diff --git a/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/node.rs b/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/node.rs
index 2e48180b..d69dfebb 100644
--- a/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/node.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/node.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 /// padding: [u8] // empty space between cell_pointers and cells
 /// cells: [Cell; n]
 /// value cell: [u8]
-/// overflow cell: (u64, [NodePointer]) | semantically, (value_size, [NodePointer]).
+/// overflow cell: (u64, u256, [NodePointer]) | semantically, (value_size, value_hash, [NodePointer]).
 /// ```
 ///
 /// | n | [(key ++ offset); n] | ----  | [[u8]; n] |
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ pub const MAX_LEAF_VALUE_SIZE: usize = (LEAF_NODE_BODY_SIZE / 3) - 32;
 /// The maximum number of node pointers which may appear directly in an overflow cell.
 ///
 /// Note that this gives an overflow value cell maximum size of 100 bytes.
-pub const MAX_OVERFLOW_CELL_NODE_POINTERS: usize = 23;
+pub const MAX_OVERFLOW_CELL_NODE_POINTERS: usize = 15;
 
 /// We use the high bit to encode whether a cell is an overflow cell.
 const OVERFLOW_BIT: u16 = 1 << 15;
diff --git a/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/overflow.rs b/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/overflow.rs
index d938e0c1..4bcdb068 100644
--- a/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/overflow.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/beatree/leaf/overflow.rs
@@ -89,24 +89,27 @@ pub fn chunk(
 }
 
 /// Decode an overflow cell, returning the size of the value plus the pages numbers within the cell.
-pub fn decode_cell<'a>(raw: &'a [u8]) -> (usize, impl Iterator<Item = PageNumber> + 'a) {
-    assert!(raw.len() >= 12);
+pub fn decode_cell<'a>(raw: &'a [u8]) -> (usize, [u8; 32], impl Iterator<Item = PageNumber> + 'a) {
+    // the minimum legal size is the length plus one page pointer plus the value hash.
+    assert!(raw.len() >= 8 + 4 + 32);
     assert_eq!(raw.len() % 4, 0);
 
     let value_size = u64::from_le_bytes(raw[0..8].try_into().unwrap());
+    let value_hash: [u8; 32] = raw[8..40].try_into().unwrap();
 
-    let iter = raw[8..]
+    let iter = raw[40..]
         .chunks(4)
         .map(|slice| PageNumber(u32::from_le_bytes(slice.try_into().unwrap())));
 
-    (value_size as usize, iter)
+    (value_size as usize, value_hash, iter)
 }
 
 /// Encode a list of page numbers into an overflow cell.
-pub fn encode_cell(value_size: usize, pages: &[PageNumber]) -> Vec<u8> {
-    let mut v = vec![0u8; 8 + pages.len() * 4];
+pub fn encode_cell(value_size: usize, value_hash: [u8; 32], pages: &[PageNumber]) -> Vec<u8> {
+    let mut v = vec![0u8; 8 + 32 + pages.len() * 4];
     v[0..8].copy_from_slice(&(value_size as u64).to_le_bytes());
-    for (pn, slice) in pages.iter().zip(v[8..].chunks_mut(4)) {
+    v[8..40].copy_from_slice(&value_hash);
+    for (pn, slice) in pages.iter().zip(v[40..].chunks_mut(4)) {
         slice.copy_from_slice(&pn.0.to_le_bytes());
     }
 
@@ -170,7 +173,7 @@ fn needed_pages(size: usize) -> usize {
 
 /// Read a large value from pages referenced by an overflow cell.
 pub fn read(cell: &[u8], leaf_reader: &StoreReader) -> Vec<u8> {
-    let (value_size, cell_pages) = decode_cell(cell);
+    let (value_size, _, cell_pages) = decode_cell(cell);
     let total_pages = total_needed_pages(value_size);
 
     let mut value = Vec::with_capacity(value_size);
@@ -193,7 +196,7 @@ pub fn read(cell: &[u8], leaf_reader: &StoreReader) -> Vec<u8> {
 
