diff --git a/shared/sszutil/deep_equal.go b/shared/sszutil/deep_equal.go
index 9d37e26eba47..2bcf45e19eef 100644
--- a/shared/sszutil/deep_equal.go
+++ b/shared/sszutil/deep_equal.go
@@ -109,7 +109,13 @@ func deepValueEqual(v1, v2 reflect.Value, visited map[visit]bool, depth int) boo
 		return deepValueEqual(v1.Elem(), v2.Elem(), visited, depth+1)
 	case reflect.Struct:
 		for i, n := 0, v1.NumField(); i < n; i++ {
-			if !deepValueEqual(v1.Field(i), v2.Field(i), visited, depth+1) {
+			v1Field := v1.Field(i)
+			v2Field := v2.Field(i)
+			if !v1Field.CanInterface() || !v2Field.CanInterface() {
+				// Continue for unexported fields, since they cannot be read anyways.
+				continue
+			}
+			if !deepValueEqual(v1Field, v2Field, visited, depth+1) {
 				return false
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/shared/sszutil/deep_equal_test.go b/shared/sszutil/deep_equal_test.go
index 49e1dd2ac9cc..6551c83fc7a5 100644
--- a/shared/sszutil/deep_equal_test.go
+++ b/shared/sszutil/deep_equal_test.go
@@ -44,6 +44,19 @@ func TestDeepEqualStructs(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, false, sszutil.DeepEqual(store1, store3))
 }
 
+func TestDeepEqualStructs_Unexported(t *testing.T) {
+	type Store struct {
+		V1       uint64
+		V2       []byte
+		ignoreMe string
+	}
+	store1 := Store{uint64(1234), nil, "hi there"}
+	store2 := Store{uint64(1234), []byte{}, "oh hey"}
+	store3 := Store{uint64(4321), []byte{}, "wow"}
+	assert.Equal(t, true, sszutil.DeepEqual(store1, store2))
+	assert.Equal(t, false, sszutil.DeepEqual(store1, store3))
+}
+
 func TestDeepEqualProto(t *testing.T) {
 	var fork1, fork2 pb.Fork
 	assert.Equal(t, true, sszutil.DeepEqual(fork1, fork2))