diff --git a/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/io/DirectBufferInputStream.java b/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/io/DirectBufferInputStream.java
index abd2da15b..1b40a9190 100644
--- a/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/io/DirectBufferInputStream.java
+++ b/agrona/src/main/java/org/agrona/io/DirectBufferInputStream.java
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ public int read() throws IOException
         int b = -1;
         if (position < length)
         {
-            b = buffer.getByte(offset + position);
+            b = buffer.getByte(offset + position) & 0xFF;
             ++position;
         }
 
diff --git a/agrona/src/test/java/org/agrona/io/DirectBufferInputStreamTest.java b/agrona/src/test/java/org/agrona/io/DirectBufferInputStreamTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..133501272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agrona/src/test/java/org/agrona/io/DirectBufferInputStreamTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 - 2015 Real Logic Ltd.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.agrona.io;
+
+import org.agrona.DirectBuffer;
+import org.agrona.concurrent.UnsafeBuffer;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+public class DirectBufferInputStreamTest
+{
+
+    private static final int END_OF_STREAM_MARKER = -1;
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldCorrectlyConvertBytesToPositiveIntegers() throws IOException
+    {
+        final byte[] data = {(byte) -1, 0};
+        final DirectBuffer buffer = new UnsafeBuffer(data);
+        final DirectBufferInputStream inputStream = new DirectBufferInputStream(buffer);
+
+        assertEquals(inputStream.read(), 255);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldReturnMinusOneOnEndOfStream() throws IOException
+    {
+        final byte[] data = {1, 2};
+
+        final DirectBuffer buffer = new UnsafeBuffer(data);
+        final DirectBufferInputStream inputStream = new DirectBufferInputStream(buffer);
+
+        assertEquals(inputStream.read(), 1);
+        assertEquals(inputStream.read(), 2);
+        assertEquals(inputStream.read(), END_OF_STREAM_MARKER);
+    }
+}