diff --git a/src/encoder.rs b/src/encoder.rs
index 4590061..b64c9c5 100644
--- a/src/encoder.rs
+++ b/src/encoder.rs
@@ -3,13 +3,11 @@ use image::DynamicImage;
 use libwebp_sys::*;
 
 use crate::shared::*;
+use internal::CheckedEncoder;
 
 /// An encoder for WebP images. It uses the default configuration of libwebp.
 pub struct Encoder<'a> {
-    image: &'a [u8],
-    layout: PixelLayout,
-    width: u32,
-    height: u32,
+    e: CheckedEncoder<'a>,
 }
 
 impl<'a> Encoder<'a> {
@@ -17,10 +15,7 @@ impl<'a> Encoder<'a> {
     /// The image data must be in the pixel layout of the color parameter.
     pub fn new(image: &'a [u8], layout: PixelLayout, width: u32, height: u32) -> Self {
         Self {
-            image,
-            layout,
-            width,
-            height,
+            e: CheckedEncoder::new(image, layout, width, height),
         }
     }
 
@@ -47,20 +42,14 @@ impl<'a> Encoder<'a> {
     /// Creates a new encoder from the given image data in the RGB pixel layout.
     pub fn from_rgb(image: &'a [u8], width: u32, height: u32) -> Self {
         Self {
-            image,
-            layout: PixelLayout::Rgb,
-            width,
-            height,
+            e: CheckedEncoder::new(image, PixelLayout::Rgb, width, height),
         }
     }
 
     /// Creates a new encoder from the given image data in the RGBA pixel layout.
     pub fn from_rgba(image: &'a [u8], width: u32, height: u32) -> Self {
         Self {
-            image,
-            layout: PixelLayout::Rgba,
-            width,
-            height,
+            e: CheckedEncoder::new(image, PixelLayout::Rgba, width, height),
         }
     }
 
@@ -89,8 +78,99 @@ impl<'a> Encoder<'a> {
 
     pub fn encode_advanced(&self, config: &WebPConfig) -> Result<WebPMemory, WebPEncodingError> {
         unsafe {
-            let mut picture = new_picture(self.image, self.layout, self.width, self.height);
-            encode(&mut picture, config)
+            let mut picture = new_picture(
+                self.e.image(),
+                self.e.layout(),
+                self.e.width(),
+                self.e.height(),
+            );
+            let res = encode(&mut *picture, config);
+            res
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// This module contains the private CheckedEncoder so that it cannot be constructed directly from the outside.
+/// That ensures that the only way to construct one validates the supplied parameters.
+mod internal {
+    use std::convert::TryInto;
+
+    use crate::shared::PixelLayout;
+
+    /// Validated encoder parameters, guaranteeing `image.len() >= width * height * bytes_per_pixel`.
+    /// Required for memory safety. Their absence would allow out-of-bounds reads.
+    pub(super) struct CheckedEncoder<'a> {
+        image: &'a [u8],
+        layout: PixelLayout,
+        width: u32,
+        height: u32,
+    }
+
+    impl<'a> CheckedEncoder<'a> {
+        /// Creates a new instance of `CheckedEncoder`, and performs the necessary bounds checks.
+        ///
+        /// This is the only way to create a `CheckedEncoder` exposed outside the `internal` module.
+        pub(super) fn new(image: &'a [u8], layout: PixelLayout, width: u32, height: u32) -> Self {
+            // TODO: return an error instead of panicking in the next semver-breaking release
+
+            if width == 0 || height == 0 {
+                // TODO: enable this check once this function returns a Result.
+                // As of v0.3.0 it's possible to contruct an Encoder with width or height 0,
+                // but encoding will fail and the error is really uninformative:
+                // "called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: VP8_ENC_ERROR_BAD_DIMENSION"
+
+                //panic!("Width and height must be non-zero.");
+            }
+
+            // We're going to compare the incoming width * height * bpp against the length of a slice.
+            // The length of a slice is a `usize`, so we are going to do arithmetic in `usize` as well.
+            //
+            // On 32-bit and 64-bit platforms these conversions always suceeed and get optimized out.
+            let width_u: usize = width.try_into().unwrap();
+            let height_u: usize = height.try_into().unwrap();
+            let bytes_per_pixel_u: usize = layout.bytes_per_pixel().into();
+
+            // If we simply calculate `width * height * bytes_per_pixel`, arithmetic may overflow in release mode
+            // and make it possible to bypass the length check. So we need either .checked_mul or .saturating_mul here.
+            //
+            // Using `saturating_mul` is enough because it's not possible to construct a valid slice of size `usize::MAX` anyway,
+            // and it makes for simpler code and a nicer error message.
+            let expected_len = width_u
+                .saturating_mul(height_u)
+                .saturating_mul(bytes_per_pixel_u);
+            if image.len() < expected_len {
+                panic!(
+                    "Image buffer too small. Expected at least {} bytes for a {}x{} image with {:?} layout, got {}.",
+                    expected_len, width, height, layout, image.len()
+                );
+            }
+
+            if image.len() > expected_len {
+                // TODO: reject this in the future, once this function is made to return Result
+            }
+
+            CheckedEncoder {
+                image,
+                layout,
+                width,
+                height,
+            }
+        }
+
+        pub(super) fn width(&self) -> u32 {
+            self.width
+        }
+
+        pub(super) fn height(&self) -> u32 {
+            self.height
+        }
+
+        pub(super) fn layout(&self) -> PixelLayout {
+            self.layout
+        }
+
+        pub(super) fn image(&self) -> &'a [u8] {
+            self.image
         }
     }
 }
@@ -141,14 +221,20 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
     use crate::shared;
 
