diff --git a/connection.go b/connection.go
index f0747375..f507806a 100644
--- a/connection.go
+++ b/connection.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package torrent
 import (
 	"container/list"
 	"encoding"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log"
@@ -36,11 +37,13 @@ type connection struct {
 	Requests   map[request]struct{}
 
 	// Stuff controlled by the remote peer.
-	PeerId           [20]byte
-	PeerInterested   bool
-	PeerChoked       bool
-	PeerRequests     map[request]struct{}
-	PeerExtensions   [8]byte
+	PeerId         [20]byte
+	PeerInterested bool
+	PeerChoked     bool
+	PeerRequests   map[request]struct{}
+	PeerExtensions [8]byte
+	// Whether the peer has the given piece. nil if they've not sent any
+	// related messages yet.
 	PeerPieces       []bool
 	PeerMaxRequests  int // Maximum pending requests the peer allows.
 	PeerExtensionIDs map[string]int64
@@ -68,6 +71,32 @@ func (cn *connection) piecesPeerHasCount() (count int) {
 	return
 }
 
+// Correct the PeerPieces slice length. Return false if the existing slice is
+// invalid, such as by receiving badly sized BITFIELD, or invalid HAVE
+// messages.
+func (cn *connection) setNumPieces(num int) error {
+	if cn.PeerPieces == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if len(cn.PeerPieces) == num {
+	} else if len(cn.PeerPieces) < num {
+		cn.PeerPieces = append(cn.PeerPieces, make([]bool, num-len(cn.PeerPieces))...)
+	} else if len(cn.PeerPieces) < 8*(num+7)/8 {
+		for _, have := range cn.PeerPieces[num:] {
+			if have {
+				return errors.New("peer has invalid piece")
+			}
+		}
+		cn.PeerPieces = cn.PeerPieces[:num]
+	} else {
+		return errors.New("peer bitfield is excessively long")
+	}
+	if len(cn.PeerPieces) != num {
+		panic("wat")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (cn *connection) WriteStatus(w io.Writer) {
 	fmt.Fprintf(w, "%q: %s-%s: %s completed, reqs: %d-%d, flags: ", cn.PeerId, cn.Socket.LocalAddr(), cn.Socket.RemoteAddr(), cn.completedString(), len(cn.Requests), len(cn.PeerRequests))
 	c := func(b byte) {
diff --git a/torrent.go b/torrent.go
index a96c48d6..1e842029 100644
--- a/torrent.go
+++ b/torrent.go
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ func infoPieceHashes(info *metainfo.Info) (ret []string) {
 	return
 }
 
+// Called when metadata for a torrent becomes available.
 func (t *torrent) setMetadata(md metainfo.Info, dataDir string, infoBytes []byte) (err error) {
 	t.Info = &md
 	t.MetaData = infoBytes
@@ -120,6 +121,12 @@ func (t *torrent) setMetadata(md metainfo.Info, dataDir string, infoBytes []byte
 		t.pendAllChunkSpecs(pp.Integer(index))
 	}
 	t.Priorities = list.New()
+	for _, conn := range t.Conns {
+		if err := conn.setNumPieces(t.NumPieces()); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("closing connection: %s", err)
+			conn.Close()
+		}
+	}
 	return
 }