diff --git a/nodedb-codec/src/bounds.rs b/nodedb-codec/src/bounds.rs
index 278d0d525..d6e0a7f53 100644
--- a/nodedb-codec/src/bounds.rs
+++ b/nodedb-codec/src/bounds.rs
@@ -63,13 +63,27 @@ pub(crate) fn decoded_len(value: usize, codec: &str) -> Result<usize, CodecError
 /// The returned value is the original element count, suitable as the only
 /// argument to `Vec::with_capacity`. This centralizes overflow and resource
 /// checks for counts read from untrusted frames.
+///
+/// The element-size multiplication is carried out in 64-bit arithmetic rather
+/// than in `usize`. A 32-bit target cannot multiply a hostile `u32` count by a
+/// wide element at all, so doing it in `usize` turns a frame that is merely too
+/// large into a `Corrupt` "overflows usize" — the same frame is a clean
+/// `ResourceLimit` where `usize` is 64 bits. The ceiling is 64 MiB, far inside
+/// any `usize` the workspace builds for, so the 64-bit product is always within
+/// range when the check succeeds; only the comparison needed the wider type.
 pub(crate) fn checked_capacity(
     count: usize,
     element_size: usize,
     context: &str,
 ) -> Result<usize, CodecError> {
-    let bytes = checked_mul(count, element_size, context)?;
-    decoded_len(bytes, context)?;
+    let bytes = (count as u64).saturating_mul(element_size as u64);
+    if bytes > MAX_DECODED_BYTES as u64 {
+        return Err(CodecError::ResourceLimit {
+            resource: format!("{context} decoded bytes"),
+            requested: usize::try_from(bytes).unwrap_or(usize::MAX),
+            limit: MAX_DECODED_BYTES,
+        });
+    }
     Ok(count)
 }
 
@@ -102,8 +116,21 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn checked_capacity_rejects_usize_overflow() {
-        let error = checked_capacity(usize::MAX, 2, "test");
-        assert!(matches!(error, Err(CodecError::Corrupt { .. })));
+    fn checked_capacity_rejects_oversized_element_count() {
+        // `usize::MAX` elements of eight bytes each. Multiplying those in
+        // `usize` overflows, and on a 32-bit target even `u32::MAX` elements
+        // do; the classification is the resource limit either way, on every
+        // target the workspace builds for.
+        let error = checked_capacity(usize::MAX, 8, "test");
+        assert!(matches!(error, Err(CodecError::ResourceLimit { .. })));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn checked_capacity_rejects_wide_element_count_on_every_target() {
+        // The 32-bit case in the large: `u32::MAX` elements of eight bytes is
+        // 32 GiB at an element size that cannot be expressed in a 32-bit
+        // `usize`.
+        let error = checked_capacity(u32::MAX as usize, 8, "test");
+        assert!(matches!(error, Err(CodecError::ResourceLimit { .. })));
     }
 }
diff --git a/nodedb-codec/src/delta.rs b/nodedb-codec/src/delta.rs
index 86f3381cc..a19b3e43a 100644
--- a/nodedb-codec/src/delta.rs
+++ b/nodedb-codec/src/delta.rs
@@ -20,9 +20,7 @@
 
 use std::mem::size_of;
 
-use crate::bounds::{
-    checked_add, checked_capacity, checked_mul, decoded_len, encode_input_len, u32_to_usize,
-};
+use crate::bounds::{checked_add, checked_capacity, checked_mul, encode_input_len, u32_to_usize};
 use crate::error::CodecError;
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -198,8 +196,10 @@ fn encode_value_count(len: usize, codec: &str) -> Result<u32, CodecError> {
 }
 
 fn validate_value_count(count: usize, codec: &str) -> Result<(), CodecError> {
-    let bytes = checked_mul(count, size_of::<i64>(), "integer decoded bytes")?;
-    decoded_len(bytes, codec)?;
+    // See `checked_capacity`: the byte count is scaled in 64-bit arithmetic so
+    // a 32-bit target reports the resource limit rather than a `usize`
+    // overflow for a count it simply cannot express.
+    checked_capacity(count, size_of::<i64>(), codec)?;
     Ok(())
 }
 
diff --git a/nodedb-codec/src/double_delta.rs b/nodedb-codec/src/double_delta.rs
index e42cec162..a507c38b1 100644
--- a/nodedb-codec/src/double_delta.rs
+++ b/nodedb-codec/src/double_delta.rs
@@ -31,9 +31,7 @@
 
 use std::mem::size_of;
 
-use crate::bounds::{
-    checked_add, checked_capacity, checked_mul, decoded_len, encode_input_len, u32_to_usize,
-};
+use crate::bounds::{checked_add, checked_capacity, encode_input_len, u32_to_usize};
 use crate::error::CodecError;
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -334,8 +332,10 @@ fn encode_value_count(len: usize, codec: &str) -> Result<u32, CodecError> {
 }
 
 fn validate_value_count(count: usize, codec: &str) -> Result<(), CodecError> {
-    let bytes = checked_mul(count, size_of::<i64>(), "integer decoded bytes")?;
-    decoded_len(bytes, codec)?;
+    // See `checked_capacity`: the byte count is scaled in 64-bit arithmetic so
+    // a 32-bit target reports the resource limit rather than a `usize`
+    // overflow for a count it simply cannot express.
+    checked_capacity(count, size_of::<i64>(), codec)?;
     Ok(())
 }
 
diff --git a/nodedb-codec/src/fastlanes/header.rs b/nodedb-codec/src/fastlanes/header.rs
index bb5079a45..54b0f3303 100644
--- a/nodedb-codec/src/fastlanes/header.rs
+++ b/nodedb-codec/src/fastlanes/header.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 use std::mem::size_of;
 
-use crate::bounds::{checked_mul, checked_range, decoded_len, u32_to_usize};
+use crate::bounds::{checked_capacity, checked_mul, checked_range, u32_to_usize};
 use crate::error::CodecError;
 
 use super::block::skip_block;
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ pub(super) fn parse_header(data: &[u8]) -> Result<(usize, usize), CodecError> {
         u32::from_le_bytes([header[0], header[1], header[2], header[3]]),
         "FastLanes value count",
     )?;
-    let decoded_bytes = checked_mul(total_count, size_of::<i64>(), "FastLanes decoded bytes")?;
-    decoded_len(decoded_bytes, "FastLanes")?;
+    // Rejects a hostile count before it is used for block math; see
+    // `checked_capacity` for why the scaling is done in 64-bit arithmetic.
+    checked_capacity(total_count, size_of::<i64>(), "FastLanes")?;
     let block_count = usize::from(u16::from_le_bytes([header[4], header[5]]));
     let expected_blocks = total_count.div_ceil(BLOCK_SIZE);
     if block_count != expected_blocks {