diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/SDK.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/SDK.java
index b471cabb..f69b6896 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/SDK.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/SDK.java
@@ -420,6 +420,26 @@ public DataSizeNotSupported(String errorMessage) {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * {@link AesGcmExhaustedException} is thrown during TDF creation when encrypting another
+     * payload segment would exceed the number of AES-GCM invocations allowed under a single
+     * data encryption key.
+     * <p>
+     * IVs are a random 64-bit fixed field followed by a 32-bit invocation counter (NIST SP
+     * 800-38D section 8.2.1), so at most 2^32 invocations can use one key without repeating an
+     * IV: one for the key access metadata and 2^32 - 1 for payload segments. The SDK throws this
+     * before encrypting the segment that would cross that limit. (The same budget keeps random
+     * 96-bit IVs, whose collision probability is roughly k^2 / 2^97, under the section 8 limit
+     * of 2^-32.) The TDF being written is
+     * incomplete and must be discarded; split the input across multiple TDFs or use a larger
+     * segment size.
+     */
+    public static class AesGcmExhaustedException extends SDKException {
+        public AesGcmExhaustedException(String errorMessage) {
+            super(errorMessage);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * {@link KasInfoMissing} is thrown during TDF creation when no KAS information is present.
      */
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDF.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDF.java
index 5234f8c0..fddead94 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDF.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDF.java
@@ -136,10 +136,15 @@ static final class IvCounter {
             this.nextInvocation = initialInvocation;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * @return the next IV in the sequence, which has never been returned before
+         * @throws SDK.AesGcmExhaustedException if the per-key invocation budget is spent; this
+         *         is checked before the IV is issued, so no segment is encrypted past the limit
+         */
         synchronized byte[] next() {
             if (exhausted) {
-                throw new SDKException("exceeded the maximum of 2^32 AES-GCM invocations under a single"
-                        + " payload key; use a larger segment size");
+                throw new SDK.AesGcmExhaustedException("exceeded the maximum of 2^32 AES-GCM invocations"
+                        + " under a single payload key; the TDF is incomplete. Use a larger segment size");
             }
 
             long invocation = nextInvocation;
diff --git a/sdk/src/test/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDFTest.java b/sdk/src/test/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDFTest.java
index 757c2d5e..aa5b38e6 100644
--- a/sdk/src/test/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDFTest.java
+++ b/sdk/src/test/java/io/opentdf/platform/sdk/TDFTest.java
@@ -963,9 +963,10 @@ public void testIvCounterRejectsReuseAfterExhaustion() {
         assertThat(counter.next()).containsExactly(
                 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
                 (byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff);
-        SDKException exception = assertThrows(SDKException.class, counter::next);
-        assertThat(exception).hasMessageContaining("2^32 AES-GCM invocations");
-        assertThrows(SDKException.class, counter::next);
+        var exception = assertThrows(SDK.AesGcmExhaustedException.class, counter::next);
+        assertThat(exception).isInstanceOf(SDKException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("2^32 AES-GCM invocations");
+        assertThrows(SDK.AesGcmExhaustedException.class, counter::next);
     }
 
     // probabilistic: two random 64-bit fixed fields collide with probability 2^-64