diff --git a/firewood/src/merkle.rs b/firewood/src/merkle.rs
index 50457e7c0..2469ed15d 100644
--- a/firewood/src/merkle.rs
+++ b/firewood/src/merkle.rs
@@ -1293,6 +1293,15 @@ impl<S: ShaleStore<Node> + Send + Sync, T> Merkle<S, T> {
         last_key: Option<K>,
         limit: Option<usize>,
     ) -> Result<Option<api::RangeProof<Vec<u8>, Vec<u8>>>, api::Error> {
+        if let (Some(k1), Some(k2)) = (&first_key, &last_key) {
+            if k1.as_ref() > k2.as_ref() {
+                return Err(api::Error::InvalidRange {
+                    first_key: k1.as_ref().to_vec(),
+                    last_key: k2.as_ref().to_vec(),
+                });
+            }
+        }
+
         // limit of 0 is always an empty RangeProof
         if limit == Some(0) {
             return Ok(None);
@@ -1700,6 +1709,26 @@ mod tests {
             .is_none());
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn range_proof_invalid_bounds() {
+        let merkle = create_test_merkle();
+        let root = merkle.init_root().unwrap();
+        let start_key = &[0x01];
+        let end_key = &[0x00];
+
+        match merkle
+            .range_proof::<&[u8]>(root, Some(start_key), Some(end_key), Some(1))
+            .await
+        {
+            Err(api::Error::InvalidRange {
+                first_key,
+                last_key,
+            }) if first_key == start_key && last_key == end_key => (),
+            Err(api::Error::InvalidRange { .. }) => panic!("wrong bounds on InvalidRange error"),
+            _ => panic!("expected InvalidRange error"),
+        }
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn full_range_proof() {
         let mut merkle = create_test_merkle();
diff --git a/firewood/src/v2/api.rs b/firewood/src/v2/api.rs
index f0787d785..866ccadd6 100644
--- a/firewood/src/v2/api.rs
+++ b/firewood/src/v2/api.rs
@@ -64,6 +64,13 @@ pub enum Error {
     #[error("Incorrect root hash for commit: {provided:?} != {current:?}")]
     IncorrectRootHash { provided: HashKey, current: HashKey },
 
+    /// Invalid range
+    #[error("Invalid range: {first_key:?} > {last_key:?}")]
+    InvalidRange {
+        first_key: Vec<u8>,
+        last_key: Vec<u8>,
+    },
+
     #[error("IO error: {0}")]
     IO(std::io::Error),