diff --git a/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs b/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs
index 8064341be10..74dc2846d4f 100644
--- a/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs
+++ b/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs
@@ -484,13 +484,20 @@ public static unsafe IntPtr NewString (string? text)
 			return JniEnvironment.Strings.NewString (text).Handle;
 		}
 
-		public static unsafe IntPtr NewString (char[]? text, int length)
+		public static IntPtr NewString (char[]? text, int length)
 		{
 			if (text == null)
 				return IntPtr.Zero;
 
-			fixed (char *s = text)
-				return JniEnvironment.Strings.NewString (s, length).Handle;
+			if (length < 0 || length > text.Length)
+				throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException (nameof (length));
+			if (length == 0)
+				return JniEnvironment.Strings.NewString ("").Handle;
+
+			unsafe {
+				fixed (char *s = text)
+					return JniEnvironment.Strings.NewString (s, length).Handle;
+			}
 		}
 
 		static void AssertCompatibleArrayTypes (Type srcElementType, IntPtr destArray)
diff --git a/tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Java.Interop/JnienvTest.cs b/tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Java.Interop/JnienvTest.cs
index 99b91a57412..bb72dc37860 100644
--- a/tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Java.Interop/JnienvTest.cs
+++ b/tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Mono.Android-Tests/Java.Interop/JnienvTest.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,20 @@ namespace Java.InteropTests
 	[TestFixture]
 	public class JnienvTest
 	{
+		[Test]
+		[Category ("JniStringLength")]
+		public void NewStringValidatesLengthAndSupportsPrefix ()
+		{
+			var text = new[] { 'f', 'o', 'o' };
+
+			Assert.Throws<ArgumentOutOfRangeException> (() => JNIEnv.NewString (text, -1));
+			Assert.Throws<ArgumentOutOfRangeException> (() => JNIEnv.NewString (text, text.Length + 1));
+			Assert.AreEqual (IntPtr.Zero, JNIEnv.NewString ((char[]?) null, -1));
+
+			IntPtr handle = JNIEnv.NewString (text, 2);
+			Assert.AreEqual ("fo", JNIEnv.GetString (handle, JniHandleOwnership.TransferLocalRef));
+		}
+
 		[Test]
 		public void TestMyPaintColor ()
 		{