diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index bdc8121..469d2ba 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ Quantum (Facade)
 - **PythonBridge** only passes non-null env vars to preserve boto3 credential chain (IAM Roles).
 - **QPU safety:** Drivers with `synchronous_safe: false` throw on `->run()` to prevent HTTP timeouts.
 - **EntropyGenerator::integer()** uses rejection sampling on a 256-bit batch buffer — never modulo.
+- **Entropy is fetched in whole bytes:** `generateEntropy($bits)` rounds the request up to a multiple of 8 before computing shots, and `PythonBridge::bitstringToBytes()` rejects a bit string that is not a multiple of 8, so no byte is ever zero-padded.
 
 ## Config
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a59f1ac..d31377c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ $hex = $entropy->hex(128);           // 32-char hex string
 $roll = $entropy->integer(1, 6);     // unbiased die roll (rejection sampling)
 ```
 
+`generate($bits)` returns `ceil($bits / 8)` bytes. A bit count that is not a multiple of 8 is rounded up before the device is asked, so the last byte is measured in full rather than zero-padded: `generate(12)` fetches at least 16 bits (exactly 16 with the default `entropy_qubits` of 16) and returns 2 fully random bytes.
+
 ### Batch Execution
 
 Run several circuits in a single Python process instead of paying the interpreter start-up cost once per circuit. The results come back as a `BatchResult`, ordered like the input, which is arrayable, jsonable, countable and iterable over the individual `CircuitResult` objects.
diff --git a/src/Bridge/PythonBridge.php b/src/Bridge/PythonBridge.php
index a7a0a0d..dec8d88 100644
--- a/src/Bridge/PythonBridge.php
+++ b/src/Bridge/PythonBridge.php
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
  */
 class PythonBridge implements PythonExecutor
 {
+    private const BITS_PER_BYTE = 8;
+
     private readonly string $scriptsPath;
 
     public function __construct(
@@ -135,14 +137,26 @@ public function scriptsPath(): string
 
     /**
      * Convert a binary digit string (e.g. "10110011") into raw bytes.
+     *
+     * The string must hold a whole number of bytes: bindec() would silently
+     * left-pad a shorter final chunk with zeros, producing a byte whose high
+     * bits are deterministic rather than measured.
+     *
+     * @throws \InvalidArgumentException When the string is not a multiple of 8 binary digits.
      */
     public function bitstringToBytes(string $bitstring): string
     {
+        if (preg_match('/^[01]+$/D', $bitstring) !== 1 || strlen($bitstring) % self::BITS_PER_BYTE !== 0) {
+            throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
+                'Bit string must be a sequence of 0/1 digits whose length is a multiple of ' . self::BITS_PER_BYTE . ', got '.strlen($bitstring).' character(s): '.var_export($bitstring, true)
+            );
+        }
+
         $bytes = '';
 
-        foreach (str_split($bitstring, 8) as $chunk) {
-            // & 0xFF keeps the value in chr()'s 0-255 range (each chunk is at
-            // most 8 bits, so this is a no-op for valid input).
+        foreach (str_split($bitstring, self::BITS_PER_BYTE) as $chunk) {
+            // The guard above makes every chunk exactly 8 binary digits; the
+            // mask only narrows the type to chr()'s 0-255 range.
             $bytes .= chr(((int) bindec($chunk)) & 0xFF);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Contracts/PythonExecutor.php b/src/Contracts/PythonExecutor.php
index 22ff647..3bee581 100644
--- a/src/Contracts/PythonExecutor.php
+++ b/src/Contracts/PythonExecutor.php
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ interface PythonExecutor
     public function execute(string $script, array $payload, array $driverConfig = []): array;
 
     /**
-     * Convert a binary digit string into raw bytes.
+     * Convert a binary digit string holding a whole number of bytes into raw bytes.
+     *
+     * @throws \InvalidArgumentException When the string is not a multiple of 8 binary digits.
      */
     public function bitstringToBytes(string $bitstring): string;
 
diff --git a/src/Contracts/QuantumDevice.php b/src/Contracts/QuantumDevice.php
index a95f2c6..03acaf4 100644
--- a/src/Contracts/QuantumDevice.php
+++ b/src/Contracts/QuantumDevice.php
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ interface QuantumDevice
     public function executeCircuit(CircuitBuilder $circuit): CircuitResult;
 
     /**
-     * Generate a cryptographically strong random bit-string of the requested length.
+     * Generate cryptographically strong random bytes covering the requested bit count.
+     *
+     * Returns ceil($bits / 8) raw bytes; a bit count that is not a multiple of
+     * 8 is rounded up so every byte is fully random rather than zero-padded.
      */
     public function generateEntropy(int $bits): string;
 }
diff --git a/src/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriver.php b/src/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriver.php
index af06efa..d27eed2 100644
--- a/src/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriver.php
+++ b/src/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriver.php
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
  */
 abstract class AbstractQuantumDriver implements BatchableDevice, QuantumDevice
 {
+    private const BITS_PER_BYTE = 8;
+
     use DispatchesLifecycleEvents;
 
     /**
@@ -344,6 +346,10 @@ protected function pollTask(string $taskArn): TaskSnapshot
         return TaskSnapshot::fromResponse($response);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns ceil($bits / 8) bytes, every bit of which was measured: the
+     * request is rounded up to whole bytes before it reaches the device.
