diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f4bf872d..ea0bddf9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Return an error instead of panicking from `litesvm_token::get_spl_account` (and the `*Checked` token helpers that read the mint through it) when the account data is shorter than the requested state ([#433](https://github.com/LiteSVM/litesvm/pull/433)).
+
 ## [0.18.0] - 2026-10-09
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/crates/token/src/lib.rs b/crates/token/src/lib.rs
index b21167fa..cd7c705f 100644
--- a/crates/token/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/token/src/lib.rs
@@ -49,14 +49,11 @@ pub fn get_spl_account<T: Pack + IsInitialized>(
     svm: &LiteSVM,
     account: &Address,
 ) -> Result<T, FailedTransactionMetadata> {
-    let account = T::unpack(
-        &svm.get_account(account)
-            .ok_or(FailedTransactionMetadata {
-                err: TransactionError::AccountNotFound,
-                meta: Default::default(),
-            })?
-            .data[..T::LEN],
-    )?;
+    let account = svm.get_account(account).ok_or(FailedTransactionMetadata {
+        err: TransactionError::AccountNotFound,
+        meta: Default::default(),
+    })?;
+    let account = T::unpack(account.data.get(..T::LEN).unwrap_or(&account.data))?;
 
     Ok(account)
 }
diff --git a/crates/token/tests/one_owner.rs b/crates/token/tests/one_owner.rs
index cb69658e..37afcfc4 100644
--- a/crates/token/tests/one_owner.rs
+++ b/crates/token/tests/one_owner.rs
@@ -192,3 +192,23 @@ fn test_with_account_keypair() {
     let token_account: Account = get_spl_account(svm, &returned_pk).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(token_account.state, AccountState::Initialized);
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn test_get_spl_account_with_short_data() {
+    let svm = &mut LiteSVM::new();
+    let payer_kp = Keypair::new();
+    let payer_pk = payer_kp.pubkey();
+    svm.airdrop(&payer_pk, 10_000_000_000).unwrap();
+
+    let mint_pk = CreateMint::new(svm, &payer_kp).send().unwrap();
+
+    assert!(get_spl_account::<Account>(svm, &mint_pk).is_err());
+    assert!(get_spl_account::<Mint>(svm, &payer_pk).is_err());
+
+    let destination_pk = Keypair::new().pubkey();
+    assert!(
+        TransferChecked::new(svm, &payer_kp, &payer_pk, &destination_pk, 1)
+            .send()
+            .is_err()
+    );
+}