diff --git a/preserves.nimble b/preserves.nimble
index 8655b95..d0a1060 100644
--- a/preserves.nimble
+++ b/preserves.nimble
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Package
 
-version = "20230912"
+version = "20230913"
 author        = "Emery Hemingway"
 description   = "data model and serialization format"
 license       = "Unlicense"
diff --git a/src/preserves.nim b/src/preserves.nim
index 63f5888..aec2206 100644
--- a/src/preserves.nim
+++ b/src/preserves.nim
@@ -537,7 +537,6 @@ proc readVarint(s: Stream): uint =
   var
     shift = 0
     c = uint s.readUint8
-  if c == 0x80: raise newException(ValueError, "invalid Preserves data")
   while (c and 0x80) == 0x80:
     result = result or ((c and 0x7f) shl shift)
     inc(shift, 7)