diff --git a/src/Makefile.test.include b/src/Makefile.test.include
--- a/src/Makefile.test.include
+++ b/src/Makefile.test.include
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
   test/coins_tests.cpp \
   test/compress_tests.cpp \
   test/config_tests.cpp \
+  test/core_io_tests.cpp \
   test/crypto_tests.cpp \
   test/cuckoocache_tests.cpp \
   test/dbwrapper_tests.cpp \
diff --git a/src/core_read.cpp b/src/core_read.cpp
--- a/src/core_read.cpp
+++ b/src/core_read.cpp
@@ -62,12 +62,18 @@
             int64_t n = atoi64(*w);
             result << n;
         } else if (boost::algorithm::starts_with(*w, "0x") &&
-                   (w->begin() + 2 != w->end()) &&
-                   IsHex(std::string(w->begin() + 2, w->end()))) {
-            // Raw hex data, inserted NOT pushed onto stack:
-            std::vector<uint8_t> raw =
-                ParseHex(std::string(w->begin() + 2, w->end()));
-            result.insert(result.end(), raw.begin(), raw.end());
+                   (w->begin() + 2 != w->end())) {
+            if (IsHex(std::string(w->begin() + 2, w->end()))) {
+                // Raw hex data, inserted NOT pushed onto stack:
+                std::vector<uint8_t> raw =
+                    ParseHex(std::string(w->begin() + 2, w->end()));
+                result.insert(result.end(), raw.begin(), raw.end());
+            } else {
+                // Should only arrive here for improperly formatted hex values
+                throw std::runtime_error("Hex numbers expected to be formatted "
+                                         "in full-byte chunks (ex: 0x00 "
+                                         "instead of 0x0)");
+            }
         } else if (w->size() >= 2 && boost::algorithm::starts_with(*w, "'") &&
                    boost::algorithm::ends_with(*w, "'")) {
             // Single-quoted string, pushed as data. NOTE: this is poor-man's
diff --git a/src/test/CMakeLists.txt b/src/test/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/src/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
 	coins_tests.cpp
 	compress_tests.cpp
 	config_tests.cpp
+	core_io_tests.cpp
 	crypto_tests.cpp
 	cuckoocache_tests.cpp
 	dbwrapper_tests.cpp
diff --git a/src/test/core_io_tests.cpp b/src/test/core_io_tests.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/core_io_tests.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2018 The Bitcoin developers
+// Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
+// file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
+
+#include "core_io.h"
+#include "test/test_bitcoin.h"
+
+#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
+#include <string>
+
+BOOST_FIXTURE_TEST_SUITE(core_io_tests, BasicTestingSetup)
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(parse_hex_test) {
+    std::string s = "0x";
+    BOOST_CHECK_THROW(ParseScript(s), std::runtime_error);
+
+    for (int numZeroes = 1; numZeroes <= 32; numZeroes++) {
+        s += "0";
+        if (numZeroes % 2 == 0) {
+            BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW(ParseScript(s));
+        } else {
+            BOOST_CHECK_THROW(ParseScript(s), std::runtime_error);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()