diff --git a/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp b/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp
index 94fd5b3..4818225 100644
--- a/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp
+++ b/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.cpp
@@ -56,8 +56,13 @@ namespace linuxdeploy {
                                 !((len >= 2 && (line[0] == '/' && line[1] == '/')) || (len >= 1 && line[0] == '#'))) {
                                 if (line[0] == '[') {
                                     // this line apparently introduces a new section
+                                    auto closingBracketPos = line.find_last_of(']');
+
+                                    if (closingBracketPos == std::string::npos)
+                                        throw ParseError("No closing ] bracket in section header");
+
                                     size_t length = len - 2;
-                                    auto title = line.substr(1, line.find(']') - 1);
+                                    auto title = line.substr(1, closingBracketPos - 1);
 
                                     // set up the new section
                                     sections.insert(std::make_pair(title, DesktopFile::section_t()));
diff --git a/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp b/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp
index e76582a..b4273d7 100644
--- a/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp
+++ b/tests/core/test_desktopfilereader.cpp
@@ -201,3 +201,11 @@ TEST_F(DesktopFileReaderFixture, testParseLinesWithMultipleSpaces) {
 
     EXPECT_EQ(section["Name"].value(), "What a great  name");
 }
+
+TEST_F(DesktopFileReaderFixture, testReadBrokenSectionHeader) {
+    std::stringstream ins;
+    ins << "[Desktop Entry" << std::endl
+        << "test=test" << std::endl;
+
+    ASSERT_THROW(DesktopFileReader reader(ins), ParseError);
+}