diff --git a/docs/src/developing/runtime-facilities/programs.md b/docs/src/developing/runtime-facilities/programs.md
index 5dd1722001..17a9d1205b 100644
--- a/docs/src/developing/runtime-facilities/programs.md
+++ b/docs/src/developing/runtime-facilities/programs.md
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ Verify ed25519 signature program. This program takes an ed25519 signature, publi
 Multiple signatures can be verified. If any of the signatures fail to verify, an error is returned.
 
 - Program id: `Ed25519SigVerify111111111111111111111111111`
-- Instructions: [new_ed25519_instruction](https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/blob/master/sdk/src/ed25519_instruction.rs#L31)
+- Instructions: [new_ed25519_instruction](https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/blob/master/sdk/src/ed25519_instruction.rs#L45)
 
 The ed25519 program processes an instruction. The first `u8` is a count of the number of
 signatures to check, which is followed by a single byte padding. After that, the
@@ -96,9 +96,12 @@ process_instruction() {
     for i in 0..count {
         // i'th index values referenced:
         instructions = &transaction.message().instructions
-        signature = instructions[ed25519_signature_instruction_index].data[ed25519_signature_offset..ed25519_signature_offset + 64]
-        pubkey = instructions[ed25519_pubkey_instruction_index].data[ed25519_pubkey_offset..ed25519_pubkey_offset + 32]
-        message = instructions[ed25519_message_instruction_index].data[ed25519_message_data_offset..ed25519_message_data_offset + ed25519_message_data_size]
+        instruction_index = ed25519_signature_instruction_index != u16::MAX ? ed25519_signature_instruction_index : current_instruction;
+        signature = instructions[instruction_index].data[ed25519_signature_offset..ed25519_signature_offset + 64]
+        instruction_index = ed25519_pubkey_instruction_index != u16::MAX ? ed25519_pubkey_instruction_index : current_instruction;
+        pubkey = instructions[instruction_index].data[ed25519_pubkey_offset..ed25519_pubkey_offset + 32]
+        instruction_index = ed25519_message_instruction_index != u16::MAX ? ed25519_message_instruction_index : current_instruction;
+        message = instructions[instruction_index].data[ed25519_message_data_offset..ed25519_message_data_offset + ed25519_message_data_size]
         if pubkey.verify(signature, message) != Success {
             return Error
         }
diff --git a/sdk/src/ed25519_instruction.rs b/sdk/src/ed25519_instruction.rs
index 052d4617b9..6d52fbf369 100644
--- a/sdk/src/ed25519_instruction.rs
+++ b/sdk/src/ed25519_instruction.rs
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@ pub fn new_ed25519_instruction(keypair: &ed25519_dalek::Keypair, message: &[u8])
 
     let offsets = Ed25519SignatureOffsets {
         signature_offset: signature_offset as u16,
-        signature_instruction_index: 0,
+        signature_instruction_index: u16::MAX,
         public_key_offset: public_key_offset as u16,
-        public_key_instruction_index: 0,
+        public_key_instruction_index: u16::MAX,
         message_data_offset: message_data_offset as u16,
         message_data_size: message.len() as u16,
-        message_instruction_index: 0,
+        message_instruction_index: u16::MAX,
     };
 
     instruction_data.extend_from_slice(bytes_of(&offsets));
@@ -106,23 +106,20 @@ pub fn verify(
             .map_err(|_| PrecompileError::InvalidDataOffsets)?;
 
         // Parse out signature
-        let signature_index = offsets.signature_instruction_index as usize;
-        if signature_index >= instruction_datas.len() {
-            return Err(PrecompileError::InvalidDataOffsets);
-        }
-        let signature_instruction = instruction_datas[signature_index];
-        let sig_start = offsets.signature_offset as usize;
-        let sig_end = sig_start.saturating_add(SIGNATURE_SERIALIZED_SIZE);
-        if sig_end >= signature_instruction.len() {
-            return Err(PrecompileError::InvalidDataOffsets);
-        }
+        let signature = get_data_slice(
+            data,
+            instruction_datas,
+            offsets.signature_instruction_index,
+            offsets.signature_offset,
+            SIGNATURE_SERIALIZED_SIZE,
+        )?;
 
-        let signature =
-            ed25519_dalek::Signature::from_bytes(&signature_instruction[sig_start..sig_end])
-                .map_err(|_| PrecompileError::InvalidSignature)?;
+        let signature = ed25519_dalek::Signature::from_bytes(signature)
+            .map_err(|_| PrecompileError::InvalidSignature)?;
 
         // Parse out pubkey
         let pubkey = get_data_slice(
+            data,
             instruction_datas,
             offsets.public_key_instruction_index,
             offsets.public_key_offset,
@@ -134,6 +131,7 @@ pub fn verify(
 
         // Parse out message
         let message = get_data_slice(
+            data,
             instruction_datas,
             offsets.message_instruction_index,
             offsets.message_data_offset,
@@ -148,23 +146,29 @@ pub fn verify(
 }
 
 fn get_data_slice<'a>(
+    data: &'a [u8],
     instruction_datas: &'a [&[u8]],
     instruction_index: u16,
     offset_start: u16,
     size: usize,
 ) -> Result<&'a [u8], PrecompileError> {
-    let signature_index = instruction_index as usize;
-    if signature_index >= instruction_datas.len() {
-        return Err(PrecompileError::InvalidDataOffsets);
-    }
-    let signature_instruction = &instruction_datas[signature_index];
+    let instruction = if instruction_index == u16::MAX {
+        data
+    } else {
+        let signature_index = instruction_index as usize;
+        if signature_index >= instruction_datas.len() {
+            return Err(PrecompileError::InvalidDataOffsets);
+        }
+        &instruction_datas[signature_index]
+    };
+
     let start = offset_start as usize;
     let end = start.saturating_add(size);
-    if end > signature_instruction.len() {
+    if end > instruction.len() {
         return Err(PrecompileError::InvalidDataOffsets);
     }
 
-    Ok(&instruction_datas[signature_index][start..end])
+    Ok(&instruction[start..end])
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]