diff --git a/src/library_manager/llext_manager.c b/src/library_manager/llext_manager.c
index 75a2a7295482..022aba3c74e4 100644
--- a/src/library_manager/llext_manager.c
+++ b/src/library_manager/llext_manager.c
@@ -548,6 +548,16 @@ static int llext_manager_mod_init(struct lib_manager_mod_ctx *ctx,
 			n_mod++;
 		}
 
+	/*
+	 * A manifest with no distinct module segments would leave n_mod == 0,
+	 * making the ctx->mod[n_mod - 1] accesses below index out of bounds
+	 */
+	if (!n_mod) {
+		tr_err(&lib_manager_tr, "no module segments in %u entries",
+		       desc->header.num_module_entries);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Loadable modules are loaded to DRAM once and never unloaded from it.
 	 * Context, related to them, is never freed