diff --git a/libi2pd_client/SAM.cpp b/libi2pd_client/SAM.cpp
index cdc662a3..50cb8bf5 100644
--- a/libi2pd_client/SAM.cpp
+++ b/libi2pd_client/SAM.cpp
@@ -95,6 +95,15 @@ namespace client
 				version *= 10;
 				version += (ch - '0');
 			}
+			else if (ch == '.')
+			{
+				// no-op: skip periods
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				// if version contains other characters, return error
+				return -1;
+			}
 		}
 		return version;
 	}
@@ -131,7 +140,10 @@ namespace client
 			if (!strcmp (m_Buffer, SAM_HANDSHAKE))
 			{
 				int minVer = 0, maxVer = 0;
-				// try to find MIN and MAX, 3.0 if not found
+				bool verErr = false;
+				// try to find MIN and MAX, MAX_SAM_VERSION if not found,
+				// since the highest possible version must be returned
+				// given the constraints
 				if (separator)
 				{
 					separator++;
@@ -143,14 +155,35 @@ namespace client
 					if (!minVerStr.empty ())
 						minVer = ExtractVersion (minVerStr);
 				}
+				// if parsing error or impossible version constraints
+				if (minVer == -1 || maxVer == -1 || (minVer && maxVer && minVer > maxVer))
+					verErr = true;
 				// version negotiation
-				if (maxVer && maxVer <= MAX_SAM_VERSION)
-					m_Version = maxVer;
-				else if (minVer && minVer >= MIN_SAM_VERSION && minVer <= MAX_SAM_VERSION)
-					m_Version = minVer;
-				else if (!maxVer && !minVer)
-					m_Version = MIN_SAM_VERSION;
-				else
+				else if (maxVer && minVer) // if both constraints provided
+				{
+					if (maxVer < MIN_SAM_VERSION || minVer > MAX_SAM_VERSION)
+						verErr = true;
+					else
+						m_Version = std::min(maxVer, MAX_SAM_VERSION);
+				}
+				else if (maxVer) // if only max provided
+				{
+					if (maxVer < MIN_SAM_VERSION)
+						verErr = true;
+					else
+						m_Version = std::min(maxVer, MAX_SAM_VERSION);
+				}
+				else if (minVer) // if only min provided
+				{
+					if (minVer > MAX_SAM_VERSION)
+						verErr = true;
+					else
+						m_Version = MAX_SAM_VERSION;
+				}
+				else // if neither min nor max is provided
+					m_Version = MAX_SAM_VERSION;
+
+				if (verErr)
 				{
 					LogPrint (eLogError, "SAM: Handshake version mismatch ", minVer, " ", maxVer);
 					SendMessageReply (SAM_HANDSHAKE_NOVERSION, true);
diff --git a/tests/test-sam-version.sh b/tests/test-sam-version.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c1f40a10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-sam-version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# This script tests the version negotiation in the SAM handshake.
+
+# Inputs and expected outputs
+IN=()
+EXP=()
+
+IN+=("MIN=3.1 MAX=3.3")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("MAX=3.3")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("MAX=3.4")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("MIN=3.0")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("MIN=3.1")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("MIN=2.9")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("MIN=3.3 MAX=3.1")
+EXP+=("NOVERSION")
+
+IN+=("MIN=3.5 MAX=2.7")
+EXP+=("NOVERSION")
+
+IN+=("MIN=2.7 MAX=3.5")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.3")
+
+IN+=("MIN=afddab3vsfdsg1df MAX=dsaaffdb3ggfgfbgf1bssbf")
+EXP+=("NOVERSION")
+
+IN+=("MIN=31 MAX=31")
+EXP+=("OK VERSION=3.1")
+
+
+for i in $(seq 0 $((${#IN[@]} - 1))); do
+	printf "HELLO VERSION ${IN[$i]} - "
+
+	# Observed output
+	OBS=$(printf "HELLO VERSION ${IN[$i]}\n" | nc -q 0 127.0.0.1 7656)
+
+	if [ "$OBS" = "HELLO REPLY RESULT=${EXP[$i]}" ]; then
+		printf "OK\n"
+	else
+		printf "received $OBS\n"
+	fi
+done
+
+