diff --git a/core/blockchain_reader.go b/core/blockchain_reader.go
index 025b912ceb..a8e2524c2c 100644
--- a/core/blockchain_reader.go
+++ b/core/blockchain_reader.go
@@ -86,6 +86,11 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) GetHeaderByNumber(number uint64) *types.Header {
 	return bc.hc.GetHeaderByNumber(number)
 }
 
+// GetBlockNumber retrieves the block number associated with a block hash.
+func (bc *BlockChain) GetBlockNumber(hash common.Hash) *uint64 {
+	return bc.hc.GetBlockNumber(hash)
+}
+
 // GetHeadersFrom returns a contiguous segment of headers, in rlp-form, going
 // backwards from the given number.
 func (bc *BlockChain) GetHeadersFrom(number, count uint64) []rlp.RawValue {
@@ -437,3 +442,10 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) SubscribeLogsEvent(ch chan<- []*types.Log) event.Subscript
 func (bc *BlockChain) SubscribeBlockProcessingEvent(ch chan<- bool) event.Subscription {
 	return bc.scope.Track(bc.blockProcFeed.Subscribe(ch))
 }
+
+// HistoryCutoff returns the tail of the block history.
+func (bc *BlockChain) HistoryCutoff() uint64 {
+	// Only nofreezedb returns an error.
+	tail, _ := bc.db.Tail()
+	return tail
+}
diff --git a/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
index 859566f722..7911a3fd69 100644
--- a/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
+++ b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
@@ -187,3 +187,5 @@ func WriteTransitionStatus(db ethdb.KeyValueWriter, data []byte) {
 		log.Crit("Failed to store the eth2 transition status", "err", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// ReadHistoryTail retrieves the first
diff --git a/eth/api_backend.go b/eth/api_backend.go
index c8c5ca707f..1b4f596380 100644
--- a/eth/api_backend.go
+++ b/eth/api_backend.go
@@ -143,11 +143,25 @@ func (b *EthAPIBackend) BlockByNumber(ctx context.Context, number rpc.BlockNumbe
 		}
 		return b.eth.blockchain.GetBlock(header.Hash(), header.Number.Uint64()), nil
 	}
-	return b.eth.blockchain.GetBlockByNumber(uint64(number)), nil
+	bn := uint64(number)
+	if number == rpc.EarliestBlockNumber {
+		bn = b.eth.blockchain.HistoryCutoff()
+	}
+	if bn < b.eth.blockchain.HistoryCutoff() {
+		return nil, &prunedHistoryError{}
+	}
+	return b.eth.blockchain.GetBlockByNumber(bn), nil
 }
 
 func (b *EthAPIBackend) BlockByHash(ctx context.Context, hash common.Hash) (*types.Block, error) {
-	return b.eth.blockchain.GetBlockByHash(hash), nil
+	number := b.eth.blockchain.GetBlockNumber(hash)
+	if number == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	if *number < b.eth.blockchain.HistoryCutoff() {
+		return nil, &prunedHistoryError{}
+	}
+	return b.eth.blockchain.GetBlock(hash, *number), nil
 }
 
 // GetBody returns body of a block. It does not resolve special block numbers.
@@ -173,6 +187,9 @@ func (b *EthAPIBackend) BlockByNumberOrHash(ctx context.Context, blockNrOrHash r
 		if blockNrOrHash.RequireCanonical && b.eth.blockchain.GetCanonicalHash(header.Number.Uint64()) != hash {
 			return nil, errors.New("hash is not currently canonical")
 		}
+		if header.Number.Uint64() < b.eth.blockchain.HistoryCutoff() {
+			return nil, &prunedHistoryError{}
+		}
 		block := b.eth.blockchain.GetBlock(hash, header.Number.Uint64())
 		if block == nil {
 			return nil, errors.New("header found, but block body is missing")
@@ -421,3 +438,8 @@ func (b *EthAPIBackend) StateAtBlock(ctx context.Context, block *types.Block, re
 func (b *EthAPIBackend) StateAtTransaction(ctx context.Context, block *types.Block, txIndex int, reexec uint64) (*types.Transaction, vm.BlockContext, *state.StateDB, tracers.StateReleaseFunc, error) {
 	return b.eth.stateAtTransaction(ctx, block, txIndex, reexec)
 }
+
+type prunedHistoryError struct{}
+
+func (e *prunedHistoryError) Error() string  { return "Pruned history unavailable" }
+func (e *prunedHistoryError) ErrorCode() int { return 4444 }
diff --git a/internal/ethapi/api.go b/internal/ethapi/api.go
index 36a5df8087..90ce6dca93 100644
--- a/internal/ethapi/api.go
+++ b/internal/ethapi/api.go
@@ -549,21 +549,23 @@ func (api *BlockChainAPI) GetUncleByBlockHashAndIndex(ctx context.Context, block
 }
 
 // GetUncleCountByBlockNumber returns number of uncles in the block for the given block number
-func (api *BlockChainAPI) GetUncleCountByBlockNumber(ctx context.Context, blockNr rpc.BlockNumber) *hexutil.Uint {
-	if block, _ := api.b.BlockByNumber(ctx, blockNr); block != nil {
+func (api *BlockChainAPI) GetUncleCountByBlockNumber(ctx context.Context, blockNr rpc.BlockNumber) (*hexutil.Uint, error) {
+	block, err := api.b.BlockByNumber(ctx, blockNr)
+	if block != nil {
 		n := hexutil.Uint(len(block.Uncles()))
-		return &n
+		return &n, nil
 	}
-	return nil
+	return nil, err
 }
 
