diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a3bbbe5..ff2e610 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -702,7 +702,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
  "ring 0.17.8",
  "rustls-pki-types",
- "rustls-webpki 0.102.6",
+ "rustls-webpki 0.102.7",
  "subtle",
  "zeroize",
 ]
@@ -734,9 +734,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rustls-webpki"
-version = "0.102.6"
+version = "0.102.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8e6b52d4fda176fd835fdc55a835d4a89b8499cad995885a21149d5ad62f852e"
+checksum = "84678086bd54edf2b415183ed7a94d0efb049f1b646a33e22a36f3794be6ae56"
 dependencies = [
  "ring 0.17.8",
  "rustls-pki-types",
@@ -887,6 +887,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "hickory-client",
  "mime",
  "num_enum",
+ "rustls-webpki 0.102.7",
  "sha2",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-rustls 0.26.0",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2fefd57..e7b3546 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ tokio-rustls = { version = "0.26.0", default-features = false, features = ["ring
 dashmap = { version = "6.0.1", optional = true }
 hickory-client = { version = "0.24.1", optional = true }
 async-trait = "0.1.81"
+rustls-webpki = "0.102.7"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tokio = { version = "1.39.2", features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread"] }
diff --git a/src/certs/verifier.rs b/src/certs/verifier.rs
index 23c3eff..d1d180b 100644
--- a/src/certs/verifier.rs
+++ b/src/certs/verifier.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-//! Custom verifier for Rustls accepting any TLS cert
-//! (usually called "insecure mode")
+//! Custom verifier for Rustls allowing self-signed certs
+//! but performing other required checks;
+//! mostly for internal use
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -9,6 +10,8 @@ use tokio_rustls::rustls::{
     crypto::CryptoProvider,
 };
 
+use webpki::EndEntityCert;
+
 /// Custom verifier for Rustls accepting any TLS certificate
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct InternalCertVerifier(Arc<CryptoProvider>);
@@ -39,15 +42,42 @@ impl From<Arc<CryptoProvider>> for InternalCertVerifier {
 }
 
 impl ServerCertVerifier for InternalCertVerifier {
-    #[inline]
     fn verify_server_cert(
         &self,
-        _end_entity: &rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer<'_>,
+        end_entity: &rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer<'_>,
         _intermediates: &[rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer<'_>],
-        _server_name: &rustls::pki_types::ServerName<'_>,
+        server_name: &rustls::pki_types::ServerName<'_>,
         _ocsp_response: &[u8],
-        _now: rustls::pki_types::UnixTime,
+        now: rustls::pki_types::UnixTime,
     ) -> Result<ServerCertVerified, rustls::Error> {
+        let cert = EndEntityCert::try_from(end_entity).map_err(pki_error)?;
+
+        match cert.verify_for_usage(
+            self.0.signature_verification_algorithms.all,
+            &[], // no trusted anchors (i.e. CAs)
+            &[], // i think there's no point in passing intermediates without CAs
+            now, // `now` as the time for expiration check
+            webpki::KeyUsage::server_auth(),
+            None, // no CRLs
+            None, // no verify_path callback
+        ) {
+            Ok(_) => Ok(()), // unreachable
+            Err(webpki::Error::UnknownIssuer) => {
+                // trust anchors verification is done after
+                // any other issuer-independent checks (including expiration),
+                // so this error can be safely ignored as
+                // we are working with self-signed certificates.
+                // for reference -- fn webpki::verify_cert::build_chain_inner
+                // (NOTE: should be re-checked on every rustls update)
+                Ok(())
+            }
+            Err(e) => Err(e),
+        }
+        .map_err(pki_error)?;
+
+        cert.verify_is_valid_for_subject_name(server_name)
+            .map_err(pki_error)?;
+
         Ok(ServerCertVerified::assertion())
     }
 
@@ -86,3 +116,24 @@ impl ServerCertVerifier for InternalCertVerifier {
         self.0.signature_verification_algorithms.supported_schemes()
     }
 }
+
+pub fn pki_error(e: webpki::Error) -> rustls::CertificateError {
+    // partially copied from private fn rustls::webpki::pki_error(e)
+    use rustls::{CertificateError, OtherError};
+    use webpki::Error::*;
+    match e {
+        BadDer | BadDerTime | TrailingData(_) => CertificateError::BadEncoding,
+        CertNotValidYet => CertificateError::NotValidYet,
+        CertExpired | InvalidCertValidity => CertificateError::Expired,
+        UnknownIssuer => CertificateError::UnknownIssuer,
+        CertNotValidForName => CertificateError::NotValidForName,
+        CertRevoked => CertificateError::Revoked,
+        UnknownRevocationStatus => CertificateError::UnknownRevocationStatus,
+
+        InvalidSignatureForPublicKey
+        | UnsupportedSignatureAlgorithm
+        | UnsupportedSignatureAlgorithmForPublicKey => CertificateError::BadSignature,
+
+        _ => CertificateError::Other(OtherError(Arc::new(e))),
+    }
+}