+     */
     public function generateEntropy(int $bits): string
     {
         $this->preflight();
@@ -357,7 +363,10 @@ public function generateEntropy(int $bits): string
             $qubits = 16;
         }
 
-        $shots = (int) ceil($bits / $qubits);
+        // Fetch whole bytes: a final chunk shorter than 8 bits would be
+        // zero-padded into a byte whose high bits are never random.
+        $bitsToFetch = (int) ceil($bits / self::BITS_PER_BYTE) * self::BITS_PER_BYTE;
+        $shots = (int) ceil($bitsToFetch / $qubits);
 
         $payload = $this->payload([
             'qubits' => $qubits,
@@ -373,14 +382,21 @@ public function generateEntropy(int $bits): string
             );
         }
 
-        if (strlen($response['bits']) < $bits) {
+        if (preg_match('/^[01]*$/D', $response['bits']) !== 1) {
+            throw QuantumExecutionException::malformedResponse(
+                'entropy.py',
+                'expected the "bits" value to contain only 0 and 1 digits.'
+            );
+        }
+
+        if (strlen($response['bits']) < $bitsToFetch) {
             throw QuantumExecutionException::malformedResponse(
                 'entropy.py',
-                "expected at least {$bits} bits in the response, got ".strlen($response['bits']).'.'
+                "expected at least {$bitsToFetch} bits in the response, got ".strlen($response['bits']).'.'
             );
         }
 
-        $bitstring = substr($response['bits'], 0, $bits);
+        $bitstring = substr($response['bits'], 0, $bitsToFetch);
 
         $this->dispatchEvent(new EntropyGenerated($this->driverName(), $bits));
 
diff --git a/src/Entropy/EntropyGenerator.php b/src/Entropy/EntropyGenerator.php
index 5d19e47..7b86bfa 100644
--- a/src/Entropy/EntropyGenerator.php
+++ b/src/Entropy/EntropyGenerator.php
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ public function __construct(private readonly QuantumDevice $device) {}
 
     /**
      * Generate raw entropy bytes.
+     *
+     * Returns ceil($bits / 8) bytes. A bit count that is not a multiple of 8
+     * is rounded up before it reaches the device, so every returned byte is
+     * fully measured rather than zero-padded.
      */
     public function generate(int $bits): string
     {
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Bridge/PythonBridgeTest.php b/tests/Unit/Bridge/PythonBridgeTest.php
index bcdb1b4..0fd9a52 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Bridge/PythonBridgeTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Bridge/PythonBridgeTest.php
@@ -180,6 +180,18 @@ function fakePython(string $shBody): string
 // bitstringToBytes()
 // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+it('rejects a bit string that does not hold whole bytes', function (string $bitstring) {
+    $bridge = new PythonBridge('python3');
+
+    expect(fn () => $bridge->bitstringToBytes($bitstring))
+        ->toThrow(InvalidArgumentException::class, 'multiple of 8');
+})->with([
+    'short final chunk' => ['110011001010'],
+    'empty' => [''],
+    'non-binary digit' => ['0000000a'],
+    'trailing newline' => ["1111111\n"],
+]);
+
 it('converts a binary digit string into raw bytes', function () {
     $bridge = new PythonBridge('python3');
 
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriverTest.php b/tests/Unit/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriverTest.php
index 1c79b88..d07a6a1 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriverTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Drivers/AbstractQuantumDriverTest.php
@@ -233,6 +233,48 @@ protected function beforeExecution(): void
     $this->driver->generateEntropy(16);
 })->throws(QuantumExecutionException::class);
 
+it('rounds a bit count up to whole bytes before asking the device', function (int $bits, int $qubits, int $shots, int $fetched) {
+    $bridge = $this->createMock(PythonExecutor::class);
+    $bridge->expects($this->once())
+        ->method('execute')
+        ->with('entropy.py', $this->callback(fn (array $p): bool => $p['qubits'] === $qubits && $p['shots'] === $shots), $this->anything())
+        ->willReturn(['bits' => str_repeat('1', $shots * $qubits)]);
+    $bridge->expects($this->once())
+        ->method('bitstringToBytes')
+        ->with(str_repeat('1', $fetched))
+        ->willReturn(str_repeat("\xff", intdiv($fetched, 8)));
+
+    $driver = new class($bridge, ['entropy_qubits' => $qubits]) extends AbstractQuantumDriver
+    {
+        protected function driverName(): string
+        {
+            return 'test';
+        }
+    };
+
+    expect($driver->generateEntropy($bits))->toBe(str_repeat("\xff", intdiv($fetched, 8)));
+})->with([
+    '12 bits on 16 qubits' => [12, 16, 1, 16],
+    '9 bits on 4 qubits' => [9, 4, 4, 16],
+    '17 bits on 16 qubits' => [17, 16, 2, 24],
+    '16 bits on 16 qubits' => [16, 16, 1, 16],
+]);
+
+it('rejects entropy.py output that is not made of binary digits', function () {
+    $this->bridge->method('execute')->willReturn(['bits' => 'abcdefgh']);
+
+    expect(fn () => $this->driver->generateEntropy(8))
+        ->toThrow(QuantumExecutionException::class, 'only 0 and 1 digits');
+});
+
+it('requires the device to return the rounded-up bit count', function () {
+    // 12 requested bits need 16 measured bits; 12 is no longer enough.
+    $this->bridge->method('execute')->willReturn(['bits' => str_repeat('1', 12)]);
+
+    expect(fn () => $this->driver->generateEntropy(12))
+        ->toThrow(QuantumExecutionException::class, 'expected at least 16 bits');
+});
+
 // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // entropy_qubits clamping
 // -------------------------------------------------------------------------