diff --git a/internal/era/iterator.go b/internal/era/iterator.go
index b798af90db..291d55a27d 100644
--- a/internal/era/iterator.go
+++ b/internal/era/iterator.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package era
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"math/big"
 
@@ -29,7 +30,8 @@ type Iterator struct {
 	inner *RawIterator
 }
 
-// NewIterator returns a new Iterator instance.
+// NewRawIterator returns a new Iterator instance. Next must be immediately
+// called on new iterators to load the first item.
 func NewIterator(e *Era) (*Iterator, error) {
 	inner, err := NewRawIterator(e)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -38,7 +40,9 @@ func NewIterator(e *Era) (*Iterator, error) {
 	return &Iterator{inner}, nil
 }
 
-// Next moves the iterator to the next block entry.
+// Next moves the iterator to the next block entry. It returns false when all
+// items have been read or an error has halted its progress. Block, Receipts,
+// and BlockAndReceipts should no longer be called after false is returned.
 func (it *Iterator) Next() bool {
 	return it.inner.Next()
 }
@@ -48,13 +52,17 @@ func (it *Iterator) Number() uint64 {
 	return it.inner.next - 1
 }
 
-// Error returns the error status of the iterator.
+// Error returns the error status of the iterator. It should be called before
+// reading from any of the iterator's values.
 func (it *Iterator) Error() error {
 	return it.inner.Error()
 }
 
 // Block returns the block for the iterator's current position.
 func (it *Iterator) Block() (*types.Block, error) {
+	if it.inner.Header == nil || it.inner.Body == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("header and body must be non-nil")
+	}
 	var (
 		header types.Header
 		body   types.Body
@@ -70,6 +78,9 @@ func (it *Iterator) Block() (*types.Block, error) {
 
 // Receipts returns the receipts for the iterator's current position.
 func (it *Iterator) Receipts() (types.Receipts, error) {
+	if it.inner.Receipts == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("receipts must be non-nil")
+	}
 	var receipts types.Receipts
 	err := rlp.Decode(it.inner.Receipts, &receipts)
 	return receipts, err
@@ -111,7 +122,8 @@ type RawIterator struct {
 	TotalDifficulty io.Reader
 }
 
-// NewRawIterator returns a new Iterator instance.
+// NewRawIterator returns a new RawIterator instance. Next must be immediately
+// called on new iterators to load the first item.
 func NewRawIterator(e *Era) (*RawIterator, error) {
 	return &RawIterator{
 		e:    e,
@@ -119,30 +131,43 @@ func NewRawIterator(e *Era) (*RawIterator, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
-// Next moves the iterator to the next block entry.
+// Next moves the iterator to the next block entry. It returns false when all
+// items have been read or an error has halted its progress. Header, Body,
+// Receipts, TotalDifficulty will be set to nil in the case returning false or
+// finding an error and should therefore no longer be read from.
 func (it *RawIterator) Next() bool {
+	// Clear old errors.
+	it.err = nil
 	if it.e.m.start+it.e.m.count <= it.next {
+		it.clear()
 		return false
 	}
 	off, err := it.e.readOffset(it.next)
-	if err == io.EOF {
+	if err != nil {
+		// Error here means block index is corrupted, so don't
+		// continue.
+		it.clear()
 		it.err = err
 		return false
 	}
 	var n int64
 	if it.Header, n, it.err = newSnappyReader(it.e.s, TypeCompressedHeader, off); it.err != nil {
+		it.clear()
 		return true
 	}
 	off += n
 	if it.Body, n, it.err = newSnappyReader(it.e.s, TypeCompressedBody, off); it.err != nil {
+		it.clear()
 		return true
 	}
 	off += n
 	if it.Receipts, n, it.err = newSnappyReader(it.e.s, TypeCompressedReceipts, off); it.err != nil {
+		it.clear()
 		return true
 	}
 	off += n
 	if it.TotalDifficulty, _, it.err = it.e.s.ReaderAt(TypeTotalDifficulty, off); it.err != nil {
+		it.clear()
 		return true
 	}
 	it.next += 1
@@ -154,10 +179,19 @@ func (it *RawIterator) Number() uint64 {
 	return it.next - 1
 }
 
-// Error returns the error status of the iterator.
+// Error returns the error status of the iterator. It should be called before
+// reading from any of the iterator's values.
 func (it *RawIterator) Error() error {
 	if it.err == io.EOF {
 		return nil
 	}
 	return it.err
 }
+
+// clear sets all the outputs to nil.
+func (it *RawIterator) clear() {
+	it.Header = nil
+	it.Body = nil
+	it.Receipts = nil
+	it.TotalDifficulty = nil
+}