diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9d510ff..f7932cc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# v0.4.4
+## Bugs
+* Fixed a panic caused by input sequences shorter than the offset compare length
+
 # v0.4.3
 ## Bugs
 * Fixed a panic caused by an unchecked `unwrap()` in a `trace!` statement
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 22e79f5..853151a 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "waffle_con"
-version = "0.4.3"
+version = "0.4.4"
 edition = "2021"
 
 # See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
diff --git a/src/consensus.rs b/src/consensus.rs
index 0d400a8..90da501 100644
--- a/src/consensus.rs
+++ b/src/consensus.rs
@@ -416,6 +416,9 @@ impl ConsensusNode {
 
         // build up the search space
         let con_len = self.consensus.len();
+
+        // we need to truncate the compare length if it is longer than the sequence
+        let offset_compare_length = offset_compare_length.min(sequence.len());
         
         // figure out how far back we search
         let start_delta = offset_window + offset_compare_length; // we search from current back to the offset_window
diff --git a/src/dual_consensus.rs b/src/dual_consensus.rs
index 21d7a66..8ee4334 100644
--- a/src/dual_consensus.rs
+++ b/src/dual_consensus.rs
@@ -871,6 +871,9 @@ impl DualConsensusNode {
             vec![(&mut self.dwfas1, &self.consensus1)]
         };
 
+        // we need to truncate the compare length if it is longer than the sequence
+        let offset_compare_length = offset_compare_length.min(sequence.len());
+
         for (dwfas, consensus) in activators.into_iter() {
             // make sure everything is currently inactive
             assert!(dwfas[seq_index].is_none());