diff --git a/kmod/src/Makefile b/kmod/src/Makefile
index 14e8d5a4..5f23e87d 100644
--- a/kmod/src/Makefile
+++ b/kmod/src/Makefile
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 obj-$(CONFIG_SCOUTFS_FS) := scoutfs.o
  
-scoutfs-y += dir.o inode.o item.o msg.o super.o
+scoutfs-y += block.o dir.o inode.o item.o msg.o super.o
diff --git a/kmod/src/block.c b/kmod/src/block.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb403465
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kmod/src/block.c
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Versity Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
+ * License v2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * General Public License for more details.
+ */
+#include <linux/buffer_head.h>
+
+#include "super.h"
+#include "format.h"
+#include "block.h"
+#include "crc.h"
+
+#define BH_Private_Verified BH_PrivateStart
+
+BUFFER_FNS(Private_Verified, private_verified)
+
+
+/*
+ * A quick metadata read wrapper which knows how to validate the
+ * block header.
+ */
+struct buffer_head *scoutfs_read_block(struct super_block *sb, u64 blkno)
+{
+	struct scoutfs_sb_info *sbi = SCOUTFS_SB(sb);
+	struct scoutfs_super_block *super = &sbi->super;
+	struct scoutfs_block_header *hdr;
+	struct buffer_head *bh;
+	u32 crc;
+
+	bh = sb_bread(sb, blkno);
+	if (!bh || buffer_private_verified(bh))
+		return bh;
+
+	hdr = (void *)bh->b_data;
+	crc = scoutfs_crc_block(hdr);
+
+	if (le32_to_cpu(hdr->crc) != crc) {
+		printk("blkno %llu hdr crc %x != calculated %x\n", blkno,
+			le32_to_cpu(hdr->crc), crc);
+	} else if (super->hdr.fsid && hdr->fsid != super->hdr.fsid) {
+		printk("blkno %llu fsid %llx != super fsid %llx\n", blkno,
+			le64_to_cpu(hdr->fsid), le64_to_cpu(super->hdr.fsid));
+	} else if (le64_to_cpu(hdr->blkno) != blkno) {
+		printk("blkno %llu invalid hdr blkno %llx\n", blkno,
+			le64_to_cpu(hdr->blkno));
+	} else {
+		set_buffer_private_verified(bh);
+		return bh;
+	}
+
+	brelse(bh);
+	return NULL;
+}
diff --git a/kmod/src/block.h b/kmod/src/block.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c87fb6b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kmod/src/block.h
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#ifndef _SCOUTFS_BLOCK_H_
+#define _SCOUTFS_BLOCK_H_
+
+struct buffer_head *scoutfs_read_block(struct super_block *sb, u64 blkno);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/kmod/src/crc.c b/kmod/src/crc.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9869cbd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kmod/src/crc.c
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Versity Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
+ * License v2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * General Public License for more details.
+ */
+#include <linux/crc32c.h>
+
+#include "format.h"
+#include "crc.h"
+
+u32 scoutfs_crc_block(struct scoutfs_block_header *hdr)
+{
+	return crc32c(~0, (char *)hdr + sizeof(hdr->crc),
+		      SCOUTFS_BLOCK_SIZE - sizeof(hdr->crc));
+}
diff --git a/kmod/src/crc.h b/kmod/src/crc.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7f1fbf56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kmod/src/crc.h
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#ifndef _SCOUTFS_CRC_H_
+#define _SCOUTFS_CRC_H_
+
+u32 scoutfs_crc_block(struct scoutfs_block_header *hdr);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/kmod/src/super.c b/kmod/src/super.c
index b14f495d..27e12c52 100644
--- a/kmod/src/super.c
+++ b/kmod/src/super.c
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 #include <linux/magic.h>
 #include <linux/buffer_head.h>
-#include <linux/crc32c.h>
 #include <linux/random.h>
 
 #include "super.h"
@@ -24,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "inode.h"
 #include "dir.h"
 #include "msg.h"
+#include "block.h"
 
 static const struct super_operations scoutfs_super_ops = {
 	.alloc_inode = scoutfs_alloc_inode,
@@ -36,13 +36,12 @@ static int read_supers(struct super_block *sb)
 	struct scoutfs_super_block *super;
 	struct buffer_head *bh = NULL;
 	int found = -1;
-	u32 crc;
 	int i;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < SCOUTFS_SUPER_NR; i++) {
 		if (bh)
 			brelse(bh);
-		bh = sb_bread(sb, SCOUTFS_SUPER_BLKNO + i);
+		bh = scoutfs_read_block(sb, SCOUTFS_SUPER_BLKNO + i);
 		if (!bh) {
 			scoutfs_warn(sb, "couldn't read super block %u", i);
 			continue;
@@ -56,14 +55,6 @@ static int read_supers(struct super_block *sb)
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		crc = crc32c(~0, (char *)&super->hdr.crc + sizeof(crc),
-			     SCOUTFS_BLOCK_SIZE - sizeof(crc));
-		if (crc != le32_to_cpu(super->hdr.crc)) {
-			scoutfs_warn(sb, "super block %u has bad crc %x (expected %x)",
-				     i, crc, le32_to_cpu(super->hdr.crc));
-			continue;
-		}
-
 		if (found < 0 || (le64_to_cpu(super->hdr.seq) >
 				le64_to_cpu(sbi->super.hdr.seq))) {
 			memcpy(&sbi->super, super,