diff --git a/multihash/multihash.py b/multihash/multihash.py
index 4472b42..a6ec3b6 100644
--- a/multihash/multihash.py
+++ b/multihash/multihash.py
@@ -593,6 +593,11 @@ def _do_digest(data, func, length: int | None = None):
             raise TruncationError(f"truncation length must be non-negative, got {length}")
         if length == 0:
             raise TruncationError("truncation length cannot be zero")
+        if func == Func.identity and length != len(digest_bytes):
+            raise TruncationError(
+                f"the length of the identity hash ({length}) must be equal "
+                f"to the length of the data ({len(digest_bytes)})"
+            )
         if length > len(digest_bytes):
             raise TruncationError(f"truncation length {length} exceeds digest size {len(digest_bytes)}")
         digest_bytes = digest_bytes[:length]
@@ -935,6 +940,11 @@ def sum_stream(
             raise TruncationError(f"truncation length must be non-negative, got {length}")
         if length == 0:
             raise TruncationError("truncation length cannot be zero")
+        if func == Func.identity and length != len(digest_bytes):
+            raise TruncationError(
+                f"the length of the identity hash ({length}) must be equal "
+                f"to the length of the data ({len(digest_bytes)})"
+            )
         if length > len(digest_bytes):
             raise TruncationError(f"truncation length {length} exceeds digest size {len(digest_bytes)}")
         digest_bytes = digest_bytes[:length]
diff --git a/newsfragments/50.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/50.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3a60fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/50.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Reject identity multihashes when a truncation ``length`` is provided that does not equal the input data length, matching go-multihash behavior.
diff --git a/tests/test_new_features.py b/tests/test_new_features.py
index caba95c..7ed8cfd 100644
--- a/tests/test_new_features.py
+++ b/tests/test_new_features.py
@@ -151,6 +151,19 @@ def test_verify_with_truncated_digest(self):
         assert mh.verify(b"hello") is True
         assert mh.verify(b"world") is False
 
+    def test_identity_hash_length_must_match(self):
+        """Identity hash length must equal data length when length is set."""
+        mh = sum(b"hello", Func.identity, length=5)
+        assert mh.digest == b"hello"
+
+        with pytest.raises(TruncationError, match="identity hash"):
+            sum(b"hello", Func.identity, length=3)
+
+    def test_identity_hash_length_must_match_sum_stream(self):
+        """sum_stream rejects mismatched identity truncation length."""
+        with pytest.raises(TruncationError, match="identity hash"):
+            sum_stream(BytesIO(b"hello"), Func.identity, length=3)
+
 
 class TestShakeFunctionsTestCase:
     """Tests for SHAKE variable-length hash functions."""