diff --git a/crates/docx/src/package.rs b/crates/docx/src/package.rs
index debef3cb5..f98a3a709 100644
--- a/crates/docx/src/package.rs
+++ b/crates/docx/src/package.rs
@@ -258,6 +258,14 @@ impl Package {
         self.files.iter().find(|(k, _)| k.eq_ignore_ascii_case(n)).map(|(_, v)| v)
     }
 
+    /// [`Package::xml`] for the main document part: malformed XML is an error, not a truncated read.
+    pub fn xml_strict(&self, name: &str) -> Result<Option<El>, DocxError> {
+        match self.get(name) {
+            Some(b) => xml::parse_strict(b).map(Some),
+            None => Ok(None),
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn xml(&self, name: &str) -> Result<Option<El>, DocxError> {
         match self.get(name) {
             Some(b) => xml::parse(b).map(Some),
diff --git a/crates/docx/src/read/mod.rs b/crates/docx/src/read/mod.rs
index 79bed9f35..8bdb65933 100644
--- a/crates/docx/src/read/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/docx/src/read/mod.rs
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ pub(crate) fn read_package(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Document, DocxError> {
 pub(crate) fn read_opened(pkg: &Package) -> Result<Document, DocxError> {
     let root_rels = pkg.rels("");
     let main = root_rels.by_type(rt::OFFICE_DOC).filter(|r| !r.external).map(|r| r.target.clone()).unwrap_or_else(|| "word/document.xml".to_string());
-    let Some(root) = pkg.xml(&main)? else {
+    let Some(root) = pkg.xml_strict(&main)? else {
         return Err(DocxError::MissingPart(main));
     };
     if root.name != "w:document" {
diff --git a/crates/docx/src/xml.rs b/crates/docx/src/xml.rs
index 1ebb497a8..c517f3669 100644
--- a/crates/docx/src/xml.rs
+++ b/crates/docx/src/xml.rs
@@ -263,6 +263,16 @@ pub fn parse(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<El, DocxError> {
 /// [`parse`] with `extra` namespaces (prefix, URI) mapped to canonical prefixes first, so a
 /// related vocabulary (WordprocessingML 2003) reads with the prefixes the reader knows.
 pub fn parse_ns(bytes: &[u8], extra: &[(&'static str, &str)]) -> Result<El, DocxError> {
+    parse_with(bytes, extra, false)
+}
+
+/// [`parse`] for a part whose loss would be silent data loss (the main document): a mismatched end
+/// tag or an element left open at the end of the data is an error, not a cue to stop reading.
+pub fn parse_strict(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<El, DocxError> {
+    parse_with(bytes, &[], true)
+}
+
+fn parse_with(bytes: &[u8], extra: &[(&'static str, &str)], strict: bool) -> Result<El, DocxError> {
     // UTF-16 (with a BOM) is transcoded to UTF-8; a UTF-8 BOM is stripped.
     let transcoded = utf16_to_utf8(bytes);
     let bytes = match &transcoded {
@@ -275,7 +285,7 @@ pub fn parse_ns(bytes: &[u8], extra: &[(&'static str, &str)]) -> Result<El, Docx
         c.trim_text_start = false;
         c.trim_text_end = false;
         c.expand_empty_elements = false;
-        c.check_end_names = false;
+        c.check_end_names = strict;
     }
     let mut stack: Vec<El> = Vec::new();
     let mut root: Option<El> = None;
@@ -389,6 +399,9 @@ pub fn parse_ns(bytes: &[u8], extra: &[(&'static str, &str)]) -> Result<El, Docx
             break;
         }
     }
+    if strict && !stack.is_empty() {
+        return Err(DocxError::Xml("an element is not closed".into()));
+    }
     // Unclosed elements at EOF: close them (lenient).
     while let Some(el) = stack.pop() {
         attach(&mut stack, &mut root, el);
diff --git a/crates/docx/tests/malformed.rs b/crates/docx/tests/malformed.rs
index 439b88245..df69bbd16 100644
--- a/crates/docx/tests/malformed.rs
+++ b/crates/docx/tests/malformed.rs
@@ -68,6 +68,25 @@ fn missing_or_wrong_main_part() {
     assert_eq!(d.plain_text(wordcraft_doc::StoryRef::Body), "ok");
 }
 
+fn body_zip(body: &str) -> Vec<u8> {
+    doc_zip(format!("<w:document {W_NS}><w:body>{body}</w:body></w:document>").as_bytes())
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_malformed_main_part_is_an_error_not_a_truncated_document() {
+    let cases = [
+        ("a less-than sign in a run", "<w:p><w:r><w:t>before a <- b after</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:r><w:t>last</w:t></w:r></w:p>"),
+        ("a paragraph left open", "<w:p><w:r><w:t>first</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:r><w:t>second</w:t></w:r><w:p><w:r><w:t>third</w:t></w:r></w:p>"),
+        ("a mismatched end tag", "<w:p><w:r><w:t>one</w:t></w:p></w:r><w:p><w:r><w:t>two</w:t></w:r></w:p>"),
+    ];
+    for (what, body) in cases {
+        assert!(matches!(read(&body_zip(body)), Err(DocxError::Xml(_))), "{what}");
+    }
+    let whole = "<w:p><w:r><w:t>a &lt;- b</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:r><w:t>last</w:t></w:r></w:p>";
+    let d = read(&body_zip(whole)).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(d.plain_text(wordcraft_doc::StoryRef::Body), "a <- b\nlast", "well-formed text still reads whole");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn deep_nesting_is_rejected() {
     let mut x = format!("<w:document {W_NS}><w:body>");