diff --git a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHosts.java b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHosts.java
index aaeb5aa4..1ade6d86 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHosts.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHosts.java
@@ -200,7 +200,10 @@ public class OpenSSHKnownHosts
             if (marker != null) {
                 i++;
             }
-
+            if(split.length < 3) {
+                LOG.error("Error reading entry `{}`", line);
+                return null;
+            }
             final String hostnames = split[i++];
             final String sType = split[i++];
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHostsTest.java b/src/test/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHostsTest.java
index 02e9f585..8edfaee7 100644
--- a/src/test/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHostsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/net/schmizz/sshj/transport/verification/OpenSSHKnownHostsTest.java
@@ -80,4 +80,9 @@ public class OpenSSHKnownHostsTest {
         assertTrue(kh.verify("69.163.155.180", 22, key));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testVerifyIndexError() throws Exception {
+        final OpenSSHKnownHosts v = new OpenSSHKnownHosts(new File("src/test/resources/known_hosts.invalid"));
+        assertTrue(v.entries().isEmpty());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/resources/known_hosts.invalid b/src/test/resources/known_hosts.invalid
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..edd846e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/known_hosts.invalid
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+M36Lo+Ik5ukNugvvoNFlpnyiHMmtKxt3FpyEfYuryXjNqMNWHn/ARVnpUIl5jRLTB7WBzyLYMG7X5nuoFL9zYqKGtHxChbDunxMVbspw5WXI9VN+qxcLwmITmpEvI9ApyS/Ox2ZyN7zw==