diff --git a/eth/downloader/downloader.go b/eth/downloader/downloader.go
index 56c54c8ed521d66f1428a1ff78b8407d5b16607f..1f52fc6db4d08f2cc21825874226e69e9a762031 100644
--- a/eth/downloader/downloader.go
+++ b/eth/downloader/downloader.go
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ func (d *Downloader) syncWithPeer(p *peerConnection, hash common.Hash, td *big.I
 	}
 	height := latest.Number.Uint64()
 
-	origin, err := d.findAncestor(p, height)
+	origin, err := d.findAncestor(p, latest)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -587,41 +587,85 @@ func (d *Downloader) fetchHeight(p *peerConnection) (*types.Header, error) {
 	}
 }
 
+// calculateRequestSpan calculates what headers to request from a peer when trying to determine the
+// common ancestor.
+// It returns parameters to be used for peer.RequestHeadersByNumber:
+//  from - starting block number
+//  count - number of headers to request
+//  skip - number of headers to skip
+// and also returns 'max', the last block which is expected to be returned by the remote peers,
+// given the (from,count,skip)
+func calculateRequestSpan(remoteHeight, localHeight uint64) (int64, int, int, uint64) {
+	var (
+		from     int
+		count    int
+		MaxCount = MaxHeaderFetch / 16
+	)
+	// requestHead is the highest block that we will ask for. If requestHead is not offset,
+	// the highest block that we will get is 16 blocks back from head, which means we
+	// will fetch 14 or 15 blocks unnecessarily in the case the height difference
+	// between us and the peer is 1-2 blocks, which is most common
+	requestHead := int(remoteHeight) - 1
+	if requestHead < 0 {
+		requestHead = 0
+	}
+	// requestBottom is the lowest block we want included in the query
+	// Ideally, we want to include just below own head
+	requestBottom := int(localHeight - 1)
+	if requestBottom < 0 {
+		requestBottom = 0
+	}
+	totalSpan := requestHead - requestBottom
+	span := 1 + totalSpan/MaxCount
+	if span < 2 {
+		span = 2
+	}
+	if span > 16 {
+		span = 16
+	}
+
+	count = 1 + totalSpan/span
+	if count > MaxCount {
+		count = MaxCount
+	}
+	if count < 2 {
+		count = 2
+	}
+	from = requestHead - (count-1)*span
+	if from < 0 {
+		from = 0
+	}
+	max := from + (count-1)*span
+	return int64(from), count, span - 1, uint64(max)
+}
+
 // findAncestor tries to locate the common ancestor link of the local chain and
 // a remote peers blockchain. In the general case when our node was in sync and
 // on the correct chain, checking the top N links should already get us a match.
 // In the rare scenario when we ended up on a long reorganisation (i.e. none of
 // the head links match), we do a binary search to find the common ancestor.
-func (d *Downloader) findAncestor(p *peerConnection, height uint64) (uint64, error) {
+func (d *Downloader) findAncestor(p *peerConnection, remoteHeader *types.Header) (uint64, error) {
 	// Figure out the valid ancestor range to prevent rewrite attacks
-	floor, ceil := int64(-1), d.lightchain.CurrentHeader().Number.Uint64()
-
-	if d.mode == FullSync {
-		ceil = d.blockchain.CurrentBlock().NumberU64()
-	} else if d.mode == FastSync {
-		ceil = d.blockchain.CurrentFastBlock().NumberU64()
+	var (
+		floor        = int64(-1)
+		localHeight  uint64
+		remoteHeight = remoteHeader.Number.Uint64()
+	)
+	switch d.mode {
+	case FullSync:
+		localHeight = d.blockchain.CurrentBlock().NumberU64()
+	case FastSync:
+		localHeight = d.blockchain.CurrentFastBlock().NumberU64()
+	default:
+		localHeight = d.lightchain.CurrentHeader().Number.Uint64()
 	}
-	if ceil >= MaxForkAncestry {
-		floor = int64(ceil - MaxForkAncestry)
+	p.log.Debug("Looking for common ancestor", "local", localHeight, "remote", remoteHeight)
+	if localHeight >= MaxForkAncestry {
+		floor = int64(localHeight - MaxForkAncestry)
 	}
-	p.log.Debug("Looking for common ancestor", "local", ceil, "remote", height)
 
-	// Request the topmost blocks to short circuit binary ancestor lookup
-	head := ceil
-	if head > height {
-		head = height
-	}
-	from := int64(head) - int64(MaxHeaderFetch)
-	if from < 0 {
-		from = 0
-	}
-	// Span out with 15 block gaps into the future to catch bad head reports
-	limit := 2 * MaxHeaderFetch / 16
-	count := 1 + int((int64(ceil)-from)/16)
-	if count > limit {
-		count = limit
-	}
-	go p.peer.RequestHeadersByNumber(uint64(from), count, 15, false)
+	from, count, skip, max := calculateRequestSpan(remoteHeight, localHeight)
+	go p.peer.RequestHeadersByNumber(uint64(from), count, skip, false)
 
