diff --git a/core/src/pow/types.rs b/core/src/pow/types.rs
index d23f2b704a..cee2a4af24 100644
--- a/core/src/pow/types.rs
+++ b/core/src/pow/types.rs
@@ -391,21 +391,39 @@ impl Proof {
 	}
 }
 
-#[inline(always)]
+fn extract_bits(bits: &Vec<u8>, bit_start: usize, bit_count: usize, read_from: usize) -> u64 {
+	let mut buf: [u8; 8] = [0; 8];
+	buf.copy_from_slice(&bits[read_from..read_from + 8]);
+	if bit_count == 64 {
+		return u64::from_le_bytes(buf);
+	}
+	let skip_bits = bit_start - read_from * 8;
+	let bit_mask = (1 << bit_count) - 1;
+	u64::from_le_bytes(buf) >> skip_bits & bit_mask
+}
+
 fn read_number(bits: &Vec<u8>, bit_start: usize, bit_count: usize) -> u64 {
 	if bit_count == 0 {
 		return 0;
 	}
-	let mut buf: [u8; 8] = [0; 8];
-	let mut byte_start = bit_start / 8;
-	if byte_start + 8 > bits.len() {
-		byte_start = bits.len() - 8;
-	}
-	buf.copy_from_slice(&bits[byte_start..byte_start + 8]);
-	buf.reverse();
-	let mut nonce = u64::from_be_bytes(buf);
-	nonce = nonce << 64 - (bit_start - byte_start * 8) - bit_count;
-	nonce >> 64 - bit_count
+	// find where the first byte to read starts
+	let mut read_from = bit_start / 8;
+	// move back if we are too close to the end of bits
+	if read_from + 8 > bits.len() {
+		read_from = bits.len() - 8;
+	}
+	// calculate max bit we can read up to (+64 bits from the start)
+	let max_bit_end = (read_from + 8) * 8;
+	// calculate max bit we want to read
+	let max_pos = bit_start + bit_count;
+	// check if we can read it all at once
+	if max_pos <= max_bit_end {
+		extract_bits(bits, bit_start, bit_count, read_from)
+	} else {
+		let low = extract_bits(bits, bit_start, 8, read_from);
+		let high = extract_bits(bits, bit_start + 8, bit_count - 8, read_from + 1);
+		(high << 8) + low
+	}
 }
 
 impl Readable for Proof {
@@ -420,6 +438,9 @@ impl Readable for Proof {
 		let nonce_bits = edge_bits as usize;
 		let bits_len = nonce_bits * global::proofsize();
 		let bytes_len = BitVec::bytes_len(bits_len);
+		if bytes_len < 8 {
+			return Err(ser::Error::CorruptedData);
+		}
 		let bits = reader.read_fixed_bytes(bytes_len)?;
 
 		for n in 0..global::proofsize() {
@@ -478,3 +499,47 @@ impl BitVec {
 		self.bits[pos / 8] |= 1 << (pos % 8) as u8;
 	}
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+	use super::*;
+	use crate::ser::{BinReader, BinWriter, ProtocolVersion};
+	use rand::Rng;
+	use std::io::Cursor;
+
+	#[test]
+	fn test_proof_rw() {
+		for edge_bits in 10..64 {
+			let mut proof = Proof::new(gen_proof(edge_bits as u32));
+			proof.edge_bits = edge_bits;
+			let mut buf = Cursor::new(Vec::new());
+			let mut w = BinWriter::new(&mut buf, ProtocolVersion::local());
+			if let Err(e) = proof.write(&mut w) {
+				panic!("failed to write proof {:?}", e);
+			}
+			buf.set_position(0);
+			let mut r = BinReader::new(&mut buf, ProtocolVersion::local());
+			match Proof::read(&mut r) {
+				Err(e) => panic!("failed to read proof: {:?}", e),
+				Ok(p) => assert_eq!(p, proof),
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	fn gen_proof(bits: u32) -> Vec<u64> {
+		let mut rng = rand::thread_rng();
+		let mut v = Vec::with_capacity(42);
+		for _ in 0..42 {
+			v.push(rng.gen_range(
+				u64::pow(2, bits - 1),
+				if bits == 64 {
+					std::u64::MAX
+				} else {
+					u64::pow(2, bits)
+				},
+			))
+		}
+		v
+	}
+
+}