diff --git a/frame.go b/frame.go
index c5ee585..4a8fef5 100644
--- a/frame.go
+++ b/frame.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 const (
 	etherBase = 0x88b5
 	ethHdrLen = 14
-	hdrLen    = 24
+	hdrLen    = 20
 	hdrMagic  = 0x43424c54
 	minFrame  = ethHdrLen + hdrLen
 	maxFrame  = 9216
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func newFrameSpec(dst, src [6]byte, etherType uint16, sizes []int) *frameSpec {
 		fill(ref)
 		crcFor := make(map[int]uint32, len(sizes))
 		for _, s := range sizes {
-			crcFor[s] = crc32.Checksum(ref[:s-minFrame], crcTable)
+			crcFor[s-minFrame] = crc32.Checksum(ref[:s-minFrame], crcTable)
 		}
 		f.refs = append(f.refs, ref)
 		f.crcFor = append(f.crcFor, crcFor)
@@ -103,7 +103,17 @@ func (f *frameSpec) prefill(buf []byte, patIdx int) {
 	copy(buf[minFrame:], f.refs[patIdx])
 }
 
-func putHeader(buf []byte, patIdx int, stream uint16, seq uint64, payLen int, crc uint32) {
+// Looked up rather than read from the frame: a checksum travelling beside the
+// bytes it covers is only ever compared against itself.
+func (f *frameSpec) expectedCRC(patIdx, payLen int) (uint32, bool) {
+	if patIdx < 0 || patIdx >= len(f.crcFor) {
+		return 0, false
+	}
+	crc, ok := f.crcFor[patIdx][payLen]
+	return crc, ok
+}
+
+func putHeader(buf []byte, patIdx int, stream uint16, seq uint64, payLen int) {
 	h := buf[ethHdrLen:]
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(h[0:4], hdrMagic)
 	h[4] = 1
@@ -112,7 +122,6 @@ func putHeader(buf []byte, patIdx int, stream uint16, seq uint64, payLen int, cr
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(h[8:16], seq)
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(h[16:18], uint16(payLen))
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(h[18:20], 0)
-	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(h[20:24], crc)
 }
 
 type parsed struct {
@@ -120,7 +129,6 @@ type parsed struct {
 	stream uint16
 	seq    uint64
 	payLen int
-	crc    uint32
 }
 
 func parseHeader(buf []byte) (parsed, bool) {
@@ -136,7 +144,6 @@ func parseHeader(buf []byte) (parsed, bool) {
 	p.stream = binary.BigEndian.Uint16(h[6:8])
 	p.seq = binary.BigEndian.Uint64(h[8:16])
 	p.payLen = int(binary.BigEndian.Uint16(h[16:18]))
-	p.crc = binary.BigEndian.Uint32(h[20:24])
 	if minFrame+p.payLen > len(buf) {
 		return p, false
 	}
diff --git a/probe.go b/probe.go
index ab521b5..73c8c47 100644
--- a/probe.go
+++ b/probe.go
@@ -156,8 +156,7 @@ func (p *probeSender) run(done *atomic.Bool, startTx <-chan struct{}) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		putHeader(buf, probePattern, probeStream, seq, probeSize-minFrame,
-			p.spec.crcFor[probePattern][probeSize])
+		putHeader(buf, probePattern, probeStream, seq, probeSize-minFrame)
 		err := unix.Send(p.fd, buf, 0)
 		// The sequence advances even when a probe fails, so a stale receive half
 		// can never be paired with a later probe that reused its number.
diff --git a/rx.go b/rx.go
index df97cd2..5bc0ff7 100644
--- a/rx.go
+++ b/rx.go
@@ -61,12 +61,13 @@ func (w *rxWorker) run(done *atomic.Bool) {
 				w.streams[p.stream].observe(p.seq)
 			}
 
-			if p.payLen > w.spec.maxPay {
+			want, ok := w.spec.expectedCRC(p.patIdx, p.payLen)
+			if !ok {
 				w.stats.badLen.Add(1)
 				continue
 			}
 			pay := buf[minFrame : minFrame+p.payLen]
-			if crc32.Checksum(pay, crcTable) != p.crc {
+			if crc32.Checksum(pay, crcTable) != want {
 				w.stats.crcErr.Add(1)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/tx.go b/tx.go
index 292cc57..e2d6b8e 100644
--- a/tx.go
+++ b/tx.go
@@ -48,8 +48,7 @@ func (w *txWorker) run(done *atomic.Bool) {
 				si = 0
 			}
 			sizes[i] = size
-			putHeader(bufs[i], pats[i], w.stream, seq+uint64(i), size-minFrame,
-				w.spec.crcFor[pats[i]][size])
+			putHeader(bufs[i], pats[i], w.stream, seq+uint64(i), size-minFrame)
 			iovs[i].Len = uint64(size)
 		}