diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d628f09..c3320ca 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,13 +9,13 @@ buttons) behind previous / jump / next navigation, with an optional cache button
 `requirements.txt`:
 
 ```
-dpy_paginator @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/dpy_paginator.git@v0.1.0
+dpy_paginator @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/dpy_paginator.git@v0.1.1
 ```
 
 Direct:
 
 ```bash
-pip install "dpy_paginator @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/dpy_paginator.git@v0.1.0"
+pip install "dpy_paginator @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/dpy_paginator.git@v0.1.1"
 ```
 
 Requires `discord.py` (pulled transitively).
@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@ await ButtonPaginator(pages, cache=cache, cache_sleep=1.0).start(ctx)
 ```
 
 Omit `cache` or pass `None`/`[]` and the button never appears. When set, `cache`
-must have one entry per rendered page.
+must have one entry per rendered page — a shorter `cache` raises `ValueError` at
+construction rather than failing with an `IndexError` mid-navigation.
 
 ## Constructor options
 
diff --git a/src/dpy_paginator/dpy_paginator.py b/src/dpy_paginator/dpy_paginator.py
index 1335e88..2ce0599 100644
--- a/src/dpy_paginator/dpy_paginator.py
+++ b/src/dpy_paginator/dpy_paginator.py
@@ -176,6 +176,11 @@ class ButtonPaginator(Generic[PageT_co], discord.ui.View):
 
         total_pages, left_over = divmod(len(self.pages), self.per_page)
         self.max_pages: int = total_pages + (1 if left_over else 0)
+        if cache is not None and len(cache) < self.max_pages:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"cache has {len(cache)} entries but there are {self.max_pages} pages; "
+                "cache needs one entry per page"
+            )
         self._page_kwargs: Dict[str, Any] = self._fresh_kwargs()
 
     def _fresh_kwargs(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
@@ -204,7 +209,7 @@ class ButtonPaginator(Generic[PageT_co], discord.ui.View):
         """return the content for a page index, wrapping out-of-range to 0"""
         if page_number < 0 or page_number >= self.max_pages:
             self.current_page = 0
-            return self.pages[self.current_page]
+            return self.get_page(0)
         if self.per_page == 1:
             return self.pages[page_number]
         base = page_number * self.per_page