diff --git a/src/pyrecest/distributions/abstract_manifold_specific_distribution.py b/src/pyrecest/distributions/abstract_manifold_specific_distribution.py
index 4efc8e3d4..02622ea22 100644
--- a/src/pyrecest/distributions/abstract_manifold_specific_distribution.py
+++ b/src/pyrecest/distributions/abstract_manifold_specific_distribution.py
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ class AbstractManifoldSpecificDistribution(ABC):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, dim: int):
-        self._dim = dim
+        self.dim = dim
 
     @abstractmethod
     def get_manifold_size(self) -> float:
diff --git a/tests/distributions/test_manifold_constructor_dimension_validation.py b/tests/distributions/test_manifold_constructor_dimension_validation.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1f7c053c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/distributions/test_manifold_constructor_dimension_validation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import unittest
+
+from pyrecest.distributions.hypertorus.custom_hypertoroidal_distribution import (
+    CustomHypertoroidalDistribution,
+)
+
+
+class TestManifoldConstructorDimensionValidation(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_custom_hypertoroidal_rejects_nonpositive_dimensions(self):
+        for dim in (0, -1):
+            with self.subTest(dim=dim), self.assertRaisesRegex(
+                ValueError, "dim must be a positive integer"
+            ):
+                CustomHypertoroidalDistribution(lambda _xs: 1.0, dim)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()