diff --git a/socket-sctp.cabal b/socket-sctp.cabal
--- a/socket-sctp.cabal
+++ b/socket-sctp.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                socket-sctp
-version:             0.2.0.1
+version:             0.3.0.0
 synopsis:            STCP socket extensions library.
 description:
   This is a binding to the types and operations of `libsctp`.
diff --git a/src/System/Socket/Protocol/SCTP/Internal.hsc b/src/System/Socket/Protocol/SCTP/Internal.hsc
--- a/src/System/Socket/Protocol/SCTP/Internal.hsc
+++ b/src/System/Socket/Protocol/SCTP/Internal.hsc
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
   , msgNotification
   , Notification (..)
   , AssocId
-  , unsafeParseNotification
+  , parseNotification
   -- ** SCTP_ASSOC_CHANGE
   , AssocChange (..)
   , AcState(..)
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 
 import Control.Applicative
 import Control.Exception
+import Control.Monad
 
 import Data.Bits
 import Data.Monoid
@@ -430,17 +431,18 @@
              | RESTART
              | SHUTDOWN_COMP
              | CANT_STR_ASSOC
-             | UNKNOWN_AC_STATE deriving (Show)
+             | UNKNOWN_AC_STATE deriving (Show, Eq, Enum, Read)
 
 -- | Parse an SCTP notification.
---
--- This assumes that the buffer contains a complete notification (i.e.
--- MSG_EOR was set on the last chunk it contains), and is thus unsafe.
--- Unfortunately, because of the possibility of partial notifications
--- from a too-small buffer for recvmsg, this must be exposed to users.
-unsafeParseNotification :: BS.ByteString -> IO Notification
-unsafeParseNotification bs =
+-- Requires a full notification buffer to be passed.
+parseNotification :: BS.ByteString -> IO Notification
+parseNotification bs =
   BS.unsafeUseAsCStringLen bs $ \(ptr, sz) -> do
+    when (sz < #{offset union sctp_notification, sn_header.sn_length} + 4 {- uint32_t -})
+      $ error "incomplete notification buffer passed to parseNotification"
+    expected_sz <- #{peek union sctp_notification, sn_header.sn_length} ptr :: IO Word32
+    when ((fromIntegral sz) < expected_sz)
+      $ error "incomplete notification buffer passed to parseNotification"
     ty <- #{peek union sctp_notification, sn_header.sn_type} ptr :: IO Word16
     case ty of
       #{const SCTP_ASSOC_CHANGE} -> AssocChangeNotification <$> unsafeParseAssocChange (ptr, sz)
diff --git a/tests/Notifications.hs b/tests/Notifications.hs
--- a/tests/Notifications.hs
+++ b/tests/Notifications.hs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
   when (flags .&. msgEndOfRecord == mempty) (e 8)
   when (flags .&. msgNotification == mempty) (e 9)
-  notification <- unsafeParseNotification msg
+  notification <- parseNotification msg
   case notification of
     AssocChangeNotification (AssocChange { acState = COMM_UP }) -> return ()
     _ -> e 10