diff --git a/camera/CameraMetadata.cpp b/camera/CameraMetadata.cpp
index 6c3e233..a8f9eff 100644
--- a/camera/CameraMetadata.cpp
+++ b/camera/CameraMetadata.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+// #define LOG_NDEBUG 0
+
 #define LOG_TAG "Camera2-Metadata"
 #include <utils/Log.h>
 #include <utils/Errors.h>
@@ -112,6 +114,10 @@
     }
     clear();
     mBuffer = buffer;
+
+    ALOGE_IF(validate_camera_metadata_structure(mBuffer, /*size*/NULL) != OK,
+             "%s: Failed to validate metadata structure %p",
+             __FUNCTION__, buffer);
 }
 
 void CameraMetadata::acquire(CameraMetadata &other) {
@@ -289,6 +295,15 @@
                 __FUNCTION__, get_camera_metadata_section_name(tag),
                 get_camera_metadata_tag_name(tag), tag, strerror(-res), res);
     }
+
+    IF_ALOGV() {
+        ALOGE_IF(validate_camera_metadata_structure(mBuffer, /*size*/NULL) !=
+                 OK,
+
+                 "%s: Failed to validate metadata structure after update %p",
+                 __FUNCTION__, mBuffer);
+    }
+
     return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/camera/IProCameraUser.cpp b/camera/IProCameraUser.cpp
index 0c94bd4..4c4dec3 100644
--- a/camera/IProCameraUser.cpp
+++ b/camera/IProCameraUser.cpp
@@ -50,17 +50,30 @@
   * Caller becomes the owner of the new metadata
   * 'const Parcel' doesnt prevent us from calling the read functions.
   *  which is interesting since it changes the internal state
+  *
+  * NULL can be returned when no metadata was sent, OR if there was an issue
+  * unpacking the serialized data (i.e. bad parcel or invalid structure).
   */
 void readMetadata(const Parcel& data, camera_metadata_t** out) {
-    camera_metadata_t* metadata;
+
+    status_t err = OK;
+
+    camera_metadata_t* metadata = NULL;
+
+    if (out) {
+        *out = NULL;
+    }
 
     // arg0 = metadataSize (int32)
-    size_t metadataSize = static_cast<size_t>(data.readInt32());
+    int32_t metadataSizeTmp = -1;
+    if ((err = data.readInt32(&metadataSizeTmp)) != OK) {
+        ALOGE("%s: Failed to read metadata size (error %d %s)",
+              __FUNCTION__, err, strerror(-err));
+        return;
+    }
+    const size_t metadataSize = static_cast<size_t>(metadataSizeTmp);
 
     if (metadataSize == 0) {
-        if (out) {
-            *out = NULL;
-        }
         return;
     }
 
@@ -70,21 +83,23 @@
 
     ReadableBlob blob;
     // arg1 = metadata (blob)
-    {
-        data.readBlob(metadataSize, &blob);
+    do {
+        if ((err = data.readBlob(metadataSize, &blob)) != OK) {
+            ALOGE("%s: Failed to read metadata blob (sized %d). Possible "
+                  " serialization bug. Error %d %s",
+                  __FUNCTION__, metadataSize, err, strerror(-err));
+            break;
+        }
         const camera_metadata_t* tmp =
                        reinterpret_cast<const camera_metadata_t*>(blob.data());
-        size_t entry_capacity = get_camera_metadata_entry_capacity(tmp);
-        size_t data_capacity = get_camera_metadata_data_capacity(tmp);
 
-        metadata = allocate_camera_metadata(entry_capacity, data_capacity);
-        copy_camera_metadata(metadata, metadataSize, tmp);
-    }
+        metadata = allocate_copy_camera_metadata_checked(tmp, metadataSize);
+    } while(0);
     blob.release();
 
     if (out) {
         *out = metadata;
-    } else {
+    } else if (metadata != NULL) {
         free_camera_metadata(metadata);
     }
 }
@@ -95,14 +110,13 @@
   */
 void writeMetadata(Parcel& data, camera_metadata_t* metadata) {
     // arg0 = metadataSize (int32)
-    size_t metadataSize;
 
     if (metadata == NULL) {
         data.writeInt32(0);
         return;
     }
 
-    metadataSize = get_camera_metadata_compact_size(metadata);
+    const size_t metadataSize = get_camera_metadata_compact_size(metadata);
     data.writeInt32(static_cast<int32_t>(metadataSize));
 
     // arg1 = metadata (blob)
@@ -110,6 +124,25 @@
     {
         data.writeBlob(metadataSize, &blob);
         copy_camera_metadata(blob.data(), metadataSize, metadata);
+
+        IF_ALOGV() {
+            if (validate_camera_metadata_structure(
+                        (const camera_metadata_t*)blob.data(),
+                        &metadataSize) != OK) {
+                ALOGV("%s: Failed to validate metadata %p after writing blob",
+                       __FUNCTION__, blob.data());
+            } else {
+                ALOGV("%s: Metadata written to blob. Validation success",
+                        __FUNCTION__);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Not too big of a problem since receiving side does hard validation
+        if (validate_camera_metadata_structure(metadata, &metadataSize) != OK) {
+            ALOGW("%s: Failed to validate metadata %p before writing blob",
+                   __FUNCTION__, metadata);
+        }
+
     }
     blob.release();
 }