diff --git a/crates/spammer/src/cli.rs b/crates/spammer/src/cli.rs
index e55fa2a..635f53f 100644
--- a/crates/spammer/src/cli.rs
+++ b/crates/spammer/src/cli.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ use clap::Args;
 use crate::{
     accounts::PartitionMode,
     config::{Erc20FnWeights, GuzzlerFnWeights, TxTypeMix},
+    rate_limiter::MAX_TPS,
     Config,
 };
 
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@ pub struct SpammerArgs {
     #[clap(short = 'n', long, default_value_t = defaults::NUM_TXS, global = true)]
     pub num_txs: u64,
     /// Number of transactions to send per second (all generators combined)
-    #[clap(short = 'r', long, default_value_t = defaults::RATE, global = true, value_parser = clap::value_parser!(u64).range(1..))]
+    #[clap(short = 'r', long, default_value_t = defaults::RATE, global = true, value_parser = clap::value_parser!(u64).range(1..=MAX_TPS))]
     pub rate: u64,
     /// Maximum time in seconds to send transactions (applies to all generators) (0 for no limit)
     #[clap(short = 't', long, default_value_t = defaults::TIME, global = true)]
diff --git a/crates/spammer/src/config.rs b/crates/spammer/src/config.rs
index 1cab34b..13f1af1 100644
--- a/crates/spammer/src/config.rs
+++ b/crates/spammer/src/config.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
-use crate::accounts::PartitionMode;
+use crate::{accounts::PartitionMode, rate_limiter::MAX_TPS};
 use color_eyre::eyre::{self, Result};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::str::FromStr;
@@ -356,6 +356,12 @@ impl Config {
         if self.num_generators == 0 {
             eyre::bail!("num_generators must be greater than 0");
         }
+        if self.max_rate > MAX_TPS {
+            eyre::bail!(
+                "--rate ({}) exceeds the maximum supported rate ({MAX_TPS})",
+                self.max_rate
+            );
+        }
         if !self.max_num_accounts.is_multiple_of(self.num_generators) {
             eyre::bail!(
                 "Expected max_num_accounts ({}) to be divisible by num_generators ({})",
@@ -461,6 +467,28 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn config_accepts_max_supported_rate() {
+        Config {
+            max_rate: MAX_TPS,
+            ..default_config()
+        }
+        .validate()
+        .expect("maximum representable rate should be supported");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn config_rejects_rate_above_supported_max() {
+        let err = Config {
+            max_rate: MAX_TPS + 1,
+            ..default_config()
+        }
+        .validate()
+        .expect_err("oversized rate must be rejected");
+        assert!(err.to_string().contains("--rate"));
+        assert!(err.to_string().contains(&MAX_TPS.to_string()));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn tx_type_mix_parses_full_spec() {
         let mix = TxTypeMix::from_str("transfer=70,erc20=20,guzzler=10").expect("should parse");
diff --git a/crates/spammer/src/main.rs b/crates/spammer/src/main.rs
index 64bc3ae..452311e 100644
--- a/crates/spammer/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/spammer/src/main.rs
@@ -476,6 +476,20 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(cli.args.rate, 42);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn cli_rejects_rate_above_supported_max() {
+        let max_rate = 1_000_000_000_u64.to_string();
+        Cli::try_parse_from(["spammer", "--rate", max_rate.as_str(), "ws"])
+            .expect("maximum representable rate should be accepted");
+
+        let oversized_rate = 1_000_000_001_u64.to_string();
+        let err = match Cli::try_parse_from(["spammer", "--rate", oversized_rate.as_str(), "ws"]) {
+            Ok(_) => panic!("rate above the supported maximum must be rejected"),
+            Err(err) => err,
+        };
+        assert_eq!(err.kind(), ErrorKind::ValueValidation);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn cli_parses_fire_and_forget_flag() {
         // Default: fire_and_forget is false (backpressure is the default)
diff --git a/crates/spammer/src/rate_limiter.rs b/crates/spammer/src/rate_limiter.rs
index 26e428e..e72ae9a 100644
--- a/crates/spammer/src/rate_limiter.rs
+++ b/crates/spammer/src/rate_limiter.rs
@@ -17,8 +17,13 @@
 use std::num::NonZeroU32;
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering};
 
