diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 410cd40..44006a4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- `createSortableId()` now throws a `RangeError` when the timestamp exceeds `SORTABLE_TIME_MAX` (2^48 - 1 ms), preventing generation of IDs that its own decoder (`getTimestamp()`) rejects. State updates are deferred until candidate validation succeeds, preserving monotonic ordering across bad clock readings and continuing to reject out-of-range timestamps.
+
 ## [1.2.0] - 2026-10-11
 
 Opt-in additions only. Existing calls behave as in 1.1.2: for the same random
diff --git a/src/generators/sortable.ts b/src/generators/sortable.ts
index 8a3170d..51bdf7d 100644
--- a/src/generators/sortable.ts
+++ b/src/generators/sortable.ts
@@ -146,22 +146,35 @@ export function createSortableId<S extends string = "_">(
       throw new RangeError("prefid: `now` must return a non-negative number.");
     }
 
+    let nextTime: number;
+    let nextRandom: number[];
+
     if (monotonic && time <= lastTime) {
-      time = lastTime;
       const next = incrementIndices(lastRandom, radix);
       if (next) {
-        lastRandom = next;
+        nextTime = lastTime;
+        nextRandom = next;
       } else {
-        time = lastTime + 1;
-        lastRandom = randomIndices(radix, randomSize);
+        nextTime = lastTime + 1;
+        nextRandom = randomIndices(radix, randomSize);
       }
-      lastTime = time;
     } else {
-      lastTime = time;
-      lastRandom = randomIndices(radix, randomSize);
+      nextTime = time;
+      nextRandom = randomIndices(radix, randomSize);
     }
 
-    let body = encodeTime(time, alphabet, timestampSize);
+    if (nextTime > SORTABLE_TIME_MAX) {
+      throw new RangeError(
+        `prefid: timestamp ${nextTime} exceeds the sortable range (2^48-1 ms).`,
+      );
+    }
+
+    const timeBody = encodeTime(nextTime, alphabet, timestampSize);
+
+    lastTime = nextTime;
+    lastRandom = nextRandom;
+
+    let body = timeBody;
     for (let i = 0; i < randomSize; i++) body += alphabet[lastRandom[i]];
 
     return `${prefix}${separator}${body}` as PrefixedId<P, S>;
diff --git a/test/sortable.test.ts b/test/sortable.test.ts
index e168310..de3892b 100644
--- a/test/sortable.test.ts
+++ b/test/sortable.test.ts
@@ -132,6 +132,45 @@ describe("sortableId() — monotonic overflow", () => {
     const last = getTimestamp(ids[ids.length - 1], { alphabet: "01" });
     expect(last!).toBeGreaterThan(100);
   });
+
+  it("keeps throwing after spilling past 2^48 - 1", () => {
+    let now = SORTABLE_TIME_MAX;
+    const gen = createSortableId({
+      now: () => now,
+      alphabet: "01",
+      randomSize: 1,
+    });
+
+    expect(() => {
+      for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) gen("evt");
+    }).toThrow(RangeError);
+
+    now = Date.now();
+    expect(() => gen("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+
+    const fresh = createSortableId({
+      now: () => now,
+      alphabet: "01",
+      randomSize: 1,
+    });
+    expect(() => fresh("evt")).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it("keeps ids in order after a bad clock reading", () => {
+    let now = 2_000;
+    const gen = createSortableId({ now: () => now });
+
+    const a = gen("evt");
+    now = 1_000;
+    const b = gen("evt");
+    now = 2 ** 48 + 5;
+    expect(() => gen("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+    now = 1_000;
+    const c = gen("evt");
+
+    expect(b > a).toBe(true);
+    expect(c > b).toBe(true);
+  });
 });
 
 describe("getTimestamp()", () => {
@@ -305,6 +344,62 @@ describe("createSortableId() — validation", () => {
     const gen = createSortableId({ now: () => -1 });
     expect(() => gen("u")).toThrow(RangeError);
   });
+
+  it("rejects timestamps exceeding SORTABLE_TIME_MAX", () => {
+    const defaultGen = createSortableId({ now: () => 2 ** 48 });
+    expect(() => defaultGen("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+    expect(() => defaultGen("evt")).toThrow(
+      `prefid: timestamp ${2 ** 48} exceeds the sortable range (2^48-1 ms).`,
+    );
+
+    const wideGen = createSortableId({
+      timestampSize: 12,
+      now: () => 2 ** 48,
+    });
+    expect(() => wideGen("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+
+    const wideGen50 = createSortableId({
+      timestampSize: 12,
+      now: () => 2 ** 50,
+    });
+    expect(() => wideGen50("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+
+    const crockfordGen = createSortableId({
+      alphabet: BASE32_CROCKFORD,
+      now: () => 2 ** 48,
+    });
+    expect(() => crockfordGen("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+
+    const microGen = createSortableId({
+      now: () => 1_760_000_000_000_000,
+    });
+    expect(() => microGen("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+  });
+
+  it("accepts a timestamp at exactly SORTABLE_TIME_MAX", () => {
+    const gen = createSortableId({ now: () => SORTABLE_TIME_MAX });
+    const id = gen("evt");
+    expect(getTimestamp(id)).toBe(SORTABLE_TIME_MAX);
+    expect(getDate(id)?.getTime()).toBe(SORTABLE_TIME_MAX);
+  });
+
+  it("does not poison generator state after an out-of-range clock reading", () => {
+    let first = true;
+    const g1 = createSortableId({
+      now: () => (first ? ((first = false), 62 ** 9) : 1_700_000_000_000),
+    });
+    expect(() => g1("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+    const id1 = g1("evt");
+    expect(getTimestamp(id1)).toBe(1_700_000_000_000);
+
+    first = true;
+    const g2 = createSortableId({
+      now: () => (first ? ((first = false), 2 ** 48 + 5) : 1_700_000_000_000),
+    });
+    expect(() => g2("evt")).toThrow(RangeError);
+    const id2 = g2("evt");
+    expect(getTimestamp(id2)).toBe(1_700_000_000_000);
+  });
 });
 
 describe("createSortableId() — custom separator type", () => {
@@ -369,10 +464,7 @@ describe("getDate()", () => {
   });
 
   it("returns undefined for a timestamp outside the sortable time range", () => {
-    const at = (t: number) =>
-      createSortableId({ now: () => t, monotonic: false })("evt");
-
-    expect(getDate(at(MAX_DATE_MS))).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(getDate("evt_1HvWXNAa8rJNAzRwphhk3h53w")).toBeUndefined();
   });
 });