diff --git a/dexlib2/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib2/util/Preconditions.java b/dexlib2/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib2/util/Preconditions.java
index 990986b9..4a18afa0 100644
--- a/dexlib2/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib2/util/Preconditions.java
+++ b/dexlib2/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib2/util/Preconditions.java
@@ -220,9 +220,24 @@ public class Preconditions {
     }
 
     public static <L extends List<? extends Number>> L checkArrayPayloadElements(int elementWidth, L elements) {
-        long maxValue = (1L << ((8 * elementWidth) - 1)) - 1;
-        long minValue = -maxValue - 1;
-
+        long maxValue;
+        long minValue;
+        if (elementWidth == 2) {
+            //Could be a short or character.
+            //Characters are unsigned, Shorts are signed.
+            //Short.MAX_VALUE = 32767
+            //Short.MIN_VALUE = -32768
+            //(int) Character.MAX_VALUE = 65535
+            //(int) Character.MIN_VALUE = 0
+            //See https://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jvms/se6/html/Overview.doc.html for details
+            //As such, we use the combined interval range of both.
+            maxValue = (int) Character.MAX_VALUE;
+            minValue = Short.MIN_VALUE;
+        } else {
+            //Two's complement.
+            maxValue = (1L << ((8 * elementWidth) - 1)) - 1;
+            minValue = -maxValue - 1;
+        }
         for (Number element : elements) {
             if (element.longValue() < minValue || element.longValue() > maxValue) {
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException(
diff --git a/dexlib2/src/test/java/org/jf/util/PreconditionsTest.java b/dexlib2/src/test/java/org/jf/util/PreconditionsTest.java
index ba3b6fde..4c9718be 100644
--- a/dexlib2/src/test/java/org/jf/util/PreconditionsTest.java
+++ b/dexlib2/src/test/java/org/jf/util/PreconditionsTest.java
@@ -28,12 +28,18 @@ public class PreconditionsTest {
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsValid(4, Integer.MIN_VALUE);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsValid(2, Short.MAX_VALUE);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsValid(2, Short.MIN_VALUE);
+    verifyArrayPayloadElementIsValid(2, Character.MAX_VALUE);
+    verifyArrayPayloadElementIsValid(2, Character.MIN_VALUE);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsValid(1, Byte.MAX_VALUE);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsValid(1, Byte.MIN_VALUE);
 
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(4, ((long) Integer.MAX_VALUE) + 1);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(4, ((long) Integer.MIN_VALUE) - 1);
-    verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(2, ((long) Short.MAX_VALUE) + 1);
+    verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(2, ((long) Short.MIN_VALUE) - 1);
+    //Since short and character have the same size, but different ranges
+    // and cannot be distinguished here, the valid interval is
+    //[Short.MIN_VALUE, Character.MAX_VALUE], i.e. [-32768, 65535]
+    verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(2, ((long) Character.MAX_VALUE) + 1);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(2, ((long) Short.MIN_VALUE) - 1);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(1, ((long) Byte.MAX_VALUE) + 1);
     verifyArrayPayloadElementIsInvalid(1, ((long) Byte.MIN_VALUE) - 1);