diff --git a/briar-api/src/main/java/org/briarproject/briar/api/socialbackup/ReturnShardPayload.java b/briar-api/src/main/java/org/briarproject/briar/api/socialbackup/ReturnShardPayload.java
index abf927cc1..3b163c4dc 100644
--- a/briar-api/src/main/java/org/briarproject/briar/api/socialbackup/ReturnShardPayload.java
+++ b/briar-api/src/main/java/org/briarproject/briar/api/socialbackup/ReturnShardPayload.java
@@ -1,15 +1,34 @@
 package org.briarproject.briar.api.socialbackup;
 
+import org.briarproject.bramble.api.FormatException;
+import org.briarproject.bramble.api.data.BdfList;
 import org.briarproject.bramble.api.nullsafety.NotNullByDefault;
 
 import javax.annotation.concurrent.Immutable;
 
+import static org.briarproject.bramble.util.ValidationUtils.checkSize;
+
 @Immutable
 @NotNullByDefault
 public class ReturnShardPayload {
 	private final Shard shard;
 	private final BackupPayload backupPayload;
 
+	// TODO this does not belong here
+	private static Shard parseShardMessage(BdfList body) throws FormatException {
+		// Message type, secret ID, shard
+		byte[] secretId = body.getRaw(1);
+		byte[] shard = body.getRaw(2);
+		return new Shard(secretId, shard);
+	}
+
+	public static ReturnShardPayload fromList(BdfList body) throws FormatException {
+		checkSize(body, 2);
+		Shard shard = parseShardMessage(body.getList(0));
+		BackupPayload backupPayload = new BackupPayload(body.getRaw(1));
+		return new ReturnShardPayload(shard, backupPayload);
+	}
+
 	public ReturnShardPayload(Shard shard, BackupPayload backupPayload) {
 		this.shard = shard;
 		this.backupPayload = backupPayload;