diff --git a/collector/hwmon_linux.go b/collector/hwmon_linux.go
index 3d53995c..45fb611f 100644
--- a/collector/hwmon_linux.go
+++ b/collector/hwmon_linux.go
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@ func sysReadFile(file string) ([]byte, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if n < 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read file: %w", file)
+	}
 
 	return b[:n], nil
 }