 /// Iterate all pages related to an overflow cell and push onto a free-list.
 pub fn delete(cell: &[u8], leaf_reader: &StoreReader, freed: &mut Vec<PageNumber>) {
-    let (value_size, cell_pages) = decode_cell(cell);
+    let (value_size, _, cell_pages) = decode_cell(cell);
     let total_pages = total_needed_pages(value_size);
 
     let start = freed.len();
diff --git a/nomt/src/beatree/mod.rs b/nomt/src/beatree/mod.rs
index 23501ab1..39eea9c9 100644
--- a/nomt/src/beatree/mod.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/beatree/mod.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ use allocator::{PageNumber, Store, StoreReader, FREELIST_EMPTY};
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use branch::BRANCH_NODE_SIZE;
 use crossbeam_channel::Receiver;
+use leaf::node::MAX_LEAF_VALUE_SIZE;
+use nomt_core::trie::ValueHash;
 use parking_lot::{ArcMutexGuard, Mutex, RwLock};
 use std::{collections::BTreeMap, fs::File, mem, path::Path, sync::Arc};
 use threadpool::ThreadPool;
@@ -38,10 +40,10 @@ struct Shared {
     leaf_store_rd: StoreReader,
     /// Primary staging collects changes that are committed but not synced yet. Upon sync, changes
     /// from here are moved to secondary staging.
-    primary_staging: BTreeMap<Key, Option<Vec<u8>>>,
+    primary_staging: BTreeMap<Key, ValueChange>,
     /// Secondary staging collects committed changes that are currently being synced. This is None
     /// if there is no sync in progress.
-    secondary_staging: Option<Arc<BTreeMap<Key, Option<Vec<u8>>>>>,
+    secondary_staging: Option<Arc<BTreeMap<Key, ValueChange>>>,
     leaf_cache: leaf_cache::LeafCache,
 }
 
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ struct Sync {
 }
 
 impl Shared {
-    fn take_staged_changeset(&mut self) -> Arc<BTreeMap<Key, Option<Vec<u8>>>> {
+    fn take_staged_changeset(&mut self) -> Arc<BTreeMap<Key, ValueChange>> {
         assert!(self.secondary_staging.is_none());
         let staged = Arc::new(mem::take(&mut self.primary_staging));
         self.secondary_staging = Some(staged.clone());
@@ -127,12 +129,12 @@ impl Tree {
 
         // First look up in the primary staging which contains the most recent changes.
         if let Some(val) = shared.primary_staging.get(&key) {
-            return val.clone();
+            return val.as_option().map(|v| v.to_vec());
         }
 
         // Then check the secondary staging which is a bit older, but fresher still than the btree.
         if let Some(val) = shared.secondary_staging.as_ref().and_then(|x| x.get(&key)) {
-            return val.clone();
+            return val.as_option().map(|v| v.to_vec());
         }
 
         // Finally, look up in the btree.
@@ -168,7 +170,7 @@ impl Tree {
     /// The changeset is applied atomically. If the changeset is empty, the btree is not modified.
     // There might be some temptation to unify this with prepare_sync, but this should not be done
     // because in the future sync and commit will be called on different threads at different times.
-    fn commit(shared: &Arc<RwLock<Shared>>, changeset: Vec<(Key, Option<Vec<u8>>)>) {
+    fn commit(shared: &Arc<RwLock<Shared>>, changeset: Vec<(Key, ValueChange)>) {
         if changeset.is_empty() {
             return;
         }
@@ -245,6 +247,46 @@ impl Tree {
     }
 }
 