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic]
+    fn construct_encoder_with_buffer_overflow() {
+        Encoder::from_rgb(&[], 16383, 16383);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_encoder_new_assigns_fields() {
-        let data = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
+        let data = [5; 18];
         let enc = Encoder::new(&data, shared::PixelLayout::Rgb, 2, 3);
-        assert_eq!(enc.image, &data);
-        assert_eq!(enc.layout, shared::PixelLayout::Rgb);
-        assert_eq!(enc.width, 2);
-        assert_eq!(enc.height, 3);
+        assert_eq!(enc.e.image(), &data);
+        assert_eq!(enc.e.layout(), shared::PixelLayout::Rgb);
+        assert_eq!(enc.e.width(), 2);
+        assert_eq!(enc.e.height(), 3);
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -157,12 +243,12 @@ mod tests {
         let rgba = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8];
         let enc_rgb = Encoder::from_rgb(&rgb, 2, 1);
         let enc_rgba = Encoder::from_rgba(&rgba, 2, 1);
-        assert_eq!(enc_rgb.layout, shared::PixelLayout::Rgb);
-        assert_eq!(enc_rgba.layout, shared::PixelLayout::Rgba);
-        assert_eq!(enc_rgb.image, &rgb);
-        assert_eq!(enc_rgba.image, &rgba);
-        assert_eq!(enc_rgb.width, 2);
-        assert_eq!(enc_rgba.height, 1);
+        assert_eq!(enc_rgb.e.layout(), shared::PixelLayout::Rgb);
+        assert_eq!(enc_rgba.e.layout(), shared::PixelLayout::Rgba);
+        assert_eq!(enc_rgb.e.image(), &rgb);
+        assert_eq!(enc_rgba.e.image(), &rgba);
+        assert_eq!(enc_rgb.e.width(), 2);
+        assert_eq!(enc_rgba.e.height(), 1);
     }
 
     #[cfg(feature = "img")]
diff --git a/src/shared.rs b/src/shared.rs
index 232fd48..6381923 100644
--- a/src/shared.rs
+++ b/src/shared.rs
@@ -139,6 +139,13 @@ impl PixelLayout {
     pub fn is_alpha(self) -> bool {
         self == PixelLayout::Rgba
     }
+
+    pub fn bytes_per_pixel(self) -> u8 {
+        match self {
+            PixelLayout::Rgb => 3,
+            PixelLayout::Rgba => 4,
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]