diff --git a/scripts/cpictl b/scripts/cpictl
index 344b6d6f..475a80f4 100755
--- a/scripts/cpictl
+++ b/scripts/cpictl
@@ -246,6 +246,9 @@ get_system_level()
 	read -r k_ver k_patchlvl k_sublvl k_sublvl2 <<< "$(split_kver "$kver_str" 4)"
 
 	# Handle excessive sublevel numbers consistently
+	if [[ "$k_sublvl" -gt 255 ]] ; then
+		k_sublvl=0
+	fi
 	if [[ "$k_sublvl2" -gt 65535 ]] ; then
 		k_sublvl2=0
 	fi