+/// A change in the value associated with a key.
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub enum ValueChange {
+    /// The key-value pair is deleted.
+    Delete,
+    /// A new value small enough to fit in a leaf is inserted.
+    Insert(Vec<u8>),
+    /// A new value which requires an overflow page is inserted.
+    InsertOverflow(Vec<u8>, ValueHash),
+}
+
+impl ValueChange {
+    /// Create a [`ValueChange`] from an option, determining whether to use the normal or overflow
+    /// variant based on size.
+    pub fn from_option<T: crate::ValueHasher>(maybe_value: Option<Vec<u8>>) -> Self {
+        match maybe_value {
+            None => ValueChange::Delete,
+            Some(v) => Self::insert::<T>(v),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Create an insertion, determining whether to use the normal or overflow variant based on size.
+    pub fn insert<T: crate::ValueHasher>(v: Vec<u8>) -> Self {
+        if v.len() > MAX_LEAF_VALUE_SIZE {
+            let value_hash = T::hash_value(&v);
+            ValueChange::InsertOverflow(v, value_hash)
+        } else {
+            ValueChange::Insert(v)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Get the value bytes, optionally.
+    pub fn as_option(&self) -> Option<&[u8]> {
+        match self {
+            ValueChange::Delete => None,
+            ValueChange::Insert(ref v) | ValueChange::InsertOverflow(ref v, _) => Some(&v[..]),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Data generated during update
 pub struct SyncData {
     pub ln_freelist_pn: u32,
@@ -307,7 +349,7 @@ impl SyncController {
     /// Accepts a list of changes to be committed to the btree.
     ///
     /// Non-blocking.
-    pub fn begin_sync(&mut self, changeset: Vec<(Key, Option<Vec<u8>>)>) {
+    pub fn begin_sync(&mut self, changeset: Vec<(Key, ValueChange)>) {
         let inner = self.inner.clone();
         self.inner.sync.tp.execute(move || {
             Tree::commit(&inner.shared, changeset);
diff --git a/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/leaf_stage.rs b/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/leaf_stage.rs
index 62e9c36a..009cd0fb 100644
--- a/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/leaf_stage.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/leaf_stage.rs
@@ -7,10 +7,7 @@ use threadpool::ThreadPool;
 use crate::beatree::{
     allocator::{PageNumber, StoreReader, SyncAllocator},
     index::Index,
-    leaf::{
-        node::{LeafNode, MAX_LEAF_VALUE_SIZE},
-        overflow,
-    },
+    leaf::{node::LeafNode, overflow},
     leaf_cache::LeafCache,
     ops::{
         search_branch,
@@ -23,7 +20,7 @@ use crate::beatree::{
             leaf_updater::{BaseLeaf, DigestResult as LeafDigestResult, LeafUpdater},
         },
     },
-    Key,
+    Key, ValueChange,
 };
 use crate::io::{IoCommand, IoHandle, IoKind, IoPool, PAGE_SIZE};
 
@@ -87,7 +84,7 @@ pub fn run(
     leaf_reader: StoreReader,
     leaf_writer: SyncAllocator,
     io_handle: IoHandle,
-    changeset: Arc<BTreeMap<Key, Option<Vec<u8>>>>,
+    changeset: Arc<BTreeMap<Key, ValueChange>>,
     thread_pool: ThreadPool,
     num_workers: usize,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<LeafStageOutput> {
@@ -101,16 +98,16 @@ pub fn run(
     let changeset = changeset
         .iter()
         .map(|(k, v)| match v {
-            Some(v) if v.len() <= MAX_LEAF_VALUE_SIZE => Ok((*k, Some((v.clone(), false)))),
-            Some(large_value) => {
+            ValueChange::Insert(v) => Ok((*k, Some((v.clone(), false)))),
+            ValueChange::InsertOverflow(large_value, value_hash) => {
                 let (pages, num_writes) =
                     overflow::chunk(&large_value, &leaf_writer, &page_pool, &io_handle)?;
                 overflow_io += num_writes;
 
-                let cell = overflow::encode_cell(large_value.len(), &pages);
+                let cell = overflow::encode_cell(large_value.len(), value_hash.clone(), &pages);
                 Ok((*k, Some((cell, true))))
             }
-            None => Ok((*k, None)),
+            ValueChange::Delete => Ok((*k, None)),
         })
         .collect::<anyhow::Result<Vec<_>>>()?;
 
