diff --git a/game/graphics/opengl_renderer/foreground/Shadow2.cpp b/game/graphics/opengl_renderer/foreground/Shadow2.cpp
index 61607423bc..c8ffcebf97 100644
--- a/game/graphics/opengl_renderer/foreground/Shadow2.cpp
+++ b/game/graphics/opengl_renderer/foreground/Shadow2.cpp
@@ -155,6 +155,13 @@ void Shadow2::render(DmaFollower& dma, SharedRenderState* render_state, ScopedPr
       u16 addr = up.addr_qw;
 
       u32 offset = 4 * vif1.num;
+      if (transfer.size_bytes > 16 + 255 * 4) {
+        printf("shadow overflow detected, skipping all shadows for this frame!");
+        while (dma.current_tag_offset() == render_state->next_bucket) {
+          dma.read_and_advance();
+        }
+        return;
+      }
       ASSERT(offset + 16 == transfer.size_bytes);
 
       u32 after[4];
diff --git a/game/mips2c/jak2_functions/shadow.cpp b/game/mips2c/jak2_functions/shadow.cpp
index c8cb09f688..cf03b6d455 100644
--- a/game/mips2c/jak2_functions/shadow.cpp
+++ b/game/mips2c/jak2_functions/shadow.cpp
@@ -264,6 +264,15 @@ block_1:
   c->lqc2(vf4, 48, t0);                             // lqc2 vf4, 48(t0)
   // nop                                            // sll r0, r0, 0
   c->lqc2(vf9, 0, a2);                              // lqc2 vf9, 0(a2)
+  // if our bones became nans, then set the transformation matrix to 0 instead.
+  // In jak 3, leaving them as NaN may cause all triangles to become single,
+  // overflowing the 8-bit .num field of a vif unpack. Maybe the same thing happens in Jak 2?
+  if (std::isnan(c->vf_src(1).f[0])) {
+    c->vfs[1].vf.fill(0);
+    c->vfs[2].vf.fill(0);
+    c->vfs[3].vf.fill(0);
+    c->vfs[4].vf.fill(0);
+  }
   c->vmula_bc(DEST::xyzw, BC::w, vf4, vf0);         // vmulaw.xyzw acc, vf4, vf0
   // nop                                            // sll r0, r0, 0
   c->vmadda_bc(DEST::xyzw, BC::x, vf1, vf9);        // vmaddax.xyzw acc, vf1, vf9
diff --git a/game/mips2c/jak3_functions/shadow.cpp b/game/mips2c/jak3_functions/shadow.cpp
index 6638ae5ac8..1cd310f15e 100644
--- a/game/mips2c/jak3_functions/shadow.cpp
+++ b/game/mips2c/jak3_functions/shadow.cpp
@@ -265,6 +265,16 @@ block_1:
   c->lqc2(vf4, 48, t0);                             // lqc2 vf4, 48(t0)
   // nop                                            // sll r0, r0, 0
   c->lqc2(vf9, 0, a2);                              // lqc2 vf9, 0(a2)
+
+  // if our bones became nans, then set the transformation matrix to 0 instead.
+  // leaving them as NaN may cause all triangles to become single, overflowing the 8-bit .num field
+  // of a vif unpack.
+  if (std::isnan(c->vf_src(1).f[0])) {
+    c->vfs[1].vf.fill(0);
+    c->vfs[2].vf.fill(0);
+    c->vfs[3].vf.fill(0);
+    c->vfs[4].vf.fill(0);
+  }
   c->vmula_bc(DEST::xyzw, BC::w, vf4, vf0);         // vmulaw.xyzw acc, vf4, vf0
   // nop                                            // sll r0, r0, 0
   c->vmadda_bc(DEST::xyzw, BC::x, vf1, vf9);        // vmaddax.xyzw acc, vf1, vf9