diff --git a/blockchain/validate.go b/blockchain/validate.go
index 91dbc6cb..547dab80 100644
--- a/blockchain/validate.go
+++ b/blockchain/validate.go
@@ -615,6 +615,26 @@ func checkBlockSanity(block *dcrutil.Block, timeSource MedianTimeSource, flags B
 		return ruleError(ErrRevocationsMismatch, errStr)
 	}
 
+	// A block must not contain anything other than ticket purchases prior to
+	// stake validation height.
+	//
+	// NOTE: This case is impossible to hit at this point at the time this
+	// comment was written since the votes and revocations have already been
+	// proven to be zero before stake validation height and the only other
+	// type at the current time is ticket purchases, however, if another
+	// stake type is ever added, consensus would break without this check.
+	// It's better to be safe and it's a cheap check.
+	if header.Height < uint32(chainParams.StakeValidationHeight) {
+		if int64(len(msgBlock.STransactions)) != totalTickets {
+			errStr := fmt.Sprintf("block contains stake "+
+				"transactions other than ticket purchases before "+
+				"stake validation height %d (total: %d, expected %d)",
+				uint32(chainParams.StakeValidationHeight),
+				len(msgBlock.STransactions), header.FreshStake)
+			return ruleError(ErrInvalidEarlyStakeTx, errStr)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Build merkle tree and ensure the calculated merkle root matches the
 	// entry in the block header.  This also has the effect of caching all
 	// of the transaction hashes in the block to speed up future hash
@@ -1000,7 +1020,6 @@ func (b *BlockChain) checkDupTxs(txSet []*dcrutil.Tx, view *UtxoViewpoint) error
 // PoW it seems unlikely that it will have stake errors (because the miner is
 // then just wasting hash power).
 func (b *BlockChain) CheckBlockStakeSanity(stakeValidationHeight int64, node *blockNode, block *dcrutil.Block, parent *dcrutil.Block, chainParams *chaincfg.Params) error {
-
 	// Setup variables.
 	stakeTransactions := block.STransactions()
 	msgBlock := block.MsgBlock()
@@ -1033,18 +1052,6 @@ func (b *BlockChain) CheckBlockStakeSanity(stakeValidationHeight int64, node *bl
 
 	// Break if the stake system is otherwise disabled.
 	if block.Height() < stakeValidationHeight {
-		stakeTxSum := numSStxTx
-
-		// Check and make sure we're only including SStx in the stake
-		// tx tree.
-		if stakeTxSum != len(stakeTransactions) {
-			errStr := fmt.Sprintf("Error in stake consensus: the "+
-				"number of stake tx in block %v was %v, "+
-				"however we expected %v", block.Hash(),
-				stakeTxSum, len(stakeTransactions))
-			return ruleError(ErrInvalidEarlyStakeTx, errStr)
-		}
-
 		// Check the ticket pool size.
 		if parentStakeNode.PoolSize() != poolSize {
 			errStr := fmt.Sprintf("Error in stake consensus: the "+
diff --git a/blockchain/validate_test.go b/blockchain/validate_test.go
index cb8080fa..19b93d77 100644
--- a/blockchain/validate_test.go
+++ b/blockchain/validate_test.go
@@ -197,29 +197,24 @@ func TestBlockValidationRules(t *testing.T) {
 	earlySSGen142.FromBytes(block142Bytes)
 
 	ssgenTx, _ := hex.DecodeString("01000000020000000000000000000000000000000" +
-		"000000000000000000000000000000000ffffffff00ffffffff76dfeab65ad4ca743" +
-		"4d5455e824c3871ed0b23ba967de53e417d9bdd7a6e42a60000000001ffffffff030" +
-		"00000000000000000002a6a28c5fca7895d9e1eeb7cf05755dfb5a7aa7b80b3fa8c6" +
-		"8c77ea3ae0dc5cd0fab198f0000000000000000000000000000000000046a02ffffe" +
-		"5700bb10000000000001abb76a91442f39dc794d4c68529baf41ffbd0613c16fddef" +
-		"a88ac000000000000000002c5220bb10000000000000000ffffffff04deadbeef204" +
-		"e00000000000019000000120000006b483045022100e0e8ffe608bdc274ac5aad896" +
-		"5faaa1a56341896fddf6470db4ea2509c71be1302207661b453473f3ce2e7b3311ef" +
-		"a0097d6fdbc5217e171cca04202b40d00b39e0f012103c8cbbf90d716d4840f05aef" +
-		"7b0232fd0dc3276219574a4919f0b26f62e3365e3")
+		"000000000000000000000000000000000ffffffff00ffffffff228896eaaeba3e57d" +
+		"5e2b7d9e38ed1ce9918db5dd8159620f34c0f1fff860f590000000001ffffffff030" +
+		"0000000000000000000266a2494f455952f88b4ff019c6673f3f01541b76e700e0c8" +
+		"a2ab9da000000000000009f86010000000000000000000000046a02010066cf98a80" +
+		"000000000001abb76a914efb4777e0c06c73883d6104a49739302db8058af88ac000" +
+		"00000000000000221b683090000000000000000ffffffff04deadbeef4519159f000" +
+		"000008e6b0100160000006a47304402202cc7a2938643d2e42e4363faa948bd19bfa" +
+		"d7a4f46ad040c34af9cb5d71b23d20220268189f6fd7ed2a0be573293e8814daac53" +
+		"01a01787c8d8d346c8b681ed91d4f0121031d90b4e6394841780c7292e385d7161cc" +
+		"3cacc46c894cbc7b82a2fbcae12e773")
 	mtxFromB := new(wire.MsgTx)
 	mtxFromB.FromBytes(ssgenTx)
 	earlySSGen142.AddSTransaction(mtxFromB)
+	earlySSGen142.Header.Voters++
 	recalculateMsgBlockMerkleRootsSize(earlySSGen142)
 	b142test := dcrutil.NewBlock(earlySSGen142)
 
 	err = blockchain.CheckWorklessBlockSanity(b142test, timeSource, params)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Errorf("got no error for ErrInvalidEarlyStakeTx test")
-	}
-
-	// Hits error here.
-	err = chain.CheckConnectBlock(b142test)
 	if err == nil || err.(blockchain.RuleError).ErrorCode !=
 		blockchain.ErrInvalidEarlyStakeTx {
 		t.Errorf("Got unexpected no error or wrong error for "+