diff --git a/components/net/sf/briar/transport/ConnectionReaderImpl.java b/components/net/sf/briar/transport/ConnectionReaderImpl.java
index 59a84bb4a..258eb824e 100644
--- a/components/net/sf/briar/transport/ConnectionReaderImpl.java
+++ b/components/net/sf/briar/transport/ConnectionReaderImpl.java
@@ -119,10 +119,6 @@ implements ConnectionReader {
 			int read = in.read(payload, offset,
 					payloadLen + paddingLen - offset);
 			if(read == -1) throw new EOFException(); // Unexpected EOF
-			// The padding must be set to zero
-			for(int i = offset; i < offset + read; i++) {
-				if(payload[i] != 0) throw new FormatException();
-			}
 			mac.update(payload, offset, read);
 			offset += read;
 		}