diff --git a/core/src/blocktree.rs b/core/src/blocktree.rs
index 3f341e1826..3c24c675e9 100644
--- a/core/src/blocktree.rs
+++ b/core/src/blocktree.rs
@@ -462,6 +462,7 @@ impl Blocktree {
             .unwrap_or_else(|| ErasureMeta::new(set_index));
 
         erasure_meta.set_coding_present(index, true);
+        erasure_meta.set_size(bytes.len() - BLOB_HEADER_SIZE);
 
         let mut writebatch = self.db.batch()?;
 
@@ -1047,11 +1048,12 @@ impl Blocktree {
         let erasure_meta = self.erasure_meta_cf.get((slot, set_index))?.unwrap();
 
         let start_idx = erasure_meta.start_index();
+        let size = erasure_meta.size();
+
         let (data_end_idx, coding_end_idx) = erasure_meta.end_indexes();
 
         let present = &mut [true; ERASURE_SET_SIZE];
         let mut blobs = Vec::with_capacity(ERASURE_SET_SIZE);
-        let mut size = 0;
 
         for i in start_idx..coding_end_idx {
             if erasure_meta.is_coding_present(i) {
@@ -1062,10 +1064,6 @@ impl Blocktree {
 
                 blob_bytes.drain(..BLOB_HEADER_SIZE);
 
-                if size == 0 {
-                    size = blob_bytes.len();
-                }
-
                 blobs.push(blob_bytes);
             } else {
                 let set_relative_idx = (i - start_idx) as usize + NUM_DATA;
diff --git a/core/src/blocktree/meta.rs b/core/src/blocktree/meta.rs
index e90f5077e7..5a31ae984b 100644
--- a/core/src/blocktree/meta.rs
+++ b/core/src/blocktree/meta.rs
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ impl SlotMeta {
 pub struct ErasureMeta {
     /// Which erasure set in the slot this is
     pub set_index: u64,
+    /// Size of shards in this erasure set
+    pub size: usize,
     /// Bitfield representing presence/absence of data blobs
     pub data: u64,
     /// Bitfield representing presence/absence of coding blobs
@@ -80,6 +82,7 @@ impl ErasureMeta {
     pub fn new(set_index: u64) -> ErasureMeta {
         ErasureMeta {
             set_index,
+            size: 0,
             data: 0,
             coding: 0,
         }
@@ -91,6 +94,7 @@ impl ErasureMeta {
             NUM_CODING - self.coding.count_ones() as usize,
         );
         if data_missing > 0 && data_missing + coding_missing <= NUM_CODING {
+            assert!(self.size != 0);
             ErasureMetaStatus::CanRecover
         } else if data_missing == 0 {
             ErasureMetaStatus::DataFull
@@ -112,6 +116,14 @@ impl ErasureMeta {
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn set_size(&mut self, size: usize) {
+        self.size = size;
+    }
+
+    pub fn size(&self) -> usize {
+        self.size
+    }
+
     pub fn set_coding_present(&mut self, index: u64, present: bool) {
         let set_index = Self::set_index_for(index);
 
@@ -193,12 +205,7 @@ fn test_meta_indexes() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_meta_coding_present() {
-    let set_index = 0;
-    let mut e_meta = ErasureMeta {
-        set_index,
-        data: 0,
-        coding: 0,
-    };
+    let mut e_meta = ErasureMeta::default();
 
     for i in 0..NUM_CODING as u64 {
         e_meta.set_coding_present(i, true);
@@ -221,12 +228,7 @@ fn test_meta_coding_present() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_erasure_meta_status() {
-    let set_index = 0;
-    let mut e_meta = ErasureMeta {
-        set_index,
-        data: 0,
-        coding: 0,
-    };
+    let mut e_meta = ErasureMeta::default();
 
     assert_eq!(e_meta.status(), ErasureMetaStatus::StillNeed(NUM_DATA));
 
@@ -236,6 +238,7 @@ fn test_erasure_meta_status() {
     assert_eq!(e_meta.status(), ErasureMetaStatus::DataFull);
 
     e_meta.coding = 0x0e;
+    e_meta.size = 1;
     assert_eq!(e_meta.status(), ErasureMetaStatus::DataFull);
 
     e_meta.data = 0b0111_1111_1111_1111;
@@ -263,12 +266,7 @@ fn test_erasure_meta_status() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_meta_data_present() {
-    let set_index = 0;
-    let mut e_meta = ErasureMeta {
-        set_index,
-        data: 0,
-        coding: 0,
-    };
+    let mut e_meta = ErasureMeta::default();
 
     for i in 0..NUM_DATA as u64 {
         e_meta.set_data_present(i, true);