diff --git a/src/main/java/com/urbancode/terraform/tasks/aws/helpers/SshHelper.java b/src/main/java/com/urbancode/terraform/tasks/aws/helpers/SshHelper.java
index 903410d..ad0cf5f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/urbancode/terraform/tasks/aws/helpers/SshHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/urbancode/terraform/tasks/aws/helpers/SshHelper.java
@@ -146,6 +146,9 @@ static public InputStreamReader reader(InputStream in) {
     //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     static public boolean isPortActive(String host, int port) {
         Socket s = null;
+        if (port < 0 || port > 65535) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Port value passed is outside the specified range of valid port values");
+        }
         try {
             s = new Socket();
             s.setReuseAddress(true);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/urbancode/terraform/tasks/helpers/SshHelperTest.java b/src/test/java/org/urbancode/terraform/tasks/helpers/SshHelperTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d56f11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/urbancode/terraform/tasks/helpers/SshHelperTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package org.urbancode.terraform.tasks.helpers;
+
+import java.net.URL;
+
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import com.urbancode.terraform.tasks.aws.helpers.SshHelper;
+
+public class SshHelperTest {
+
+    @Test(expected=IllegalArgumentException.class)
+    public void isPortActiveTest() {
+        SshHelper.isPortActive("127.0.0.1", 65536);
+    }
+
+}