diff --git a/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
index 82e4bf0455..d2a93cfa98 100644
--- a/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
+++ b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// Copyright 2019 The go-ethereum Authors
 // This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
 //
 // The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -25,19 +25,21 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rlp"
 )
 
+const NoVersion = uint64(0)
+
 // ReadDatabaseVersion retrieves the version number of the database.
-func ReadDatabaseVersion(db DatabaseReader) *uint64 {
+func ReadDatabaseVersion(db DatabaseReader) uint64 {
 	var version uint64
 
 	enc, _ := db.Get(databaseVerisionKey)
 	if len(enc) == 0 {
-		return nil
+		return NoVersion
 	}
 	if err := rlp.DecodeBytes(enc, &version); err != nil {
-		return nil
+		return NoVersion
 	}
 
-	return &version
+	return version
 }
 
 // WriteDatabaseVersion stores the version number of the database
diff --git a/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata_test.go b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..522daf2ac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Copyright 2019 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package rawdb
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/ethdb"
+)
+
+func TestReadWriteDatabaseVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	db := ethdb.NewMemDatabase()
+	want := uint64(4)
+
+	WriteDatabaseVersion(db, want)
+	if got := ReadDatabaseVersion(db); want != got {
+		t.Fatalf("ReadDatabaseVersion(db) = %d, want %d", want, got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReadDatabaseVersion_Empty_ReturnsZero(t *testing.T) {
+	db := ethdb.NewMemDatabase()
+
+	if got := ReadDatabaseVersion(db); NoVersion != got {
+		t.Fatalf("ReadDatabaseVersion(db) = %d, want %d", NoVersion, got)
+
+	}
+}
diff --git a/eth/backend.go b/eth/backend.go
index 2a9d56c5c1..d03788a506 100644
--- a/eth/backend.go
+++ b/eth/backend.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright 2014 The go-ethereum Authors
+// Copyright 2019 The go-ethereum Authors
 // This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
 //
 // The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -143,10 +143,10 @@ func New(ctx *node.ServiceContext, config *Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 
 	if !config.SkipBcVersionCheck {
 		bcVersion := rawdb.ReadDatabaseVersion(chainDb)
-		if bcVersion != nil && *bcVersion > core.BlockChainVersion {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("database version is v%d, Geth %s only supports v%d", *bcVersion, params.VersionWithMeta, core.BlockChainVersion)
-		} else if bcVersion != nil && *bcVersion < core.BlockChainVersion {
-			log.Warn("Upgrade blockchain database version", "from", *bcVersion, "to", core.BlockChainVersion)
+		if bcVersion != rawdb.NoVersion && bcVersion > core.BlockChainVersion {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("database version is v%d, Geth %s only supports v%d", bcVersion, params.VersionWithMeta, core.BlockChainVersion)
+		} else if bcVersion != rawdb.NoVersion && bcVersion < core.BlockChainVersion {
+			log.Warn("Upgrade blockchain database version", "from", bcVersion, "to", core.BlockChainVersion)
 		}
 		rawdb.WriteDatabaseVersion(chainDb, core.BlockChainVersion)
 	}