diff --git a/.changeset/parse-jwt-credential-shape-guard.md b/.changeset/parse-jwt-credential-shape-guard.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d0c5cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/parse-jwt-credential-shape-guard.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+"@agentcommercekit/vc": patch
+---
+
+Validate the decoded credential shape in `parseJwtCredential` instead of relying
+on an unchecked cast. `verifyCredential` (did-jwt-vc) returns its own credential
+shape; `parseJwtCredential` now checks it conforms to `W3CCredential` via
+`isCredential` and throws `InvalidCredentialError` on a divergent shape, rather
+than silently casting it.
diff --git a/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.test.ts b/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.test.ts
index 6912a82..280852c 100644
--- a/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.test.ts
+++ b/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.test.ts
@@ -5,13 +5,22 @@ import {
 } from "@agentcommercekit/did"
 import { createJwtSigner } from "@agentcommercekit/jwt"
 import { generateKeypair } from "@agentcommercekit/keys"
-import { expect, test } from "vitest"
+import { verifyCredential } from "did-jwt-vc"
+import { expect, it, vi } from "vitest"
 
 import { createCredential } from "../create-credential"
 import { signCredential } from "../signing/sign-credential"
+import { InvalidCredentialError } from "./errors"
 import { parseJwtCredential } from "./parse-jwt-credential"
 
-test("parseJwtCredential should parse a valid credential", async () => {
+vi.mock("did-jwt-vc", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("did-jwt-vc")>()
+  // Delegate to the real implementation by default; individual tests can
+  // override `verifyCredential` to exercise malformed decoder output.
+  return { ...actual, verifyCredential: vi.fn(actual.verifyCredential) }
+})
+
+it("parseJwtCredential should parse a valid credential", async () => {
   const resolver = getDidResolver()
 
   // Generate keypair for the issuer
@@ -51,7 +60,7 @@ test("parseJwtCredential should parse a valid credential", async () => {
   expect(vc.type).toContain("TestCredential")
 })
 
-test("verifyCredentialJwt should throw for invalid credential", async () => {
+it("verifyCredentialJwt should throw for invalid credential", async () => {
   const resolver = getDidResolver()
   const invalidCredential = "invalid.jwt.token"
 
@@ -59,3 +68,60 @@ test("verifyCredentialJwt should throw for invalid credential", async () => {
     parseJwtCredential(invalidCredential, resolver),
   ).rejects.toThrow()
 })
+
+it("throws when the verified JWT does not decode to a valid credential", async () => {
+  const resolver = getDidResolver()
+
+  // Simulate did-jwt-vc returning a shape that diverges from W3CCredential
+  vi.mocked(verifyCredential).mockResolvedValueOnce({
+    verifiableCredential: { not: "a credential" },
+  } as unknown as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof verifyCredential>>)
+
+  await expect(parseJwtCredential("a.b.c", resolver)).rejects.toThrow(
+    InvalidCredentialError,
+  )
+})
+
+it("throws when the decoded credential has a non-normalized string issuer", async () => {
+  const resolver = getDidResolver()
+
+  // Downstream reads `issuer.id`, so a top-level string issuer must be rejected
+  vi.mocked(verifyCredential).mockResolvedValueOnce({
+    verifiableCredential: {
+      "@context": ["https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1"],
+      type: ["VerifiableCredential"],
+      issuer: "did:example:issuer",
+      issuanceDate: "2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
+      credentialSubject: { id: "did:example:subject" },
+      proof: { type: "JwtProof2020", jwt: "a.b.c" },
+    },
+  } as unknown as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof verifyCredential>>)
+
+  await expect(parseJwtCredential("a.b.c", resolver)).rejects.toThrow(
+    InvalidCredentialError,
+  )
+})
+
+it("returns the decoded credential for a JSON-LD object context entry", async () => {
+  const resolver = getDidResolver()
+
+  // A valid VC with an object `@context` entry must NOT be false-rejected
+  const verifiableCredential = {
+    "@context": [
+      "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
+      { ex: "https://example.com/vocab#" },
+    ],
+    type: ["VerifiableCredential"],
+    issuer: { id: "did:example:issuer" },
+    issuanceDate: "2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
+    credentialSubject: { id: "did:example:subject" },
+    proof: { type: "JwtProof2020", jwt: "a.b.c" },
+  }
+  vi.mocked(verifyCredential).mockResolvedValueOnce({
+    verifiableCredential,
+  } as unknown as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof verifyCredential>>)
+
+  await expect(parseJwtCredential("a.b.c", resolver)).resolves.toBe(
+    verifiableCredential,
+  )
+})
diff --git a/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.ts b/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.ts
index 5b75d67..d53fc46 100644
--- a/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.ts
+++ b/packages/vc/src/verification/parse-jwt-credential.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,40 @@ import type { Resolvable } from "@agentcommercekit/did"
 import { verifyCredential } from "did-jwt-vc"
 
