diff --git a/lib/encoding/bufferreader.js b/lib/encoding/bufferreader.js
index 31e3424a7..6ed609a50 100644
--- a/lib/encoding/bufferreader.js
+++ b/lib/encoding/bufferreader.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var _ = require('lodash');
+var $ = require('../util/preconditions');
 var bufferUtil = require('../util/buffer');
 var BN = require('../crypto/bn');
 
@@ -28,11 +29,7 @@ BufferReader.prototype.eof = function() {
 };
 
 BufferReader.prototype.read = function(len) {
-  if (_.isUndefined(len)) {
-    len = this.buf.length;
-    console.error('No length provided');
-    console.trace();
-  }
+  $.checkArgument(!_.isUndefined(len), 'Must specify a length');
   var buf = this.buf.slice(this.pos, this.pos + len);
   this.pos = this.pos + len;
   return buf;
diff --git a/test/encoding/bufferreader.js b/test/encoding/bufferreader.js
index 8372c376e..ffc8600d3 100644
--- a/test/encoding/bufferreader.js
+++ b/test/encoding/bufferreader.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ describe('BufferReader', function() {
     it('should return the same buffer', function() {
       var buf = new Buffer([0]);
       var br = new BufferReader({buf: buf});
-      br.read().toString('hex').should.equal(buf.toString('hex'));
+      br.readAll().toString('hex').should.equal(buf.toString('hex'));
     });
 
     it('should return a buffer of this length', function() {
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ describe('BufferReader', function() {
     it('should reverse this [0, 1]', function() {
       var buf = new Buffer([0, 1]);
       var br = new BufferReader({buf: buf});
-      br.reverse().read().toString('hex').should.equal('0100');
+      br.reverse().readAll().toString('hex').should.equal('0100');
     });
 
   });