diff --git a/core/state/state_object.go b/core/state/state_object.go
index 2b7eeb7b66..335e3099bf 100644
--- a/core/state/state_object.go
+++ b/core/state/state_object.go
@@ -185,20 +185,14 @@ func (s *stateObject) GetCommittedState(key common.Hash) common.Hash {
 		s.db.setError(err)
 		return common.Hash{}
 	}
-	enc, err := tr.GetStorage(s.address, key.Bytes())
+	val, err := tr.GetStorage(s.address, key.Bytes())
 	s.db.StorageReads += time.Since(start)
 	if err != nil {
 		s.db.setError(err)
 		return common.Hash{}
 	}
 	var value common.Hash
-	if len(enc) > 0 {
-		_, content, _, err := rlp.Split(enc)
-		if err != nil {
-			s.db.setError(err)
-		}
-		value.SetBytes(content)
-	}
+	value.SetBytes(val)
 	s.originStorage[key] = value
 	return value
 }
@@ -267,9 +261,9 @@ func (s *stateObject) updateTrie() (Trie, error) {
 			}
 			s.db.StorageDeleted += 1
 		} else {
+			trimmedVal := common.TrimLeftZeroes(value[:])
 			// Encoding []byte cannot fail, ok to ignore the error.
-			v, _ := rlp.EncodeToBytes(common.TrimLeftZeroes(value[:]))
-			if err := tr.UpdateStorage(s.address, key[:], v); err != nil {
+			if err := tr.UpdateStorage(s.address, key[:], trimmedVal); err != nil {
 				s.db.setError(err)
 				return nil, err
 			}
diff --git a/trie/secure_trie.go b/trie/secure_trie.go
index f8e9585f2c..bb14a812a6 100644
--- a/trie/secure_trie.go
+++ b/trie/secure_trie.go
@@ -86,7 +86,12 @@ func (t *StateTrie) MustGet(key []byte) []byte {
 // If the specified storage slot is not in the trie, nil will be returned.
 // If a trie node is not found in the database, a MissingNodeError is returned.
 func (t *StateTrie) GetStorage(_ common.Address, key []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	return t.trie.Get(t.hashKey(key))
+	enc, err := t.trie.Get(t.hashKey(key))
+	if err != nil || len(enc) == 0 {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	_, content, _, err := rlp.Split(enc)
+	return content, err
 }
 
 // GetAccount attempts to retrieve an account with provided account address.
@@ -148,7 +153,8 @@ func (t *StateTrie) MustUpdate(key, value []byte) {
 // If a node is not found in the database, a MissingNodeError is returned.
 func (t *StateTrie) UpdateStorage(_ common.Address, key, value []byte) error {
 	hk := t.hashKey(key)
-	err := t.trie.Update(hk, value)
+	v, _ := rlp.EncodeToBytes(value)
+	err := t.trie.Update(hk, v)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}