diff --git a/cmake/ExternalDependencies.cmake b/cmake/ExternalDependencies.cmake
index 272d224822..8294ed8bbe 100644
--- a/cmake/ExternalDependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/ExternalDependencies.cmake
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ if(BUILD_MQT_CORE_MLIR)
   FetchContent_Declare(
     jeff-mlir
     GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/unitaryfoundation/jeff-mlir.git
-    GIT_TAG 4732c4f12047e8cbf1890c79e90e30110e6588e2
+    GIT_TAG 316eab7fab26d80a38278c8bf2ac2d249bda81a1
     EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
   block()
   # Cap'n Proto, which is fetched transitively by jeff-mlir, uses the generic BUILD_TESTING option
diff --git a/mlir/unittests/Compiler/test_compiler_pipeline.cpp b/mlir/unittests/Compiler/test_compiler_pipeline.cpp
index 25c2a3454a..24673a0ae6 100644
--- a/mlir/unittests/Compiler/test_compiler_pipeline.cpp
+++ b/mlir/unittests/Compiler/test_compiler_pipeline.cpp
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@
 #include "qco_programs.h"
 #include "qir_programs.h"
 
+#include <capnp/message.h>
+#include <capnp/serialize.h>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
+#include <jeff.capnp.h>
 #include <jeff/IR/JeffDialect.h>
 #include <jeff/IR/JeffOps.h>
 #include <llvm/ADT/APFloat.h>
@@ -75,6 +78,7 @@
 #include <iterator>
 #include <memory>
 #include <optional>
+#include <span>
 #include <string>
 #include <utility>
 #include <variant>
@@ -87,6 +91,8 @@ using namespace mlir::qc;
 using namespace mlir::qco;
 using namespace mlir::qir;
 
+namespace jeff = mlir::jeff;
+
 using QCProgramBuilderFn = NamedMLIRBuilder<QCProgramBuilder>;
 using QIRProgramBuilderFn = NamedMLIRBuilder<QIRProgramBuilder>;
 
@@ -1481,6 +1487,14 @@ TEST_F(CompilerPipelineTest, JeffRejectsMutableClassicalHelperArguments) {
   EXPECT_FALSE(std::move(*qco).intoJeff());
 }
 
+TEST_F(CompilerPipelineTest, RejectsJeffModuleWithoutFunctions) {
+  capnp::MallocMessageBuilder message;
+  message.initRoot<::jeff::Module>().setVersionMinor(3);
+  auto words = capnp::messageToFlatArray(message);
+  EXPECT_FALSE(JeffProgram::fromBytes(
+      std::as_bytes(std::span(words.begin(), words.size()))));
+}
+
 // Test: jeff programs round-trip through their binary APIs.
 TEST_F(CompilerPipelineTest, JeffProgramsRoundTripThroughBytesAndFiles) {
   const std::string qasm = R"(OPENQASM 3.0;