diff --git a/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn.go b/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn.go
index ec11e504f4..098982f97f 100644
--- a/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn.go
+++ b/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn.go
@@ -200,9 +200,6 @@ func MergeAvailableIntoPartsMetadata(base *ethpb.PartialDataColumnPartsMetadata,
 	if base == nil {
 		return nil, errors.New("base is nil")
 	}
-	if base.Available.Len() != additionalAvailable.Len() {
-		return nil, errors.New("available length mismatch")
-	}
 	if base.Requests.Len() != additionalAvailable.Len() {
 		return nil, errors.New("requests length mismatch")
 	}
diff --git a/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn_test.go b/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn_test.go
index 4a797f783f..bb4fa4c8ef 100644
--- a/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn_test.go
+++ b/consensus-types/blocks/partialdatacolumn_test.go
@@ -494,11 +494,11 @@ func TestMergeAvailableIntoPartsMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name: "available length mismatch",
 			base: &ethpb.PartialDataColumnPartsMetadata{
-				Available: bitfield.NewBitlist(4),
+				Available: bitfield.NewBitlist(3),
 				Requests:  bitfield.NewBitlist(4),
 			},
-			add:       bitfield.NewBitlist(3),
-			expectErr: "available length mismatch",
+			add:       bitfield.NewBitlist(4),
+			expectErr: "bitlists are different lengths",
 		},
 		{
 			name: "requests length mismatch",
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ func TestPartialDataColumn_updateReceivedStateOutgoing(t *testing.T) {
 			run: func(t *testing.T, p *PartialDataColumn) {
 				recvd := mustMarshalMeta(t, testPeerMeta(4, nil, allSet(4)))
 				_, err := p.updateReceivedStateOutgoing(recvd, testBitlist(3, 1))
-				require.ErrorContains(t, "available length mismatch", err)
+				require.ErrorContains(t, "requests length mismatch", err)
 			},
 		},
 		{