diff --git a/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs b/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs
index a394d91af0..7d6333e216 100644
--- a/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs
@@ -1009,6 +1009,10 @@ where
             }
             Err(err) => {
                 debug!(target: "consensus::engine", ?err, "Failed to insert downloaded block");
+                if !matches!(err.kind(), InsertBlockErrorKind::Internal(_)) {
+                    // non-internal error kinds occurr if the payload is invalid
+                    self.invalid_headers.insert(err.into_block().header);
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/crates/interfaces/src/blockchain_tree/error.rs b/crates/interfaces/src/blockchain_tree/error.rs
index 2f48b91dfc..36012996b6 100644
--- a/crates/interfaces/src/blockchain_tree/error.rs
+++ b/crates/interfaces/src/blockchain_tree/error.rs
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@ impl InsertBlockError {
         Self::new(block, InsertBlockErrorKind::Execution(error))
     }
 
+    /// Consumes the error and returns the block that resulted in the error
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn into_block(self) -> SealedBlock {
+        self.inner.block
+    }
+
     /// Returns the error kind
     #[inline]
     pub fn kind(&self) -> &InsertBlockErrorKind {