diff --git a/zebra-state/src/lib.rs b/zebra-state/src/lib.rs
index 76d96a91..a470d25a 100644
--- a/zebra-state/src/lib.rs
+++ b/zebra-state/src/lib.rs
@@ -156,18 +156,15 @@ pub enum Response {
 /// Get the heights of the blocks for constructing a block_locator list
 fn block_locator_heights(tip_height: BlockHeight) -> impl Iterator<Item = BlockHeight> {
     // Stop at the reorg limit, or the genesis block.
-    let min_locator_height = tip_height
-        .0
-        .checked_sub(MAX_BLOCK_REORG_HEIGHT.0)
-        .map(BlockHeight)
-        .unwrap_or(BlockHeight(0));
+    let min_locator_height = tip_height.0.saturating_sub(MAX_BLOCK_REORG_HEIGHT.0);
     let locators = iter::successors(Some(1u32), |h| h.checked_mul(2))
-        .flat_map(move |step| tip_height.0.checked_sub(step))
-        .filter(move |&height| height > min_locator_height.0)
-        .map(BlockHeight);
-    let locators = iter::once(tip_height)
+        .flat_map(move |step| tip_height.0.checked_sub(step));
+    let locators = iter::once(tip_height.0)
         .chain(locators)
-        .chain(iter::once(min_locator_height));
+        .take_while(move |&height| height > min_locator_height)
+        .chain(iter::once(min_locator_height))
+        .map(BlockHeight);
+
     let locators: Vec<_> = locators.collect();
     tracing::info!(
         ?tip_height,
@@ -175,6 +172,7 @@ fn block_locator_heights(tip_height: BlockHeight) -> impl Iterator<Item = BlockH
         ?locators,
         "created block locator"
     );
+
     locators.into_iter()
 }
 
@@ -255,4 +253,59 @@ mod tests {
             Testnet => assert_eq!(path.file_name(), Some(OsStr::new("testnet"))),
         }
     }
+
+    /// Block heights, and the expected minimum block locator height
+    static BLOCK_LOCATOR_CASES: &[(u32, u32)] = &[
+        (0, 0),
+        (1, 0),
+        (10, 0),
+        (98, 0),
+        (99, 0),
+        (100, 1),
+        (101, 2),
+        (1000, 901),
+        (10000, 9901),
+    ];
+
+    /// Check that the block locator heights are sensible.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_block_locator_heights() {
+        for (height, min_height) in BLOCK_LOCATOR_CASES.iter().cloned() {
+            let locator = block_locator_heights(BlockHeight(height)).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+            assert!(!locator.is_empty(), "locators must not be empty");
+            if (height - min_height) > 1 {
+                assert!(
+                    locator.len() > 2,
+                    "non-trivial locators must have some intermediate heights"
+                );
+            }
+
+            assert_eq!(
+                locator[0],
+                BlockHeight(height),
+                "locators must start with the tip height"
+            );
+
+            // Check that the locator is sorted, and that it has no duplicates
+            // TODO: replace with dedup() and is_sorted_by() when sorting stabilises.
+            assert!(locator.windows(2).all(|v| match v {
+                [a, b] => a.0 > b.0,
+                _ => unreachable!("windows returns exact sized slices"),
+            }));
+
+            let final_height = locator[locator.len() - 1];
+            assert_eq!(
+                final_height,
+                BlockHeight(min_height),
+                "locators must end with the specified final height"
+            );
+            assert!(height - final_height.0 <= MAX_BLOCK_REORG_HEIGHT.0,
+                    format!("locator for {} must not be more than the maximum reorg height {} below the tip, but {} is {} blocks below the tip",
+                         height,
+                         MAX_BLOCK_REORG_HEIGHT.0,
+                         final_height.0,
+                         height - final_height.0));
+        }
+    }
 }