+use color_eyre::eyre::{self, Result, WrapErr};
 use governor::{Jitter, Quota};
 
+/// Highest rate `governor` can represent without rounding its per-token
+/// replenish interval down to zero nanoseconds.
+pub(crate) const MAX_TPS: u64 = 1_000_000_000;
+
 /// Token-bucket rate limiter for transaction sending.
 ///
 /// Spaces sends evenly across each second using `governor` instead of
@@ -32,22 +37,28 @@ pub(crate) struct RateLimiter {
 }
 
 impl RateLimiter {
-    pub fn new(tps: u64, max_num_txs: u64, num_senders: usize) -> Self {
-        let tps_u32 = u32::try_from(tps).expect("TPS must fit in u32");
-        let tps_nz = NonZeroU32::new(tps_u32).expect("TPS must be > 0");
+    pub fn new(tps: u64, max_num_txs: u64, num_senders: usize) -> Result<Self> {
+        if tps > MAX_TPS {
+            eyre::bail!("rate {tps} exceeds the maximum supported rate {MAX_TPS}");
+        }
+        let tps_u32 = u32::try_from(tps)
+            .wrap_err_with(|| format!("rate {tps} exceeds the maximum supported rate {MAX_TPS}"))?;
+        let tps_nz =
+            NonZeroU32::new(tps_u32).ok_or_else(|| eyre::eyre!("rate must be greater than 0"))?;
         let burst = (tps / num_senders.max(1) as u64).max(1);
-        let burst_nz = NonZeroU32::new(u32::try_from(burst).expect("burst must fit in u32"))
-            .expect("burst must be > 0");
+        let burst_u32 = u32::try_from(burst).wrap_err("rate limiter burst must fit in u32")?;
+        let burst_nz = NonZeroU32::new(burst_u32)
+            .ok_or_else(|| eyre::eyre!("rate limiter burst must be greater than 0"))?;
         let quota = Quota::per_second(tps_nz).allow_burst(burst_nz);
         let limiter = governor::RateLimiter::direct(quota);
         // Uniformly random jitter up to half the interval
         let jitter = Jitter::up_to(quota.replenish_interval() / 2);
-        Self {
+        Ok(Self {
             limiter,
             jitter,
             max_num_txs,
             total_counter: AtomicU64::new(0),
-        }
+        })
     }
 
     /// Wait until the rate limiter permits the next send.
@@ -62,3 +73,23 @@ impl RateLimiter {
         prev < self.max_num_txs
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn new_accepts_max_supported_rate() {
+        assert!(RateLimiter::new(MAX_TPS, 1, 1).is_ok());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn new_rejects_rate_above_supported_max() {
+        let err = RateLimiter::new(MAX_TPS + 1, 1, 1)
+            .err()
+            .expect("oversized rate must be rejected");
+        assert!(err
+            .to_string()
+            .contains("exceeds the maximum supported rate"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/spammer/src/spammer.rs b/crates/spammer/src/spammer.rs
index d9f636d..c9d427e 100644
--- a/crates/spammer/src/spammer.rs
+++ b/crates/spammer/src/spammer.rs
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ impl Spammer {
             config.max_rate,
             config.max_num_txs,
             config.num_generators,
-        ));
+        )?);
 
         // Create transaction generators and senders
         let (tx_generators, tx_senders, tx_ack_receivers) = if config.fire_and_forget {
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ impl Spammer {
             config.max_rate,
             config.max_num_txs,
             num_generators,
-        ));
+        )?);
 
         let mut tx_generators = Vec::new();
         let mut tx_senders = Vec::new();