diff --git a/cpp/src/copying/contiguous_split.cu b/cpp/src/copying/contiguous_split.cu
index a9194ceea93..bcedc2f62c6 100644
--- a/cpp/src/copying/contiguous_split.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/copying/contiguous_split.cu
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ struct src_buf_info {
                int _offset_stack_pos,
                int _parent_offsets_index,
                bool _is_validity,
-               int _column_offset)
+               size_type _column_offset)
     : type(_type),
       offsets(_offsets),
       offset_stack_pos(_offset_stack_pos),
@@ -194,11 +194,18 @@ __device__ void copy_buffer(uint8_t* __restrict__ dst,
     if (value_shift || bit_shift) {
       std::size_t idx = (num_bytes - remainder) / 4;
       uint32_t v = remainder > 0 ? (reinterpret_cast<uint32_t const*>(src)[idx] - value_shift) : 0;
+
+      constexpr size_type rows_per_element = 32;
+      auto const have_trailing_bits = ((num_elements * rows_per_element) - num_rows) < bit_shift;
       while (remainder) {
-        uint32_t const next = bit_shift > 0 || remainder > 4
-                                ? (reinterpret_cast<uint32_t const*>(src)[idx + 1] - value_shift)
-                                : 0;
-        uint32_t const val  = (v >> bit_shift) | (next << (32 - bit_shift));
+        // if we're at the very last word of a validity copy, we do not always need to read the next
+        // word to get the final trailing bits.
+        auto const read_trailing_bits = bit_shift > 0 && remainder == 4 && have_trailing_bits;
+        uint32_t const next           = (read_trailing_bits || remainder > 4)
+                                          ? (reinterpret_cast<uint32_t const*>(src)[idx + 1] - value_shift)
+                                          : 0;
+
+        uint32_t const val = (v >> bit_shift) | (next << (32 - bit_shift));
         if (valid_count) { thread_valid_count += __popc(val); }
         reinterpret_cast<uint32_t*>(dst)[idx] = val;
         v                                     = next;
diff --git a/cpp/tests/copying/split_tests.cpp b/cpp/tests/copying/split_tests.cpp
index f7714ce9ac7..b5a793ecd1c 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/copying/split_tests.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/copying/split_tests.cpp
@@ -1315,6 +1315,21 @@ TEST_F(ContiguousSplitUntypedTest, ProgressiveSizes)
   }
 }
 
+TEST_F(ContiguousSplitUntypedTest, ValidityEdgeCase)
+{
+  // tests an edge case where the splits cause the final validity data to be copied
+  // to be < 32 full bits, making sure we don't unintentionally read past the end of the input
+  auto col = cudf::make_numeric_column(
+    cudf::data_type{cudf::type_id::INT32}, 512, cudf::mask_state::ALL_VALID);
+  auto result   = cudf::contiguous_split(cudf::table_view{{*col}}, {510});
+  auto expected = cudf::split(cudf::table_view{{*col}}, {510});
+
+  EXPECT_EQ(expected.size(), result.size());
+  for (unsigned long index = 0; index < result.size(); index++) {
+    CUDF_TEST_EXPECT_COLUMNS_EQUIVALENT(expected[index].column(0), result[index].table.column(0));
+  }
+}
+
 // contiguous split with strings
 struct ContiguousSplitStringTableTest : public SplitTest<std::string> {
 };