diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index 8546b3d7..62e51ab0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
             PYTHON: ${{ matrix.python }}
 
         steps:
-            - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+            - uses: actions/checkout@v4
             - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python }}
               uses: actions/setup-python@v4
               with:
diff --git a/src/spatialdata_io/readers/xenium.py b/src/spatialdata_io/readers/xenium.py
index ff036067..d9715b40 100644
--- a/src/spatialdata_io/readers/xenium.py
+++ b/src/spatialdata_io/readers/xenium.py
@@ -248,21 +248,33 @@ def xenium(
                     table.uns[TableModel.ATTRS_KEY][TableModel.INSTANCE_KEY] = "cell_labels"
 
     if nucleus_boundaries:
+        invalid_nuc_ids = _find_invalid_ids(path, XeniumKeys.NUCLEUS_BOUNDARIES_FILE)
+        if len(invalid_nuc_ids) > 0:
+            logging.warning(
+                f"Found {len(invalid_nuc_ids)} invalid polygons for nuclei, removing the masks corresponding to the IDs: {invalid_nuc_ids}"
+            )
         polygons["nucleus_boundaries"] = _get_polygons(
             path,
             XeniumKeys.NUCLEUS_BOUNDARIES_FILE,
             specs,
             n_jobs,
             idx=table.obs[str(XeniumKeys.CELL_ID)].copy(),
+            invalid_ids=invalid_nuc_ids,
         )
 
     if cells_boundaries:
+        invalid_cell_ids = _find_invalid_ids(path, XeniumKeys.CELL_BOUNDARIES_FILE)
+        if len(invalid_cell_ids) > 0:
+            logging.warning(
+                f"Found {len(invalid_cell_ids)} invalid polygons for cells, removing the masks corresponding to the IDs: {invalid_cell_ids}"
+            )
         polygons["cell_boundaries"] = _get_polygons(
             path,
             XeniumKeys.CELL_BOUNDARIES_FILE,
             specs,
             n_jobs,
             idx=table.obs[str(XeniumKeys.CELL_ID)].copy(),
+            invalid_ids=invalid_cell_ids,
         )
 
     if transcripts:
@@ -338,7 +350,9 @@ def filter(self, record: logging.LogRecord) -> bool:
             logger.removeFilter(IgnoreSpecificMessage())
 
     if table is not None:
-        tables["table"] = table
+        valid_nucleus_mask = ~table.obs[XeniumKeys.CELL_ID].isin(invalid_nuc_ids)
+        valid_cell_mask = ~table.obs[XeniumKeys.CELL_ID].isin(invalid_cell_ids)
+        tables["table"] = table[valid_nucleus_mask & valid_cell_mask].copy()
 
     elements_dict = {"images": images, "labels": labels, "points": points, "tables": tables, "shapes": polygons}
     if cells_as_circles:
@@ -354,6 +368,16 @@ def filter(self, record: logging.LogRecord) -> bool:
     return sdata
 
 
+def _find_invalid_ids(
+    path: Path,
+    file: str,
+) -> ArrayLike:
+    """Filter out cell ids with too few vertices to form a valid polygon."""
+    df = pq.read_table(path / file).to_pandas()
+    invalid_ids = df.groupby(XeniumKeys.CELL_ID).filter(lambda x: len(x) < 4)[XeniumKeys.CELL_ID].unique()
+    return [] if len(invalid_ids) == 0 else invalid_ids
+
+
 def _decode_cell_id_column(cell_id_column: pd.Series) -> pd.Series:
     if isinstance(cell_id_column.iloc[0], bytes):
         return cell_id_column.apply(lambda x: x.decode("utf-8"))
@@ -361,17 +385,37 @@ def _decode_cell_id_column(cell_id_column: pd.Series) -> pd.Series:
 
 
 def _get_polygons(
-    path: Path, file: str, specs: dict[str, Any], n_jobs: int, idx: ArrayLike | None = None
+    path: Path,
+    file: str,
+    specs: dict[str, Any],
+    n_jobs: int,
+    idx: ArrayLike | None = None,
+    invalid_ids: ArrayLike | None = None,
 ) -> GeoDataFrame:
     def _poly(arr: ArrayLike) -> Polygon:
         return Polygon(arr[:-1])
 
+    if invalid_ids is None:
+        invalid_ids = []
+
     # seems to be faster than pd.read_parquet
     df = pq.read_table(path / file).to_pandas()
+    df[XeniumKeys.CELL_ID] = _decode_cell_id_column(df[XeniumKeys.CELL_ID])
+
+    # Filter based on valid cell IDs if idx is provided
+    if idx is not None:
+        idx = idx[~idx.isin(invalid_ids)]
+        if len(invalid_ids) > 0:
+            idx = idx.reset_index(drop=True)
+        df = df[df[XeniumKeys.CELL_ID].isin(idx)]
+    else:
+        # If no idx provided, just (potentially) filter out invalid IDs
+        df = df[~df[XeniumKeys.CELL_ID].isin(invalid_ids)]
 
     group_by = df.groupby(XeniumKeys.CELL_ID)
     index = pd.Series(group_by.indices.keys())
     index = _decode_cell_id_column(index)
+
     out = Parallel(n_jobs=n_jobs)(
         delayed(_poly)(i.to_numpy())
         for _, i in group_by[[XeniumKeys.BOUNDARIES_VERTEX_X, XeniumKeys.BOUNDARIES_VERTEX_Y]]