable_roundtrip() {
         .collect();
     assert_eq!(keys, vec!["a", "b", "c"]);
 }
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn out_of_bounds_index_offset_does_not_panic() {
+    let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    let storage = LocalStorage::new(dir.path());
+    let entries = vec![
+        ("a".to_string(), b"1".to_vec()),
+        ("b".to_string(), b"2".to_vec()),
+    ];
+    let mut table = SsTable::create("table", &entries, &storage).await.unwrap();
+    // Simulate a corrupt/stale sparse index pointing past the end of the
+    // data file. Lookups must not panic and must still find existing keys
+    // by falling back to a full scan.
+    table.index = vec![("a".to_string(), u64::MAX), ("b".to_string(), 1 << 40)];
+    assert_eq!(table.get("a", &storage).await.unwrap(), Some(b"1".to_vec()));
+    assert_eq!(table.get("b", &storage).await.unwrap(), Some(b"2".to_vec()));
+    assert_eq!(table.get("zz", &storage).await.unwrap(), None);
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn out_of_bounds_index_offset_remote_storage_does_not_panic() {
+    struct NoLocal(LocalStorage);
+
+    #[async_trait::async_trait]
+    impl Storage for NoLocal {
+        async fn put(&self, path: &str, data: Vec<u8>) -> Result<(), cass::storage::StorageError> {
+            self.0.put(path, data).await
+        }
+        async fn get(&self, path: &str) -> Result<Vec<u8>, cass::storage::StorageError> {
+            self.0.get(path).await
+        }
+        async fn append(&self, path: &str, data: &[u8]) -> Result<(), cass::storage::StorageError> {
+            self.0.append(path, data).await
+        }
+        async fn list(&self, prefix: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, cass::storage::StorageError> {
+            self.0.list(prefix).await
+        }
+    }
+
+    let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    // Hide the local path so `get` exercises the remote-storage fallback.
+    let storage = NoLocal(LocalStorage::new(dir.path()));
+    let entries = vec![("a".to_string(), b"1".to_vec())];
+    let mut table = SsTable::create("table", &entries, &storage).await.unwrap();
+    table.index = vec![("a".to_string(), u64::MAX)];
+    assert_eq!(table.get("a", &storage).await.unwrap(), Some(b"1".to_vec()));
+    assert_eq!(table.get("zz", &storage).await.unwrap(), None);
+}