diff --git a/lib/blockchain.go b/lib/blockchain.go
index 9ef607518..37c1fe95c 100644
--- a/lib/blockchain.go
+++ b/lib/blockchain.go
@@ -584,6 +584,7 @@ func NewBlockIndex(db *badger.DB, snapshot *Snapshot, tipNode *BlockNode) *Block
 		snapshot:         snapshot,
 		blockIndexByHash: blockIndexByHash,
 		tip:              tipNode,
+		headerTip:        tipNode,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/server.go b/lib/server.go
index c3269c875..fa067edee 100644
--- a/lib/server.go
+++ b/lib/server.go
@@ -1126,9 +1126,6 @@ func (srv *Server) shouldVerifySignatures(header *MsgDeSoHeader, isHeaderChain b
 	if checkpointBlockInfo == nil {
 		return true, false
 	}
-	// TODO: @diamondhands - why can't we move this up in this function? It seems like we can avoid
-	// checking if we have the checkpoint block node if the header we're processing is below the height.
-	// This will save us 17-18% of the time it takes to process headers.
 	// If the current header has a height below the checkpoint block height, we should skip signature verification
 	// even if we've seen the checkpoint block hash.
 	if header.Height < checkpointBlockInfo.Height {