diff --git a/internal/driver/fetch.go b/internal/driver/fetch.go
index 6d967a2037..0809cd0814 100644
--- a/internal/driver/fetch.go
+++ b/internal/driver/fetch.go
@@ -430,7 +430,9 @@ mapping:
 				// Llvm buildid protocol: the first two characters of the build id
 				// are used as directory, and the remaining part is in the filename.
 				// e.g. `/ab/cdef0123456.debug`
-				fileNames = append(fileNames, filepath.Join(path, m.BuildID[:2], m.BuildID[2:]+".debug"))
+				if len(m.BuildID) >= 2 {
+					fileNames = append(fileNames, filepath.Join(path, m.BuildID[:2], m.BuildID[2:]+".debug"))
+				}
 			}
 			if m.File != "" {
 				// Try both the basename and the full path, to support the same directory
diff --git a/internal/driver/fetch_test.go b/internal/driver/fetch_test.go
index 3dcd7bbd0c..36ec2f28a2 100644
--- a/internal/driver/fetch_test.go
+++ b/internal/driver/fetch_test.go
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ func TestSymbolizationPath(t *testing.T) {
 		{"", "", "fghij10001", filepath.Join(tempdir, "pprof/binaries/fg/hij10001.debug"), 0},
 		{"/nowhere:/alternate/architecture", "/usr/bin/binary", "fedcb10000", "/usr/bin/binary", 1},
 		{"/nowhere:/alternate/architecture", "/usr/bin/binary", "abcde10002", "/usr/bin/binary", 1},
+		// A single-character BuildID must not panic when the LLVM debug-file
+		// lookup slices BuildID[:2] / BuildID[2:]. Prior to the fix, this caused
+		// a "slice bounds out of range" panic.
+		{"", "/usr/bin/binary", "X", "/usr/bin/binary", 0},
 	} {
 		os.Setenv("PPROF_BINARY_PATH", tc.env)
 		p := &profile.Profile{