diff --git a/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim b/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim
index 3b2e0d24e..f9f7cfb54 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim
@@ -1361,20 +1361,25 @@ proc getPersistentNetKeys*(rng: var BrHmacDrbgContext,
     let privKey = res.get()
     return KeyPair(seckey: privKey, pubkey: privkey.getKey().tryGet())
 
-func gossipId(data: openArray[byte]): seq[byte] =
-  # https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/v1.0.0-rc.0/specs/phase0/p2p-interface.md#topics-and-messages
-  # We don't use non-Snappy-compressed messages, so don't define
-  # MESSAGE_DOMAIN_INVALID_SNAPPY.
-  const MESSAGE_DOMAIN_VALID_SNAPPY = 0x01000000'u64
+func gossipId(data: openArray[byte], valid: bool): seq[byte] =
+  # https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/v1.0.0/specs/phase0/p2p-interface.md#topics-and-messages
+  const
+    MESSAGE_DOMAIN_INVALID_SNAPPY = [0x00'u8, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00]
+    MESSAGE_DOMAIN_VALID_SNAPPY = [0x01'u8, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00]
   let messageDigest = withEth2Hash:
-    h.update uint_to_bytes4(MESSAGE_DOMAIN_VALID_SNAPPY)
+    h.update(
+      if valid: MESSAGE_DOMAIN_VALID_SNAPPY else: MESSAGE_DOMAIN_INVALID_SNAPPY)
     h.update data
 
   result = newSeq[byte](20)
   result[0..19] = messageDigest.data.toOpenArray(0, 19)
 
 func msgIdProvider(m: messages.Message): seq[byte] =
-  gossipId(m.data)
+  try:
+    let decoded = snappy.decode(m.data, GOSSIP_MAX_SIZE)
+    gossipId(decoded, true)
+  except CatchableError:
+    gossipId(m.data, false)
 
 proc createEth2Node*(rng: ref BrHmacDrbgContext,
                      conf: BeaconNodeConf,
@@ -1436,18 +1441,22 @@ proc addValidator*[MsgType](node: Eth2Node,
       topic: string, message: GossipMsg): Future[ValidationResult] {.async.} =
     inc nbc_gossip_messages_received
     trace "Validating incoming gossip message",
-      len = message.data.len, topic, msgId = gossipId(message.data)
-    try:
-      let decompressed = snappy.decode(message.data, GOSSIP_MAX_SIZE)
-      if decompressed.len > 0:
-        return msgValidator(SSZ.decode(decompressed, MsgType))
-      else:
-        # TODO(zah) penalize peer?
-        debug "Failed to decompress gossip payload"
-    except CatchableError as err:
-      debug "Gossip validation error",
-        msg = err.msg, msgId = gossipId(message.data)
-      return ValidationResult.Ignore
+      len = message.data.len, topic
+
+    let res =
+      try:
+        let decompressed = snappy.decode(message.data, GOSSIP_MAX_SIZE)
+        if decompressed.len > 0:
+          msgValidator(SSZ.decode(decompressed, MsgType))
+        else:
+          debug "Empty gossip data after decompression",
+            topic, len = message.data.len
+          ValidationResult.Ignore
+      except CatchableError as err:
+        debug "Gossip validation error",
+          msg = err.msg, topic, len = message.data.len
+        ValidationResult.Ignore
+    return res
 
   node.pubsub.addValidator(topic & "_snappy", execValidator)
 
@@ -1464,12 +1473,14 @@ proc traceMessage(fut: FutureBase, msgId: string) =
       debug "Unexpected future state for gossip", msgId, state = fut.state
 
 proc broadcast*(node: Eth2Node, topic: string, msg: auto) =
-  let data = snappy.encode(SSZ.encode(msg))
+  let
+    uncompressed = SSZ.encode(msg)
+    compressed = snappy.encode(uncompressed)
 
   # This is only for messages we create. A message this large amounts to an
   # internal logic error.
-  doAssert data.len <= GOSSIP_MAX_SIZE
+  doAssert uncompressed.len <= GOSSIP_MAX_SIZE
   inc nbc_gossip_messages_sent
 
-  var futSnappy = node.pubsub.publish(topic & "_snappy", data)
-  traceMessage(futSnappy, string.fromBytes(gossipId(data)))
+  var futSnappy = node.pubsub.publish(topic & "_snappy", compressed)
+  traceMessage(futSnappy, string.fromBytes(gossipId(uncompressed, true)))