diff --git a/app/Livewire/Auth/TwoFactorSetup.php b/app/Livewire/Auth/TwoFactorSetup.php
index 71b3978..f5a9bf8 100644
--- a/app/Livewire/Auth/TwoFactorSetup.php
+++ b/app/Livewire/Auth/TwoFactorSetup.php
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use Illuminate\Validation\ValidationException;
 use Livewire\Attributes\Layout;
 use Livewire\Attributes\Validate;
 use Livewire\Component;
+use PragmaRX\Google2FA\Exceptions\Google2FAException;
 use PragmaRX\Google2FAQRCode\Google2FA;
 
 #[Layout('layouts.auth')]
@@ -30,7 +31,13 @@ class TwoFactorSetup extends Component
     {
         $this->validate();
 
-        if (! (new Google2FA)->verifyKey($this->secret, preg_replace('/\s+/', '', $this->code))) {
+        try {
+            $matches = (new Google2FA)->verifyKey($this->secret, preg_replace('/\s+/', '', $this->code) ?? '');
+        } catch (Google2FAException $e) {
+            $matches = false;
+        }
+
+        if (! $matches) {
             throw ValidationException::withMessages(['code' => __('auth.code_mismatch')]);
         }
 
diff --git a/app/Models/User.php b/app/Models/User.php
index e99e87b..f384159 100644
--- a/app/Models/User.php
+++ b/app/Models/User.php
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User as Authenticatable;
 use Illuminate\Notifications\Notifiable;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use Illuminate\Support\Str;
+use PragmaRX\Google2FA\Exceptions\Google2FAException;
 use PragmaRX\Google2FAQRCode\Google2FA;
 
 #[Fillable(['name', 'email', 'password', 'must_change_password', 'locale'])]
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ class User extends Authenticatable
 
         try {
             return (new Google2FA)->verifyKey($this->two_factor_secret, preg_replace('/\s+/', '', $code) ?? '');
-        } catch (\Throwable) {
+        } catch (Google2FAException) {
             return false;
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/FirstFactorCodesTest.php b/tests/Feature/FirstFactorCodesTest.php
index e47d9e3..7a9b81f 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/FirstFactorCodesTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/FirstFactorCodesTest.php
@@ -57,4 +57,17 @@ class FirstFactorCodesTest extends TestCase
 
         $this->assertTrue($user->fresh()->hasRecoveryCodes());
     }
+
+    public function test_malformed_setup_secret_yields_validation_error_not_500(): void
+    {
+        $user = User::factory()->create();
+
+        Livewire::actingAs($user)->test(TwoFactorSetup::class)
+            ->set('secret', 'x') // client-tampered, too short for Google2FA
+            ->set('code', '123456')
+            ->call('confirm')
+            ->assertHasErrors('code');
+
+        $this->assertFalse($user->fresh()->hasTotp());
+    }
 }