diff --git a/src/netcfg/netcfg-dco.cpp b/src/netcfg/netcfg-dco.cpp
index 0000000..0000000 100644
--- a/src/netcfg/netcfg-dco.cpp
+++ b/src/netcfg/netcfg-dco.cpp
@@ -264,7 +264,11 @@ void NetCfgDCO::method_new_key(GVariant *params)
     std::string key_config = glib2::Value::Extract<std::string>(params, 1);

     DcoKeyConfig dco_kc;
-    dco_kc.ParseFromString(base64->decode(key_config));
+    if (!dco_kc.ParseFromString(base64->decode(key_config)))
+    {
+        throw NetCfgException("Failed to parse DCO key configuration");
+    }

     auto copyKeyDirection = [](const DcoKeyConfig_KeyDirection &src, KoRekey::KeyDirection &dst)
     {