diff --git a/crates/iceberg/src/puffin/metadata.rs b/crates/iceberg/src/puffin/metadata.rs
index e2dfc10c23..6b3d3703de 100644
--- a/crates/iceberg/src/puffin/metadata.rs
+++ b/crates/iceberg/src/puffin/metadata.rs
@@ -324,7 +324,11 @@ impl FileMetadata {
                 return FileMetadata::read(input_file).await;
             }
 
-            // Read footer based on prefetchi hint
+            // Validate file header magic
+            let first_four_bytes = file_read.read(0..FileMetadata::MAGIC_LENGTH.into()).await?;
+            FileMetadata::check_magic(&first_four_bytes)?;
+
+            // Read footer based on prefetch hint
             let start = input_file_length - prefetch_hint as u64;
             let end = input_file_length;
             let footer_bytes = file_read.read(start..end).await?;
@@ -958,6 +962,33 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(file_metadata, zstd_compressed_metric_file_metadata());
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_read_with_incorrect_header_magic() {
+        let temp_dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+
+        let prefetch_hint: u8 = 64;
+        let mut bytes = vec![];
+        // Invalid header magic
+        bytes.extend([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00]);
+        // Intentionally keep file size larger than prefetch_hint.
+        bytes.extend(vec![0u8; prefetch_hint as usize]);
+        // Valid footer: magic + payload + footer struct
+        bytes.extend(FileMetadata::MAGIC);
+        bytes.extend(empty_footer_payload_bytes());
+        bytes.extend(empty_footer_payload_bytes_length_bytes());
+        bytes.extend(vec![0, 0, 0, 0]); // flags
+        bytes.extend(FileMetadata::MAGIC);
+
+        let input_file = input_file_with_bytes(&temp_dir, &bytes).await;
+
+        assert!(FileMetadata::read(&input_file).await.is_err(),);
+        assert!(
+            FileMetadata::read_with_prefetch(&input_file, prefetch_hint)
+                .await
+                .is_err(),
+        );
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn test_gzip_compression_allowed_in_metadata() {
         let temp_dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();