diff --git a/core/src/cluster_info.rs b/core/src/cluster_info.rs
index b9fa3d96394e50..ba4a598ecad039 100644
--- a/core/src/cluster_info.rs
+++ b/core/src/cluster_info.rs
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ const MAX_GOSSIP_TRAFFIC: usize = 128_000_000 / PACKET_DATA_SIZE;
 const NUM_BITS_PER_BYTE: u64 = 8;
 const MIN_SIZE_TO_COMPRESS_GZIP: u64 = 64;
 
+/// Keep the number of snapshot hashes a node publishes under MAX_PROTOCOL_PAYLOAD_SIZE
+pub const MAX_SNAPSHOT_HASHES: usize = 16;
+
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub enum ClusterInfoError {
     NoPeers,
@@ -441,6 +444,14 @@ impl ClusterInfo {
     }
 
     pub fn push_snapshot_hashes(&mut self, snapshot_hashes: Vec<(Slot, Hash)>) {
+        if snapshot_hashes.len() > MAX_SNAPSHOT_HASHES {
+            warn!(
+                "snapshot_hashes too large, ignored: {}",
+                snapshot_hashes.len()
+            );
+            return;
+        }
+
         let now = timestamp();
         let entry = CrdsValue::new_signed(
             CrdsData::SnapshotHash(SnapshotHash::new(self.id(), snapshot_hashes, now)),
@@ -1059,7 +1070,7 @@ impl ClusterInfo {
     }
 
     /// Splits a Vec of CrdsValues into a nested Vec, trying to make sure that
-    /// each Vec is no larger than `PROTOCOL_PAYLOAD_SIZE`
+    /// each Vec is no larger than `MAX_PROTOCOL_PAYLOAD_SIZE`
     /// Note: some messages cannot be contained within that size so in the worst case this returns
     /// N nested Vecs with 1 item each.
     fn split_gossip_messages(msgs: Vec<CrdsValue>) -> Vec<Vec<CrdsValue>> {
diff --git a/core/src/snapshot_packager_service.rs b/core/src/snapshot_packager_service.rs
index 12de848a037d00..fae04b7559cc24 100644
--- a/core/src/snapshot_packager_service.rs
+++ b/core/src/snapshot_packager_service.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use crate::cluster_info::ClusterInfo;
+use crate::cluster_info::{ClusterInfo, MAX_SNAPSHOT_HASHES};
 use solana_ledger::{
     snapshot_package::SnapshotPackageReceiver, snapshot_utils::archive_snapshot_package,
 };
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ pub struct SnapshotPackagerService {
     t_snapshot_packager: JoinHandle<()>,
 }
 
-const MAX_SNAPSHOT_HASHES: usize = 24;
-
 impl SnapshotPackagerService {
     pub fn new(
         snapshot_package_receiver: SnapshotPackageReceiver,
diff --git a/validator/src/main.rs b/validator/src/main.rs
index c316f146fe5b55..a8fbc717e03586 100644
--- a/validator/src/main.rs
+++ b/validator/src/main.rs
@@ -93,12 +93,15 @@ fn download_file(url: &str, destination_file: &Path) -> Result<(), String> {
     let progress_bar = new_spinner_progress_bar();
     progress_bar.set_message(&format!("{}Downloading {}...", TRUCK, url));
 
-    let client = reqwest::blocking::Client::new();
-    let response = client.get(url).send().map_err(|err| err.to_string())?;
+    let response = reqwest::blocking::Client::new()
+        .get(url)
+        .send()
+        .and_then(|response| response.error_for_status())
+        .map_err(|err| {
+            progress_bar.finish_and_clear();
+            err.to_string()
+        })?;
 
-    let response = response
-        .error_for_status()
-        .map_err(|err| format!("Unable to download {}: {}", url, err))?;
     let download_size = {
         response
             .headers()
@@ -139,9 +142,8 @@ fn download_file(url: &str, destination_file: &Path) -> Result<(), String> {
         response,
     };
 
-    let mut file = File::create(&temp_destination_file)
-        .map_err(|err| format!("Unable to create {:?}: {:?}", temp_destination_file, err))?;
-    std::io::copy(&mut source, &mut file)
+    File::create(&temp_destination_file)
+        .and_then(|mut file| std::io::copy(&mut source, &mut file))
         .map_err(|err| format!("Unable to write {:?}: {:?}", temp_destination_file, err))?;
 
     source.progress_bar.finish_and_clear();
@@ -1138,7 +1140,12 @@ pub fn main() {
                 })
                 .and_then(|_| {
                     if let Some(snapshot_hash) = snapshot_hash {
-                        download_snapshot(&rpc_contact_info.rpc, &ledger_path, snapshot_hash)
+                        rpc_client.get_slot()
+                            .map_err(|err| format!("Failed to get RPC node slot: {}", err))
+                            .and_then(|slot| {
+                               info!("RPC node root slot: {}", slot);
+                               download_snapshot(&rpc_contact_info.rpc, &ledger_path, snapshot_hash)
+                            })
                     } else {
                         Ok(())
                     }