 	// Wait for the remote response to the head fetch
 	number, hash := uint64(0), common.Hash{}
@@ -647,9 +691,10 @@ func (d *Downloader) findAncestor(p *peerConnection, height uint64) (uint64, err
 				return 0, errEmptyHeaderSet
 			}
 			// Make sure the peer's reply conforms to the request
-			for i := 0; i < len(headers); i++ {
-				if number := headers[i].Number.Int64(); number != from+int64(i)*16 {
-					p.log.Warn("Head headers broke chain ordering", "index", i, "requested", from+int64(i)*16, "received", number)
+			for i, header := range headers {
+				expectNumber := from + int64(i)*int64((skip+1))
+				if number := header.Number.Int64(); number != expectNumber {
+					p.log.Warn("Head headers broke chain ordering", "index", i, "requested", expectNumber, "received", number)
 					return 0, errInvalidChain
 				}
 			}
@@ -657,20 +702,15 @@ func (d *Downloader) findAncestor(p *peerConnection, height uint64) (uint64, err
 			finished = true
 			for i := len(headers) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
 				// Skip any headers that underflow/overflow our requested set
-				if headers[i].Number.Int64() < from || headers[i].Number.Uint64() > ceil {
+				if headers[i].Number.Int64() < from || headers[i].Number.Uint64() > max {
 					continue
 				}
 				// Otherwise check if we already know the header or not
 				h := headers[i].Hash()
 				n := headers[i].Number.Uint64()
-				if (d.mode == FullSync && d.blockchain.HasBlock(h, n)) || (d.mode != FullSync && d.lightchain.HasHeader(h, n)) {
+				if (d.mode == FullSync && d.blockchain.HasBlock(h, n)) ||
+					(d.mode != FullSync && d.lightchain.HasHeader(h, n)) {
 					number, hash = n, h
-
-					// If every header is known, even future ones, the peer straight out lied about its head
-					if number > height && i == limit-1 {
-						p.log.Warn("Lied about chain head", "reported", height, "found", number)
-						return 0, errStallingPeer
-					}
 					break
 				}
 			}
@@ -694,7 +734,7 @@ func (d *Downloader) findAncestor(p *peerConnection, height uint64) (uint64, err
 		return number, nil
 	}
 	// Ancestor not found, we need to binary search over our chain
-	start, end := uint64(0), head
+	start, end := uint64(0), remoteHeight
 	if floor > 0 {
 		start = uint64(floor)
 	}
diff --git a/eth/downloader/downloader_test.go b/eth/downloader/downloader_test.go
index 1fe02d8849dd278a95f0fd2d5a66d1af3106d642..b30976d721c1458787f76dcdc5418d88d0ac87bd 100644
--- a/eth/downloader/downloader_test.go
+++ b/eth/downloader/downloader_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/big"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
@@ -1479,3 +1480,78 @@ func (ftp *floodingTestPeer) RequestHeadersByNumber(from uint64, count, skip int
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+func TestRemoteHeaderRequestSpan(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		remoteHeight uint64
+		localHeight  uint64
+		expected     []int
+	}{
+		// Remote is way higher. We should ask for the remote head and go backwards
+		{1500, 1000,
+			[]int{1323, 1339, 1355, 1371, 1387, 1403, 1419, 1435, 1451, 1467, 1483, 1499},
+		},
+		{15000, 13006,
+			[]int{14823, 14839, 14855, 14871, 14887, 14903, 14919, 14935, 14951, 14967, 14983, 14999},
+		},
+		//Remote is pretty close to us. We don't have to fetch as many
+		{1200, 1150,
+			[]int{1149, 1154, 1159, 1164, 1169, 1174, 1179, 1184, 1189, 1194, 1199},
+		},
+		// Remote is equal to us (so on a fork with higher td)
+		// We should get the closest couple of ancestors
+		{1500, 1500,
+			[]int{1497, 1499},
+		},
+		// We're higher than the remote! Odd
+		{1000, 1500,
+			[]int{997, 999},
+		},
+		// Check some weird edgecases that it behaves somewhat rationally
+		{0, 1500,
+			[]int{0, 2},
+		},
+		{6000000, 0,
+			[]int{5999823, 5999839, 5999855, 5999871, 5999887, 5999903, 5999919, 5999935, 5999951, 5999967, 5999983, 5999999},
+		},
+		{0, 0,
+			[]int{0, 2},
+		},
+	}
+	reqs := func(from, count, span int) []int {
+		var r []int
+		num := from
+		for len(r) < count {
+			r = append(r, num)
+			num += span + 1
+		}
+		return r
+	}
+	for i, tt := range testCases {
+		from, count, span, max := calculateRequestSpan(tt.remoteHeight, tt.localHeight)
+		data := reqs(int(from), count, span)
+
+		if max != uint64(data[len(data)-1]) {
+			t.Errorf("test %d: wrong last value %d != %d", i, data[len(data)-1], max)
+		}
+		failed := false
+		if len(data) != len(tt.expected) {
+			failed = true
+			t.Errorf("test %d: length wrong, expected %d got %d", i, len(tt.expected), len(data))
+		} else {
+			for j, n := range data {
+				if n != tt.expected[j] {
+					failed = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		if failed {
+			res := strings.Replace(fmt.Sprint(data), " ", ",", -1)
+			exp := strings.Replace(fmt.Sprint(tt.expected), " ", ",", -1)
+			fmt.Printf("got: %v\n", res)
+			fmt.Printf("exp: %v\n", exp)
+			t.Errorf("test %d: wrong values", i)
+		}
+	}
+}