 import type { Verifiable, W3CCredential } from "../types"
+import { InvalidCredentialError } from "./errors"
+
+/**
+ * Validate that a decoded credential has the shape the verification chain relies
+ * on. did-jwt-vc returns its own credential type; this guards exactly the fields
+ * downstream code reads — `issuer.id`, `type`, `credentialSubject` — plus the
+ * `proof` that makes it a {@link Verifiable}, rather than trusting an unchecked
+ * cast that would silently mask a divergent shape.
+ *
+ * It intentionally does NOT enforce ACK's authoring schema, so valid third-party
+ * VCs (e.g. an object `@context` entry, or a VC 2.0 `validFrom`) are not rejected
+ * here; conversely a top-level string `issuer` is rejected because downstream
+ * reads `issuer.id`.
+ */
+function isDecodedCredential(
+  value: unknown,
+): value is Verifiable<W3CCredential> {
+  if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null) {
+    return false
+  }
+
+  const credential = value as Record<string, unknown>
+  const issuer = credential.issuer
+
+  return (
+    typeof credential.credentialSubject === "object" &&
+    credential.credentialSubject !== null &&
+    typeof issuer === "object" &&
+    issuer !== null &&
+    typeof (issuer as Record<string, unknown>).id === "string" &&
+    Array.isArray(credential.type) &&
+    credential.proof != null
+  )
+}
 
 /**
  * Parse a JWT credential
@@ -16,5 +50,11 @@ export async function parseJwtCredential<T extends W3CCredential>(
 ): Promise<Verifiable<T>> {
   const result = await verifyCredential(jwt, resolver)
 
+  if (!isDecodedCredential(result.verifiableCredential)) {
+    throw new InvalidCredentialError(
+      "Verified JWT did not decode to a valid W3C credential",
+    )
+  }
+
   return result.verifiableCredential as Verifiable<T>
 }
diff --git a/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.test.ts b/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.test.ts
index 50d87e6..d8bac7b 100644
--- a/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.test.ts
+++ b/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.test.ts
@@ -63,8 +63,12 @@ describe("verifyProof", () => {
     }
 
     const verifiableCredential = {
+      "@context": ["https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1"],
+      type: ["VerifiableCredential"],
       issuer: { id: "did:example:issuer" },
+      issuanceDate: "2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
       credentialSubject: { id: "did:example:subject" },
+      proof: { type: "JwtProof2020", jwt: "valid.jwt.token" },
     }
 
     vi.mocked(verifyCredential).mockResolvedValueOnce({
diff --git a/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.ts b/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.ts
index 1221ada..72939de 100644
--- a/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.ts
+++ b/packages/vc/src/verification/verify-proof.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 import type { Resolvable } from "@agentcommercekit/did"
 
 import type { Verifiable, W3CCredential } from "../types"
-import { InvalidProofError, UnsupportedProofTypeError } from "./errors"
+import {
+  InvalidCredentialError,
+  InvalidProofError,
+  UnsupportedProofTypeError,
+} from "./errors"
 import { parseJwtCredential } from "./parse-jwt-credential"
 
 interface JwtProof {
@@ -36,7 +40,12 @@ async function verifyJwtProof(
 
   try {
     return await parseJwtCredential(proof.jwt, resolver)
-  } catch (_error) {
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Preserve a malformed-credential error (the decoded credential is the
+    // problem, not the signature); wrap anything else as an invalid proof.
+    if (error instanceof InvalidCredentialError) {
+      throw error
+    }
     throw new InvalidProofError()
   }
 }