diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md
index bdaf1c8c..7170bdd5 100644
--- a/docs/index.md
+++ b/docs/index.md
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ instead of the vendored copies::
         --config-settings=setup-args=-Dsystem_zstd=enabled \
         --config-settings=setup-args=-Dsystem_lz4=enabled
 
+System Blosc builds require Blosc 1.16.0 or newer.
+
 
 To work with Numcodecs source code in development, see the
 `contributing guide <contributing.html>`_ for instructions on setting up a
diff --git a/docs/release.md b/docs/release.md
index 78e8901c..74f6c13b 100644
--- a/docs/release.md
+++ b/docs/release.md
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Fixes
+
+* Validate Blosc frames before decompression, allowing valid zero-length frames to round-trip
+  while rejecting truncation and invalid frame headers and preserving support for trailing bytes.
+  System Blosc builds now require version 1.16.0 or newer. By
+  {user}`Igor Stadnyk <fallenmi>`, {issue}`831`.
+
 ### Maintenance
 
 * **Migrate build system from setuptools/setup.py to meson-python.** This replaces the
diff --git a/src/numcodecs/blosc.pyx b/src/numcodecs/blosc.pyx
index d61f7358..744cbbd0 100644
--- a/src/numcodecs/blosc.pyx
+++ b/src/numcodecs/blosc.pyx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ from .abc import Codec
 
 cdef extern from "blosc.h":
     cdef enum:
+        BLOSC_MIN_HEADER_LENGTH,
         BLOSC_MAX_OVERHEAD,
         BLOSC_VERSION_STRING,
         BLOSC_VERSION_DATE,
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ cdef extern from "blosc.h":
                            int numinternalthreads) nogil
     int blosc_decompress_ctx(const void* src, void* dest, size_t destsize,
                              int numinternalthreads) nogil
+    int blosc_cbuffer_validate(const void* cbuffer, size_t cbytes, size_t* nbytes)
     void blosc_cbuffer_sizes(const void* cbuffer, size_t* nbytes, size_t* cbytes,
                              size_t* blocksize)
     char* blosc_cbuffer_complib(const void* cbuffer)
@@ -332,7 +334,8 @@ def decompress(source, dest=None):
     ----------
     source : bytes-like
         Compressed data, including blosc header. Can be any object supporting the buffer
-        protocol.
+        protocol. Bytes after the first complete Blosc frame are ignored for backward
+        compatibility.
     dest : array-like, optional
         Object to decompress into.
 
@@ -359,8 +362,16 @@ def decompress(source, dest=None):
     # get source pointer
     source_ptr = <const char*>source_pb.buf
 
-    # determine buffer size
+    # Read the declared frame size only after proving the complete header is present.
+    # Validate exactly that frame so trailing bytes remain backward compatible.
+    if source_pb.len < BLOSC_MIN_HEADER_LENGTH:
+        raise RuntimeError('invalid blosc frame: buffer is too small')
     blosc_cbuffer_sizes(source_ptr, &nbytes, &cbytes, &blocksize)
+    if cbytes > <size_t>source_pb.len:
+        raise RuntimeError('invalid blosc frame: buffer is truncated')
+    ret = blosc_cbuffer_validate(source_ptr, cbytes, &nbytes)
+    if ret != 0:
+        raise RuntimeError('invalid blosc frame: header validation failed')
 
     # setup destination buffer
     if dest is None:
@@ -382,6 +393,12 @@ def decompress(source, dest=None):
             raise ValueError('destination buffer too small; expected at least %s, '
                              'got %s' % (nbytes, dest_nbytes))
 
+        # Preserve the previous loud failure for a non-empty destination paired
+        # with an empty frame instead of returning an untouched output buffer.
+        if nbytes == 0 and dest_nbytes != 0:
+            raise RuntimeError('cannot decompress an empty blosc frame into a '
+                               'non-empty destination buffer')
+
         # perform decompression
         if _get_use_threads():
             # allow blosc to use threads internally
@@ -395,7 +412,7 @@ def decompress(source, dest=None):
         pass
 
     # handle errors
-    if ret <= 0:
+    if ret < 0 or <size_t>ret != nbytes:
         raise RuntimeError('error during blosc decompression: %d' % ret)
 
     return dest
diff --git a/src/numcodecs/meson.build b/src/numcodecs/meson.build
index eca2b2c6..117b67b6 100644
--- a/src/numcodecs/meson.build
+++ b/src/numcodecs/meson.build
@@ -153,7 +153,11 @@ zlib_dep = declare_dependency(
 )
 
 # --- Vendored blosc ---
-blosc_dep = dependency('blosc', required: get_option('system_blosc'))
+blosc_dep = dependency(
+  'blosc',
+  version: '>=1.16.0',
+  required: get_option('system_blosc'),
+)
 
 if not blosc_dep.found()
   blosc_sources = files(
diff --git a/tests/test_blosc.py b/tests/test_blosc.py
index 537dc350..ec4b5488 100644
--- a/tests/test_blosc.py
+++ b/tests/test_blosc.py
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     np.random.randint(-(2**63), -(2**63) + 20, size=1000, dtype='i8').view('m8[ns]'),
     np.random.randint(-(2**63), -(2**63) + 20, size=1000, dtype='i8').view('M8[m]'),
     np.random.randint(-(2**63), -(2**63) + 20, size=1000, dtype='i8').view('m8[m]'),
+    np.empty(0, dtype='u1'),
 ]
 
 
@@ -75,6 +76,35 @@ def test_encode_decode(array, codec):
     check_encode_decode(array, codec)
 
 
+def test_empty_encode_decode(use_threads):
+    blosc.use_threads = use_threads
+    try:
+        check_encode_decode(np.empty(0, dtype='u1'), Blosc())
+    finally:
+        blosc.use_threads = None
+
+
+def test_empty_decode_rejects_nonempty_destination():
+    codec = Blosc()
+    encoded = codec.encode(b'')
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match='non-empty destination buffer'):
+        codec.decode(encoded, out=bytearray(1))
+
+
+def test_decompress_allows_trailing_bytes():
+    codec = Blosc()
+    original = b'some data to compress'
+    encoded = codec.encode(original)
+    assert codec.decode(encoded + b'padding') == original
+
+
+def test_decompress_rejects_truncated_frame():
+    codec = Blosc()
+    encoded = codec.encode(b'some data to compress')
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match='buffer is truncated'):
+        codec.decode(encoded[:-1])
+
+
 def test_config():
     codec = Blosc(cname='zstd', clevel=3, shuffle=1)
     check_config(codec)