diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/google/bitcoin/core/Peer.java b/core/src/main/java/com/google/bitcoin/core/Peer.java
index b2687ae5e..184a87be8 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/google/bitcoin/core/Peer.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/google/bitcoin/core/Peer.java
@@ -237,10 +237,17 @@ public class Peer {
     }
 
     private void processAlert(AlertMessage m) {
-        if (m.isSignatureValid()) {
-            log.info("Received alert from peer {}: {}", toString(), m.getStatusBar());
-        } else {
-            log.warn("Received alert with invalid signature from peer {}: {}", toString(), m.getStatusBar());
+        try {
+            if (m.isSignatureValid()) {
+                log.info("Received alert from peer {}: {}", toString(), m.getStatusBar());
+            } else {
+                log.warn("Received alert with invalid signature from peer {}: {}", toString(), m.getStatusBar());
+            }
+        } catch (Throwable t) {
+            // Signature checking can FAIL on Android platforms before Gingerbread apparently due to bugs in their
+            // BigInteger implementations! See issue 160 for discussion. As alerts are just optional and not that
+            // useful, we just swallow the error here.
+            log.error("Failed to check signature: bug in platform libraries?", t);
         }
     }