diff --git a/lib/BlockExtractor.js b/lib/BlockExtractor.js
index e67c8f8c..a242a6f4 100644
--- a/lib/BlockExtractor.js
+++ b/lib/BlockExtractor.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ function BlockExtractor(dataDir, network) {
   self.dataDir = dataDir;
   self.files   = glob.sync(path);
   self.nfiles  = self.files.length;
+  self.errorCount =0;
 
   if (self.nfiles === 0)
     throw new Error('Could not find block files at: ' + path);
@@ -97,29 +98,40 @@ BlockExtractor.prototype.getNextBlock = function(cb) {
 
       async.whilst(
         function() {
-          return (!magic);
+          return (!magic || magic === '00000000');
         },
         function(w_cb) {
+          magic = null;
 
           self.readCurrentFileSync();
-
           if (self.currentFileIndex < 0) return cb();
 
+          var byte0 = self.currentParser ? self.currentParser.buffer(1).toString('hex') : null;
 
-          magic = self.currentParser ? self.currentParser.buffer(4).toString('hex')
-                      : null ;
+          if (byte0) {
+            // Grab 3 bytes from block without removing them
+            var p = self.currentParser.pos;
+            var bytes123 = self.currentParser.subject.toString('hex',p,p+3);
+            magic = byte0 + bytes123;
 
-          if (!self.currentParser || self.currentParser.eof() || magic === '00000000') {
-            magic = null;
-            if (self.nextFile()) {
+            if (magic !=='00000000' && magic !== self.magic) {
+
+              if (self.errorCount++ > 4) 
+                return cb(new Error('CRITICAL ERROR: Magic number mismatch: ' +
+                    magic + '!=' + self.magic));
+
+              magic=null;
+            }
+          } 
+
+          if (!self.currentParser || self.currentParser.eof() ) {
+            if (self.nextFile()) 
               console.log('Moving forward to file:' + self.currentFile() );
-              return w_cb();
-            }
-            else {
+            else 
               console.log('Finished all files');
-              magic = null;
-              return w_cb();
-            }
+
+            magic = null;
+            return w_cb();
           }
           else {
             return w_cb();
@@ -128,15 +140,8 @@ BlockExtractor.prototype.getNextBlock = function(cb) {
     },
     function (a_cb) {
       if (!magic) return a_cb();
-
-      if (magic !== self.magic) {
-        var e = new Error('CRITICAL ERROR: Magic number mismatch: ' +
-                  magic + '!=' + self.magic);
-        return a_cb(e);
-      }
-
-      // spacer?
-      self.currentParser.word32le();
+      // Remove 3 bytes from magic and spacer
+      self.currentParser.buffer(3+4);
       return a_cb();
     },
     function (a_cb) {
@@ -145,6 +150,7 @@ BlockExtractor.prototype.getNextBlock = function(cb) {
       b = new Block();
       b.parse(self.currentParser);
       b.getHash();
+      self.errorCount=0;
       return a_cb();
     },
   ], function(err) {
diff --git a/test/integration/blockExtractor.js b/test/integration/blockExtractor.js
index a83766c5..3f5f3609 100644
--- a/test/integration/blockExtractor.js
+++ b/test/integration/blockExtractor.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ var assert        = require('assert'),
   networks        = require('bitcore/networks'),
   util            =  require('bitcore/util/util');
 
+var should = require('chai');
 //var txItemsValid = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('test/model/txitems.json'));
 
 describe('BlockExtractor', function(){
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@ describe('BlockExtractor', function(){
   it('should read next '+config.network+' block ', function(done) {
     be.getNextBlock(function(err,b) {
       assert(!err);
+      // 2nd block of testnet3
+      util.formatHashFull(b.hash).should.equal('00000000b873e79784647a6c82962c70d228557d24a747ea4d1b8bbe878e1206');
       assert(b.timestamp > lastTs, 'timestamp > genesis_ts');
       done();
     });