diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1c25a67..8605e44 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -80,4 +80,15 @@ if(LAC_BUILD_TESTS)
         target_compile_options(lac_cli_tests PRIVATE -UNDEBUG)
     endif()
     add_test(NAME lac_cli_tests COMMAND lac_cli_tests $<TARGET_FILE:lac_cli>)
+
+    add_executable(lac_rice_tests
+        tests/test_rice.cpp
+    )
+    target_link_libraries(lac_rice_tests PRIVATE lac)
+    if(MSVC)
+        target_compile_options(lac_rice_tests PRIVATE /UNDEBUG)
+    else()
+        target_compile_options(lac_rice_tests PRIVATE -UNDEBUG)
+    endif()
+    add_test(NAME lac_rice_tests COMMAND lac_rice_tests)
 endif()
diff --git a/src/codec/rice/rice.cpp b/src/codec/rice/rice.cpp
index 08245b9..765013f 100644
--- a/src/codec/rice/rice.cpp
+++ b/src/codec/rice/rice.cpp
@@ -15,10 +15,13 @@ int32_t Rice::unsigned_to_signed(uint32_t u) {
 }
 
 void Rice::encode(BitWriter& w, int32_t value, uint32_t k) {
-    uint32_t u = signed_to_unsigned(value);
+    const uint32_t u = signed_to_unsigned(value);
 
-    uint32_t q = u >> k;
-    uint32_t r = u & ((1u << k) - 1);
+    // k <= 31 by construction (adaptive k clamps to 31; static k is a u5 field),
+    // but guard the shifts regardless: `u >> k` and `1u << k` are undefined
+    // behaviour for k >= 32. Rice::decode already rejects k > 31.
+    const uint32_t q = (k >= 32u) ? 0u : (u >> k);
+    const uint32_t r = (k >= 32u) ? u : (u & ((uint32_t{1} << k) - 1u));
 
     w.write_unary_ones(q);
     w.write_bit(0);
diff --git a/src/codec/simd/neon.cpp b/src/codec/simd/neon.cpp
index bbe8b3a..f5e50ac 100644
--- a/src/codec/simd/neon.cpp
+++ b/src/codec/simd/neon.cpp
@@ -16,10 +16,16 @@ inline void ms_encode_scalar_impl(const int32_t* L, const int32_t* R,
                                   size_t n) {
     if (!L || !R || !M || !S || n == 0) return;
     for (size_t i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
-        int32_t l = L[i];
-        int32_t r = R[i];
-        M[i] = (l + r) >> 1;
-        S[i] = l - r;
+        const int32_t l = L[i];
+        const int32_t r = R[i];
+        // Compute the sum/difference in uint32 to avoid signed-overflow UB.
+        // This reproduces the wrapping semantics of the NEON vaddq_s32 /
+        // vsubq_s32 path bit-for-bit, and is identical to `l + r` / `l - r`
+        // for the validated 16/24-bit sample domain (which never overflows).
+        const int32_t sum =
+            static_cast<int32_t>(static_cast<uint32_t>(l) + static_cast<uint32_t>(r));
+        M[i] = sum >> 1;
+        S[i] = static_cast<int32_t>(static_cast<uint32_t>(l) - static_cast<uint32_t>(r));
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_rice.cpp b/tests/test_rice.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ab2a72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_rice.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+// Direct Rice coder tests: round-trip, signed-mapping boundaries, and the
+// k > 31 rejection contract. Built with asserts forced on (-UNDEBUG) and run
+// under the ASan/UBSan CI job to catch shift/overflow UB.
+#include <cassert>
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <limits>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "codec/bitstream/bit_reader.hpp"
+#include "codec/bitstream/bit_writer.hpp"
+#include "codec/rice/rice.hpp"
+
+namespace {
+
+bool roundtrip(int32_t value, uint32_t k) {
+    BitWriter w;
+    Rice::encode(w, value, k);
+    w.flush_to_byte();
+    std::vector<uint8_t> buf = w.take_buffer();
+    BitReader r(buf.data(), buf.size());
+    int32_t out = 0;
+    if (!Rice::decode(r, k, out)) return false;
+    return out == value;
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+int main() {
+    // Moderate values round-trip for every valid k. The unsigned-mapped value
+    // stays small, so the unary quotient is bounded even at k = 0.
+    for (uint32_t k = 0; k <= 31; ++k) {
+        for (int32_t v = -64; v <= 64; ++v) {
+            assert(roundtrip(v, k));
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Full-range boundary values, restricted to high k so the quotient is tiny.
+    // INT32_MIN maps to the maximum unsigned value (0xFFFFFFFF), which is the
+    // hardest case for the k == 31 shift boundary.
+    const int32_t kMin = std::numeric_limits<int32_t>::min();
+    const int32_t kMax = std::numeric_limits<int32_t>::max();
+    for (uint32_t k = 24; k <= 31; ++k) {
+        assert(roundtrip(0, k));
+        assert(roundtrip(1, k));
+        assert(roundtrip(-1, k));
+        assert(roundtrip(kMax, k));
+        assert(roundtrip(kMin, k));
+    }
+    assert(roundtrip(kMin, 31));
+    assert(roundtrip(kMax, 31));
+
+    // Decode must reject k > 31 (shifts by >= 32 are undefined behaviour).
+    {
+        const std::vector<uint8_t> data(8, 0xFFu);
+        for (uint32_t k = 32; k <= 40; ++k) {
+            BitReader r(data.data(), data.size());
+            int32_t out = 0;
+            assert(!Rice::decode(r, k, out));
+        }
+    }
+
+    std::cout << "rice tests ok\n";
+    return 0;
+}