diff --git a/whisper/whisperv6/doc.go b/whisper/whisperv6/doc.go
index 45f5583b00..64779d41af 100644
--- a/whisper/whisperv6/doc.go
+++ b/whisper/whisperv6/doc.go
@@ -48,17 +48,16 @@ const (
 	p2pMessageCode       = 127 // peer-to-peer message (to be consumed by the peer, but not forwarded any further)
 	NumberOfMessageCodes = 128
 
-	auxFieldSizeMask = byte(3) // mask used to extract the size of auxiliary field from the flags
-	signatureFlag    = byte(4)
+	SizeMask      = byte(3) // mask used to extract the size of payload size field from the flags
+	signatureFlag = byte(4)
 
-	TopicLength           = 4  // in bytes
-	signatureLength       = 65 // in bytes
-	aesKeyLength          = 32 // in bytes
-	aesNonceLength        = 12 // in bytes; for more info please see cipher.gcmStandardNonceSize & aesgcm.NonceSize()
-	keyIdSize             = 32 // in bytes
-	bloomFilterSize       = 64 // in bytes
-	flagsLength           = 1
-	auxiliaryFieldMaxSize = 4
+	TopicLength     = 4  // in bytes
+	signatureLength = 65 // in bytes
+	aesKeyLength    = 32 // in bytes
+	aesNonceLength  = 12 // in bytes; for more info please see cipher.gcmStandardNonceSize & aesgcm.NonceSize()
+	keyIdSize       = 32 // in bytes
+	bloomFilterSize = 64 // in bytes
+	flagsLength     = 1
 
 	EnvelopeHeaderLength = 20
 
diff --git a/whisper/whisperv6/message.go b/whisper/whisperv6/message.go
index 2406e3062a..c5ed5fb748 100644
--- a/whisper/whisperv6/message.go
+++ b/whisper/whisperv6/message.go
@@ -89,19 +89,20 @@ func (msg *ReceivedMessage) isAsymmetricEncryption() bool {
 
 // NewMessage creates and initializes a non-signed, non-encrypted Whisper message.
 func NewSentMessage(params *MessageParams) (*sentMessage, error) {
+	const payloadSizeFieldMaxSize = 4
 	msg := sentMessage{}
 	msg.Raw = make([]byte, 1,
-		flagsLength+auxiliaryFieldMaxSize+len(params.Payload)+len(params.Padding)+signatureLength+padSizeLimit)
+		flagsLength+payloadSizeFieldMaxSize+len(params.Payload)+len(params.Padding)+signatureLength+padSizeLimit)
 	msg.Raw[0] = 0 // set all the flags to zero
-	msg.addAuxiliaryField(params.Payload)
+	msg.addPayloadSizeField(params.Payload)
 	msg.Raw = append(msg.Raw, params.Payload...)
 	err := msg.appendPadding(params)
 	return &msg, err
 }
 
-// appendPayloadSizeField appends the auxiliary field containing the size of payload
-func (msg *sentMessage) addAuxiliaryField(payload []byte) {
-	fieldSize := getAuxiliaryFieldSize(payload)
+// addPayloadSizeField appends the auxiliary field containing the size of payload
+func (msg *sentMessage) addPayloadSizeField(payload []byte) {
+	fieldSize := getSizeOfPayloadSizeField(payload)
 	field := make([]byte, 4)
 	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(field, uint32(len(payload)))
 	field = field[:fieldSize]
@@ -109,8 +110,8 @@ func (msg *sentMessage) addAuxiliaryField(payload []byte) {
 	msg.Raw[0] |= byte(fieldSize)
 }
 
-// getAuxFieldSize returns the number of bytes necessary to encode the size of payload
-func getAuxiliaryFieldSize(payload []byte) int {
+// getSizeOfPayloadSizeField returns the number of bytes necessary to encode the size of payload
+func getSizeOfPayloadSizeField(payload []byte) int {
 	s := 1
 	for i := len(payload); i >= 256; i /= 256 {
 		s++
@@ -127,8 +128,7 @@ func (msg *sentMessage) appendPadding(params *MessageParams) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	auxFieldSize := getAuxiliaryFieldSize(params.Payload)
-	rawSize := flagsLength + auxFieldSize + len(params.Payload)
+	rawSize := flagsLength + getSizeOfPayloadSizeField(params.Payload) + len(params.Payload)
 	if params.Src != nil {
 		rawSize += signatureLength
 	}
@@ -316,13 +316,13 @@ func (msg *ReceivedMessage) ValidateAndParse() bool {
 
