diff --git a/src/internal.c b/src/internal.c
index 4608839eb84..67b8f922646 100644
--- a/src/internal.c
+++ b/src/internal.c
@@ -18922,8 +18922,9 @@ static int DoDtlsHandShakeMsg(WOLFSSL* ssl, byte* input, word32* inOutIdx,
 
     if (type == finished && ssl->keys.dtls_peer_handshake_number >=
                             ssl->keys.dtls_expected_peer_handshake_number &&
-                            ssl->keys.curEpoch == ssl->keys.dtls_epoch) {
-        /* finished msg should be ignore from the current epoch
+                            ssl->keys.curEpoch == ssl->keys.dtls_epoch &&
+                            ssl->keys.curEpoch != 0) {
+        /* finished msg should be ignored from the current epoch
          * if it comes from a previous handshake */
         if (ssl->options.side == WOLFSSL_CLIENT_END) {
             ignoreFinished = ssl->options.connectState < FINISHED_DONE;
diff --git a/tests/api.c b/tests/api.c
index 1ae524f780d..6f2a05c6852 100644
--- a/tests/api.c
+++ b/tests/api.c
@@ -51225,6 +51225,7 @@ TEST_DECL(test_wc_RsaPSS_DigitalSignVerify),
     TEST_DECL(test_dtls13_epochs),
     TEST_DECL(test_dtls_rtx_across_epoch_change),
     TEST_DECL(test_dtls_drop_client_ack),
+    TEST_DECL(test_dtls_bogus_finished_epoch_zero),
     TEST_DECL(test_dtls_replay),
     TEST_DECL(test_dtls13_ack_order),
     TEST_DECL(test_dtls_version_checking),
diff --git a/tests/api/test_dtls.c b/tests/api/test_dtls.c
index 9458874dc77..52e1bd34144 100644
--- a/tests/api/test_dtls.c
+++ b/tests/api/test_dtls.c
@@ -1474,6 +1474,80 @@ int test_dtls_drop_client_ack(void)
     return EXPECT_RESULT();
 }
 
+int test_dtls_bogus_finished_epoch_zero(void)
+{
+    EXPECT_DECLS;
+#if defined(HAVE_MANUAL_MEMIO_TESTS_DEPENDENCIES) && defined(WOLFSSL_DTLS) && \
+    !defined(WOLFSSL_NO_TLS12) && defined(HAVE_AES_CBC) && \
+    defined(WOLFSSL_AES_128) && !defined(NO_SHA256)
+    WOLFSSL_CTX *ctx_c = NULL, *ctx_s = NULL;
+    WOLFSSL *ssl_c = NULL, *ssl_s = NULL;
+    struct test_memio_ctx test_ctx;
+    int error;
+
+    /* bogus Finished message bytes from the original bug report (epoch 0)
+     * https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl/issues/9188 */
+    static const unsigned char bogus_finished[] = {
+        0x16, 0xfe, 0xfd, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+        0x18, 0x14, 0x00, 0x00, 0x0c, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+        0x0c, 0xd9, 0xc6, 0xe3, 0x01, 0x59, 0xf2, 0xc2, 0x4f, 0xfa, 0xfd, 0x20,
+        0xd7
+    };
+
+    /* serverHelloDone message bytes */
+    static const unsigned char server_hello_done_message[] = {
+        0x16, 0xfe, 0xfd, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00,
+        0x0c, 0x0e, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+        0x00
+    };
+
+    XMEMSET(&test_ctx, 0, sizeof(test_ctx));
+
+    /* setting up dtls 1.2 contexts */
+    ExpectIntEQ(test_memio_setup(&test_ctx, &ctx_c, &ctx_s, &ssl_c, &ssl_s,
+            wolfDTLSv1_2_client_method, wolfDTLSv1_2_server_method), 0);
+
+    /* start handshake, send first ClientHelloDone */
+    ExpectIntEQ(wolfSSL_connect(ssl_c), -1);
+    ExpectIntEQ(wolfSSL_get_error(ssl_c, -1), WOLFSSL_ERROR_WANT_READ);
+
+    /* clearing server buffer to inject the wrong Finished packet */
+    test_memio_clear_buffer(&test_ctx, 1);
+    ExpectIntEQ(test_memio_inject_message(&test_ctx, 1,
+            (const char*)bogus_finished, sizeof(bogus_finished)), 0);
+
+    /* continue client handshake to process it */
+    ExpectIntEQ(wolfSSL_connect(ssl_c), -1);
+
+    /* client should terminate with dtls sequence error */
+    error = wolfSSL_get_error(ssl_c, -1);
+
+    /* check if the error is SEQUENCE_ERROR, handshake should not
+     * expect a finished packet in that moment, in particular should not
+     * be in epoch = 0 (should be epoch = 1) */
+    ExpectTrue(error == WC_NO_ERR_TRACE(SEQUENCE_ERROR) ||
+               error == WC_NO_ERR_TRACE(WOLFSSL_ERROR_WANT_READ));
+
+    /* forcing injection ServerHelloDone to test if client would replay
+     * ClientHello */
+    test_memio_clear_buffer(&test_ctx, 0);
+    ExpectIntEQ(test_memio_inject_message(&test_ctx, 1,
+            (const char*)server_hello_done_message, sizeof(server_hello_done_message)), 0);
+    wolfSSL_connect(ssl_c);
+
+    /* verifying no ClientHello replay occurred,
+     * buffer should empty since we exit early on
+     * because of the bogus finished packet */
+    ExpectIntLE(test_ctx.s_len, 0);
+
+    wolfSSL_free(ssl_c);
+    wolfSSL_CTX_free(ctx_c);
+    wolfSSL_free(ssl_s);
+    wolfSSL_CTX_free(ctx_s);
+#endif
+    return EXPECT_RESULT();
+}
+
 int test_dtls_replay(void)
 {
     EXPECT_DECLS;
diff --git a/tests/api/test_dtls.h b/tests/api/test_dtls.h
index 9c717826a1e..fe159a73d9a 100644
--- a/tests/api/test_dtls.h
+++ b/tests/api/test_dtls.h
@@ -38,5 +38,6 @@ int test_records_span_network_boundaries(void);
 int test_dtls_record_cross_boundaries(void);
 int test_dtls_rtx_across_epoch_change(void);
 int test_dtls_drop_client_ack(void);
+int test_dtls_bogus_finished_epoch_zero(void);
 int test_dtls_replay(void);
 #endif /* TESTS_API_DTLS_H */