diff --git a/core/state/statedb.go b/core/state/statedb.go
index 0afd7554dcee..6684f41cafee 100644
--- a/core/state/statedb.go
+++ b/core/state/statedb.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package state
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/big"
 	"sort"
@@ -270,9 +271,12 @@ func (self *StateDB) GetCodeSize(addr common.Address) int {
 	if stateObject.code != nil {
 		return len(stateObject.code)
 	}
+	if bytes.Equal(stateObject.CodeHash(), emptyCode[:]) {
+		return 0
+	}
 	size, err := self.db.ContractCodeSize(stateObject.addrHash, common.BytesToHash(stateObject.CodeHash()))
 	if err != nil {
-		self.setError(err)
+		self.setError(fmt.Errorf("GetCodeSize (%x) error: %v", addr[:], err))
 	}
 	return size
 }
@@ -419,14 +423,18 @@ func (self *StateDB) updateStateObject(stateObject *stateObject) {
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Errorf("can't encode object at %x: %v", addr[:], err))
 	}
-	self.setError(self.trie.TryUpdate(addr[:], data))
+	if err = self.trie.TryUpdate(addr[:], data); err != nil {
+		self.setError(fmt.Errorf("updateStateObject (%x) error: %v", addr[:], err))
+	}
 }
 
 // deleteStateObject removes the given object from the state trie.
 func (self *StateDB) deleteStateObject(stateObject *stateObject) {
 	stateObject.deleted = true
 	addr := stateObject.Address()
-	self.setError(self.trie.TryDelete(addr[:]))
+	if err := self.trie.TryDelete(addr[:]); err != nil {
+		self.setError(fmt.Errorf("deleteStateObject (%x) error: %v", addr[:], err))
+	}
 }
 
 // DeleteAddress removes the address from the state trie.
@@ -678,6 +686,10 @@ func (s *StateDB) clearJournalAndRefund() {
 
 // Commit writes the state to the underlying in-memory trie database.
 func (s *StateDB) Commit(deleteEmptyObjects bool) (root common.Hash, err error) {
+	if s.dbErr != nil {
+		return common.Hash{}, fmt.Errorf("commit aborted due to earlier error: %v", s.dbErr)
+	}
+
 	defer s.clearJournalAndRefund()
 
 	// Commit objects to the trie.
diff --git a/core/state/statedb_test.go b/core/state/statedb_test.go
index 15533ec5a086..c5642d5db35b 100644
--- a/core/state/statedb_test.go
+++ b/core/state/statedb_test.go
@@ -615,3 +615,51 @@ func TestStateDBAccessList(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected empty, got %d", got)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestMissingTrieNodes tests that if the statedb fails to load parts of the trie,
+// the Commit operation fails with an error
+// If we are missing trie nodes, we should not continue writing to the trie
+func TestMissingTrieNodes(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// Create an initial state with a few accounts
+	memDb := rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase()
+	db := NewDatabase(memDb)
+	var root common.Hash
+	state, _ := New(common.Hash{}, db)
+	addr := toAddr([]byte("so"))
+	{
+		state.SetBalance(addr, big.NewInt(1))
+		state.SetCode(addr, []byte{1, 2, 3})
+		a2 := toAddr([]byte("another"))
+		state.SetBalance(a2, big.NewInt(100))
+		state.SetCode(a2, []byte{1, 2, 4})
+		root, _ = state.Commit(false)
+		t.Logf("root: %x", root)
+		// force-flush
+		state.Database().TrieDB().Cap(0)
+	}
+	// Create a new state on the old root
+	state, _ = New(root, db)
+	//state, _ = New(root, db, nil)
+	// Now we clear out the memdb
+	it := memDb.NewIterator(nil, nil)
+	for it.Next() {
+		k := it.Key()
+		// Leave the root intact
+		if !bytes.Equal(k, root[:]) {
+			t.Logf("key: %x", k)
+			memDb.Delete(k)
+		}
+	}
+	balance := state.GetBalance(addr)
+	// The removed elem should lead to it returning zero balance
+	if exp, got := uint64(0), balance.Uint64(); got != exp {
+		t.Errorf("expected %d, got %d", exp, got)
+	}
+	// Modify the state
+	state.SetBalance(addr, big.NewInt(2))
+	root, err := state.Commit(false)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected error, got root :%x", root)
+	}
+}