diff --git a/cli/context/store/io_utils.go b/cli/context/store/io_utils.go
index 097443d03174..58a4fef4d67f 100644
--- a/cli/context/store/io_utils.go
+++ b/cli/context/store/io_utils.go
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@ func (l *limitedReader) Read(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 	if l.N < 0 {
 		return 0, errors.New("read exceeds the defined limit")
 	}
-	if l.N == 0 {
-		return 0, io.EOF
-	}
 	// have to cap N + 1 otherwise we won't hit limit err
 	if int64(len(p)) > l.N+1 {
 		p = p[0 : l.N+1]
diff --git a/cli/context/store/io_utils_test.go b/cli/context/store/io_utils_test.go
index 72cb406f853a..4d558c4a9950 100644
--- a/cli/context/store/io_utils_test.go
+++ b/cli/context/store/io_utils_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"testing/iotest"
 
 	"gotest.tools/v3/assert"
 )
@@ -21,4 +22,10 @@ func TestLimitReaderReadAll(t *testing.T) {
 	r = strings.NewReader("Test")
 	_, err = io.ReadAll(&limitedReader{R: r, N: 2})
 	assert.Error(t, err, "read exceeds the defined limit")
+
+	// exceeding the limit must error even when a read lands exactly on
+	// the limit before the remaining data is reached
+	r = strings.NewReader("Test")
+	_, err = io.ReadAll(&limitedReader{R: iotest.OneByteReader(r), N: 2})
+	assert.Error(t, err, "read exceeds the defined limit")
 }
diff --git a/cli/context/store/store.go b/cli/context/store/store.go
index 2b8b5c311478..625acab48602 100644
--- a/cli/context/store/store.go
+++ b/cli/context/store/store.go
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ func importZip(name string, s Writer, reader io.Reader) error {
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			data, err := io.ReadAll(f)
+			data, err := io.ReadAll(&limitedReader{R: f, N: maxAllowedFileSizeToImport})
 			defer f.Close()
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
diff --git a/cli/context/store/store_test.go b/cli/context/store/store_test.go
index 20d0ef6463f6..3ad3ab6d9eea 100644
--- a/cli/context/store/store_test.go
+++ b/cli/context/store/store_test.go
@@ -236,6 +236,46 @@ func TestImportZipInvalid(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "unexpected context file")
 }
 
+func TestImportZipTLSDataTooLarge(t *testing.T) {
+	testDir := t.TempDir()
+	zf := path.Join(testDir, "test.zip")
+
+	f, err := os.Create(zf)
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	defer f.Close()
+	w := zip.NewWriter(f)
+
+	meta, err := json.Marshal(Metadata{
+		Endpoints: map[string]any{
+			"ep1": endpoint{Foo: "bar"},
+		},
+		Metadata: context{Bar: "baz"},
+		Name:     "source",
+	})
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	mf, err := w.Create("meta.json")
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	_, err = mf.Write(meta)
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+
+	// a highly compressible TLS entry that inflates beyond the allowed
+	// import size, even though the zip file itself stays well under it
+	tf, err := w.Create(path.Join("tls", "docker", "ca.pem"))
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	_, err = tf.Write(make([]byte, 2*maxAllowedFileSizeToImport))
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	err = w.Close()
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+
+	source, err := os.Open(zf)
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	defer source.Close()
+	var r io.Reader = source
+	s := New(testDir, testCfg)
+	err = Import("zipTLSTooLarge", s, r)
+	assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "exceeds the defined limit")
+}
+
 func TestCorruptMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	tempDir := t.TempDir()
 	s := New(tempDir, testCfg)