 // GetUncleCountByBlockHash returns number of uncles in the block for the given block hash
-func (api *BlockChainAPI) GetUncleCountByBlockHash(ctx context.Context, blockHash common.Hash) *hexutil.Uint {
-	if block, _ := api.b.BlockByHash(ctx, blockHash); block != nil {
+func (api *BlockChainAPI) GetUncleCountByBlockHash(ctx context.Context, blockHash common.Hash) (*hexutil.Uint, error) {
+	block, err := api.b.BlockByHash(ctx, blockHash)
+	if block != nil {
 		n := hexutil.Uint(len(block.Uncles()))
-		return &n
+		return &n, nil
 	}
-	return nil
+	return nil, err
 }
 
 // GetCode returns the code stored at the given address in the state for the given block number.
@@ -596,9 +598,7 @@ func (api *BlockChainAPI) GetStorageAt(ctx context.Context, address common.Addre
 func (api *BlockChainAPI) GetBlockReceipts(ctx context.Context, blockNrOrHash rpc.BlockNumberOrHash) ([]map[string]interface{}, error) {
 	block, err := api.b.BlockByNumberOrHash(ctx, blockNrOrHash)
 	if block == nil || err != nil {
-		// When the block doesn't exist, the RPC method should return JSON null
-		// as per specification.
-		return nil, nil
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	receipts, err := api.b.GetReceipts(ctx, block.Hash())
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1258,37 +1258,41 @@ func NewTransactionAPI(b Backend, nonceLock *AddrLocker) *TransactionAPI {
 }
 
 // GetBlockTransactionCountByNumber returns the number of transactions in the block with the given block number.
-func (api *TransactionAPI) GetBlockTransactionCountByNumber(ctx context.Context, blockNr rpc.BlockNumber) *hexutil.Uint {
-	if block, _ := api.b.BlockByNumber(ctx, blockNr); block != nil {
+func (api *TransactionAPI) GetBlockTransactionCountByNumber(ctx context.Context, blockNr rpc.BlockNumber) (*hexutil.Uint, error) {
+	block, err := api.b.BlockByNumber(ctx, blockNr)
+	if block != nil {
 		n := hexutil.Uint(len(block.Transactions()))
-		return &n
+		return &n, nil
 	}
-	return nil
+	return nil, err
 }
 
 // GetBlockTransactionCountByHash returns the number of transactions in the block with the given hash.
-func (api *TransactionAPI) GetBlockTransactionCountByHash(ctx context.Context, blockHash common.Hash) *hexutil.Uint {
-	if block, _ := api.b.BlockByHash(ctx, blockHash); block != nil {
+func (api *TransactionAPI) GetBlockTransactionCountByHash(ctx context.Context, blockHash common.Hash) (*hexutil.Uint, error) {
+	block, err := api.b.BlockByHash(ctx, blockHash)
+	if block != nil {
 		n := hexutil.Uint(len(block.Transactions()))
-		return &n
+		return &n, nil
 	}
-	return nil
+	return nil, err
 }
 
 // GetTransactionByBlockNumberAndIndex returns the transaction for the given block number and index.
-func (api *TransactionAPI) GetTransactionByBlockNumberAndIndex(ctx context.Context, blockNr rpc.BlockNumber, index hexutil.Uint) *RPCTransaction {
-	if block, _ := api.b.BlockByNumber(ctx, blockNr); block != nil {
-		return newRPCTransactionFromBlockIndex(block, uint64(index), api.b.ChainConfig())
+func (api *TransactionAPI) GetTransactionByBlockNumberAndIndex(ctx context.Context, blockNr rpc.BlockNumber, index hexutil.Uint) (*RPCTransaction, error) {
+	block, err := api.b.BlockByNumber(ctx, blockNr)
+	if block != nil {
+		return newRPCTransactionFromBlockIndex(block, uint64(index), api.b.ChainConfig()), nil
 	}
-	return nil
+	return nil, err
 }
 
 // GetTransactionByBlockHashAndIndex returns the transaction for the given block hash and index.
-func (api *TransactionAPI) GetTransactionByBlockHashAndIndex(ctx context.Context, blockHash common.Hash, index hexutil.Uint) *RPCTransaction {
-	if block, _ := api.b.BlockByHash(ctx, blockHash); block != nil {
-		return newRPCTransactionFromBlockIndex(block, uint64(index), api.b.ChainConfig())
+func (api *TransactionAPI) GetTransactionByBlockHashAndIndex(ctx context.Context, blockHash common.Hash, index hexutil.Uint) (*RPCTransaction, error) {
+	block, err := api.b.BlockByHash(ctx, blockHash)
+	if block != nil {
+		return newRPCTransactionFromBlockIndex(block, uint64(index), api.b.ChainConfig()), nil
 	}
-	return nil
+	return nil, err
 }
 
 // GetRawTransactionByBlockNumberAndIndex returns the bytes of the transaction for the given block number and index.
@@ -1365,6 +1369,7 @@ func (api *TransactionAPI) GetRawTransactionByHash(ctx context.Context, hash com
 
 // GetTransactionReceipt returns the transaction receipt for the given transaction hash.
 func (api *TransactionAPI) GetTransactionReceipt(ctx context.Context, hash common.Hash) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	// TODO(s1na): transaction lookup should be pruned as well.
 	found, tx, blockHash, blockNumber, index, err := api.b.GetTransaction(ctx, hash)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, NewTxIndexingError() // transaction is not fully indexed