diff --git a/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/mod.rs b/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/mod.rs
index 592a9c27..d475466d 100644
--- a/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/mod.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/mod.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use crate::beatree::{
     leaf::node::LEAF_NODE_BODY_SIZE,
     leaf_cache::LeafCache,
     ops::get_key,
-    Key, SyncData,
+    Key, SyncData, ValueChange,
 };
 use crate::io::{IoHandle, PagePool};
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ const LEAF_BULK_SPLIT_TARGET: usize = (LEAF_NODE_BODY_SIZE * 3) / 4;
 ///
 /// The changeset is a list of key value pairs to be added or removed from the btree.
 pub fn update(
-    changeset: Arc<BTreeMap<Key, Option<Vec<u8>>>>,
+    changeset: Arc<BTreeMap<Key, ValueChange>>,
     mut bbn_index: Index,
     leaf_cache: LeafCache,
     leaf_store: Store,
diff --git a/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/tests.rs b/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/tests.rs
index 9b5ebdb3..e09cff12 100644
--- a/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/tests.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/beatree/ops/update/tests.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use crate::{
                 leaf_stage::LeafStageOutput, LEAF_MERGE_THRESHOLD,
             },
         },
-        Index,
+        Index, ValueChange,
     },
     io::{start_test_io_pool, IoPool, PagePool},
 };
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ fn init_beatree() -> TreeData {
             initial_items
                 .clone()
                 .into_iter()
-                .map(|(k, v)| (k, Some(v)))
+                .map(|(k, v)| (k, ValueChange::Insert(v)))
                 .collect(),
         ),
         Index::default(),
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ fn leaf_page_numbers(
 // given a changeset execute the leaf stage on top of a pre-initialized nomt-db
 fn exec_leaf_stage(
     commit_concurrency: usize,
-    changeset: BTreeMap<[u8; 32], Option<Vec<u8>>>,
+    changeset: BTreeMap<[u8; 32], ValueChange>,
 ) -> (LeafStageOutput, BTreeSet<PageNumber>) {
     let leaf_store = TREE_DATA.leaf_store();
     let leaf_reader = StoreReader::new(leaf_store.clone(), PAGE_POOL.clone());
@@ -317,17 +317,17 @@ fn leaf_stage_inner(insertions: BTreeMap<Key, u16>, deletions: Vec<u16>) -> Test
         .into_iter()
         // rescale deletions to contain indexes over only alredy present items in the db
         .map(|d| rescale(d, 0, KEYS.len()))
-        .map(|index| (KEYS[index], None))
+        .map(|index| (KEYS[index], ValueChange::Delete))
         .collect();
 
     let insertions: BTreeMap<_, _> = insertions
         .into_iter()
         // rescale raw_size to be between 0 and MAX_LEAF_VALUE_SIZE
         .map(|(k, raw_size)| (k, rescale(raw_size, 1, MAX_LEAF_VALUE_SIZE)))
-        .map(|(k, size)| (k.inner, Some(vec![170; size])))
+        .map(|(k, size)| (k.inner, ValueChange::Insert(vec![170; size])))
         .collect();
 
-    let mut changeset: BTreeMap<[u8; 32], Option<Vec<u8>>> = insertions.clone();
+    let mut changeset: BTreeMap<[u8; 32], ValueChange> = insertions.clone();
     changeset.extend(deletions.clone());
 
     let (leaf_stage_output, prior_leaf_page_numbers) = exec_leaf_stage(64, changeset);
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ fn leaf_stage_inner(insertions: BTreeMap<Key, u16>, deletions: Vec<u16>) -> Test
         deletions.into_iter().map(|(k, _)| k).collect(),
         insertions
             .into_iter()
-            .map(|(k, v)| (k, v.unwrap()))
+            .map(|(k, v)| (k, v.as_option().unwrap().to_vec()))
             .collect(),
     ))
 }
diff --git a/nomt/src/lib.rs b/nomt/src/lib.rs
index b53d7ecc..74e0208e 100644
--- a/nomt/src/lib.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/lib.rs
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ impl<T: HashAlgorithm> Nomt<T> {
         let mut tx = self.store.new_value_tx();
         for (path, read_write) in actuals {
             if let KeyReadWrite::Write(value) | KeyReadWrite::ReadThenWrite(_, value) = read_write {
-                tx.write_value(path, value);
+                tx.write_value::<T>(path, value);
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/nomt/src/store/mod.rs b/nomt/src/store/mod.rs
index 16df0950..ef60450c 100644
--- a/nomt/src/store/mod.rs
+++ b/nomt/src/store/mod.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use crate::{
     page_cache::PageCache,
     page_diff::PageDiff,
     rollback::Rollback,
+    ValueHasher,
 };
 use meta::Meta;
 use nomt_core::{page_id::PageId, trie::KeyPath};
@@ -260,13 +261,14 @@ impl Store {
 /// An atomic transaction on raw key/value pairs to be applied against the store
 /// with [`Store::commit`].
 pub struct ValueTransaction {
-    batch: Vec<(KeyPath, Option<Vec<u8>>)>,
+    batch: Vec<(KeyPath, beatree::ValueChange)>,
 }
 
 impl ValueTransaction {
     /// Write a value to flat storage.
-    pub fn write_value(&mut self, path: KeyPath, value: Option<Vec<u8>>) {
-        self.batch.push((path, value))
+    pub fn write_value<T: ValueHasher>(&mut self, path: KeyPath, value: Option<Vec<u8>>) {
+        self.batch
+            .push((path, beatree::ValueChange::from_option::<T>(value)))
     }
 }