 	beg := 1
 	payloadSize := 0
-	auxFieldSize := int(msg.Raw[0] & auxFieldSizeMask) // number of bytes indicating the size of payload
-	if auxFieldSize != 0 {
-		payloadSize = int(bytesToUintLittleEndian(msg.Raw[beg : beg+auxFieldSize]))
+	sizeOfPayloadSizeField := int(msg.Raw[0] & SizeMask) // number of bytes indicating the size of payload
+	if sizeOfPayloadSizeField != 0 {
+		payloadSize = int(bytesToUintLittleEndian(msg.Raw[beg : beg+sizeOfPayloadSizeField]))
 		if payloadSize+1 > end {
 			return false
 		}
-		beg += auxFieldSize
+		beg += sizeOfPayloadSizeField
 		msg.Payload = msg.Raw[beg : beg+payloadSize]
 	}
 
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ func (msg *ReceivedMessage) SigToPubKey() *ecdsa.PublicKey {
 	return pub
 }
 
-// hash calculates the SHA3 checksum of the message flags, auxiliary field, payload and padding.
+// hash calculates the SHA3 checksum of the message flags, payload size field, payload and padding.
 func (msg *ReceivedMessage) hash() []byte {
 	if isMessageSigned(msg.Raw[0]) {
 		sz := len(msg.Raw) - signatureLength
diff --git a/whisper/whisperv6/message_test.go b/whisper/whisperv6/message_test.go
index 0f56fbbaa1..0a5c1c8533 100644
--- a/whisper/whisperv6/message_test.go
+++ b/whisper/whisperv6/message_test.go
@@ -438,8 +438,8 @@ func TestPaddingAppendedToSymMessagesWithSignature(t *testing.T) {
 	// payload + flag + signature > 256. Check that the result
 	// is padded on the next 256 boundary.
 	msg := sentMessage{}
-	const auxiliaryFieldMinSize = 1
-	msg.Raw = make([]byte, flagsLength+auxiliaryFieldMinSize+len(params.Payload))
+	const payloadSizeFieldMinSize = 1
+	msg.Raw = make([]byte, flagsLength+payloadSizeFieldMinSize+len(params.Payload))
 
 	err = msg.appendPadding(params)
 
diff --git a/whisper/whisperv6/peer_test.go b/whisper/whisperv6/peer_test.go
index 9c2220aad0..7e5ada7b18 100644
--- a/whisper/whisperv6/peer_test.go
+++ b/whisper/whisperv6/peer_test.go
@@ -385,20 +385,37 @@ func TestPeerBasic(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func checkPowExchangeForNodeZero(t *testing.T) {
+	const iterations = 200
+	for j := 0; j < iterations; j++ {
+		lastCycle := (j == iterations-1)
+		ok := checkPowExchangeForNodeZeroOnce(t, lastCycle)
+		if ok {
+			break
+		}
+		time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+}
+
+func checkPowExchangeForNodeZeroOnce(t *testing.T, mustPass bool) bool {
 	cnt := 0
 	for i, node := range nodes {
 		for peer := range node.shh.peers {
 			if peer.peer.ID() == discover.PubkeyID(&nodes[0].id.PublicKey) {
 				cnt++
 				if peer.powRequirement != masterPow {
-					t.Fatalf("node %d: failed to set the new pow requirement.", i)
+					if mustPass {
+						t.Fatalf("node %d: failed to set the new pow requirement for node zero.", i)
+					} else {
+						return false
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
 	if cnt == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("no matching peers found.")
+		t.Fatalf("looking for node zero: no matching peers found.")
 	}
+	return true
 }
 
 func checkPowExchange(t *testing.T) {
@@ -432,7 +449,7 @@ func checkBloomFilterExchangeOnce(t *testing.T, mustPass bool) bool {
 }
 
 func checkBloomFilterExchange(t *testing.T) {
-	const iterations = 128
+	const iterations = 200
 	for j := 0; j < iterations; j++ {
 		lastCycle := (j == iterations-1)
 		ok := checkBloomFilterExchangeOnce(t, lastCycle)