diff --git a/neo/Consensus/ConsensusContext.cs b/neo/Consensus/ConsensusContext.cs
index 5c3c9da85c..83ba7354d5 100644
--- a/neo/Consensus/ConsensusContext.cs
+++ b/neo/Consensus/ConsensusContext.cs
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public void Deserialize(BinaryReader reader)
             TransactionHashes = reader.ReadSerializableArray<UInt256>();
             if (TransactionHashes.Length == 0)
                 TransactionHashes = null;
-            Transaction[] transactions = new Transaction[reader.ReadVarInt()];
+            Transaction[] transactions = new Transaction[reader.ReadVarInt(Block.MaxTransactionsPerBlock)];
             if (transactions.Length == 0)
             {
                 Transactions = null;
@@ -90,16 +90,16 @@ public void Deserialize(BinaryReader reader)
                     transactions[i] = Transaction.DeserializeFrom(reader);
                 Transactions = transactions.ToDictionary(p => p.Hash);
             }
-            PreparationPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt()];
+            PreparationPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt(Blockchain.MaxValidators)];
             for (int i = 0; i < PreparationPayloads.Length; i++)
                 PreparationPayloads[i] = reader.ReadBoolean() ? reader.ReadSerializable<ConsensusPayload>() : null;
-            CommitPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt()];
+            CommitPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt(Blockchain.MaxValidators)];
             for (int i = 0; i < CommitPayloads.Length; i++)
                 CommitPayloads[i] = reader.ReadBoolean() ? reader.ReadSerializable<ConsensusPayload>() : null;
-            ChangeViewPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt()];
+            ChangeViewPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt(Blockchain.MaxValidators)];
             for (int i = 0; i < ChangeViewPayloads.Length; i++)
                 ChangeViewPayloads[i] = reader.ReadBoolean() ? reader.ReadSerializable<ConsensusPayload>() : null;
-            LastChangeViewPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt()];
+            LastChangeViewPayloads = new ConsensusPayload[reader.ReadVarInt(Blockchain.MaxValidators)];
             for (int i = 0; i < LastChangeViewPayloads.Length; i++)
                 LastChangeViewPayloads[i] = reader.ReadBoolean() ? reader.ReadSerializable<ConsensusPayload>() : null;
         }
diff --git a/neo/Consensus/Helper.cs b/neo/Consensus/Helper.cs
index 363a3e1f90..4c7faeddea 100644
--- a/neo/Consensus/Helper.cs
+++ b/neo/Consensus/Helper.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ public static void Save(this IConsensusContext context, Store store)
         public static bool Load(this IConsensusContext context, Store store)
         {
             byte[] data = store.Get(CN_Context, new byte[0]);
-            if (data is null) return false;
+
+            if (data is null || data.Length == 0) return false;
+
             using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(data, false))
             using (BinaryReader reader = new BinaryReader(ms))
             {