diff --git a/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp b/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp
index 110b107..3c33106 100644
--- a/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp
+++ b/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp
@@ -78,9 +78,13 @@ namespace linuxdeploy {
                                     if (currentSectionName.empty())
                                         throw ParseError("No section in desktop file");
 
+                                    auto delimiterPos = line.find('=');
+                                    if (delimiterPos == std::string::npos)
+                                        throw ParseError("No = key/value delimiter found");
+
                                     // this line should be a normal key-value pair
-                                    std::string key = line.substr(0, line.find('='));
-                                    std::string value = line.substr(line.find('=') + 1, line.size());
+                                    std::string key = line.substr(0, delimiterPos);
+                                    std::string value = line.substr(delimiterPos + 1, line.size());
 
                                     // we can strip away any sort of leading or trailing whitespace safely
                                     linuxdeploy::util::trim(key);
diff --git a/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp b/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp
index 7645d9a..cad2cc2 100644
--- a/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp
+++ b/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp
@@ -261,3 +261,22 @@ TEST_F(DesktopFileReaderFixture, testReadBrokenSectionHeaderTooManyOpeningBracke
         ASSERT_THROW(DesktopFileReader reader(ins), ParseError);
     }
 }
+
+TEST_F(DesktopFileReaderFixture, testReadBrokenSectionMissingOpeningBracket) {
+    {
+        std::stringstream ins;
+        ins << "Desktop Entry]" << std::endl
+            << "test=test" << std::endl;
+        ASSERT_THROW(DesktopFileReader reader(ins), ParseError);
+    }
+
+    // also test for brokenness in a later section, as the first section is normally treated specially
+    {
+        std::stringstream ins;
+        ins << "[Desktop Entry]" << std::endl
+            << "test=test" << std::endl
+            << "Another Section]" << std::endl;
+
+        ASSERT_THROW(DesktopFileReader reader(ins), ParseError);
+    }
+}