diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index 9afb8127..41024c8c 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@ SnapRAID HISTORY
    at the new "list" one.
  * Reduced memory usage avoiding to allocate unnecessary memory.
 
+4.4 2013/10
+===========
+ * Relaxed the check about small parity files, to allow to recover
+   after a failed sync before resizing the parity files.
+
 4.3 2013/10
 ===========
  * Fixed the scrub command with the -p0 option. Now it really scrubs
diff --git a/state.c b/state.c
index 313bab8e..16bc7a3b 100644
--- a/state.c
+++ b/state.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ void state_init(struct snapraid_state* state)
 	state->pool_device = 0;
 	state->lockfile[0] = 0;
 	state->level = 1; /* default is the lowest protection */
-	state->loaded_blockmax = 0;
+	state->loaded_paritymax = 0;
 	state->clear_undeterminate_hash = 0;
 	state->no_conf = 0;
 
@@ -892,6 +892,7 @@ static void state_read_text(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, STRE
 	struct snapraid_file* file;
 	block_off_t blockidx;
 	block_off_t blockmax;
+	block_off_t paritymax;
 	unsigned line;
 	unsigned count_file;
 	unsigned count_block;
@@ -904,6 +905,7 @@ static void state_read_text(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, STRE
 	line = 1;
 	blockidx = 0;
 	blockmax = 0;
+	paritymax = 0;
 	count_file = 0;
 	count_block = 0;
 	count_hardlink = 0;
@@ -961,6 +963,10 @@ static void state_read_text(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, STRE
 			switch (tag[0]) {
 			case 'b' :
 				block_state_set(block, BLOCK_STATE_BLK);
+
+				/* keep track of the required parity size */
+				if (v_pos + 1 > paritymax)
+					paritymax = v_pos + 1;
 				break;
 			case 'n' :
 				block_state_set(block, BLOCK_STATE_NEW);
@@ -1643,7 +1649,9 @@ static void state_read_text(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, STRE
 		fprintf(stderr, "Internal inconsistency in parity size in '%s' at line %u\n", path, line);
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
-	state->loaded_blockmax = blockmax;
+
+	/* set the required parity size */
+	state->loaded_paritymax = paritymax;
 
 	if (state->opt.verbose) {
 		printf("%8u files\n", count_file);
@@ -2037,6 +2045,7 @@ static void decoding_error(const char* path, STREAM* f)
 static void state_read_binary(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, STREAM* f)
 {
 	block_off_t blockmax;
+	block_off_t paritymax;
 	unsigned count_file;
 	unsigned count_block;
 	unsigned count_hardlink;
@@ -2049,6 +2058,7 @@ static void state_read_binary(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, ST
 	uint32_t mapping_max;
 
 	blockmax = 0;
+	paritymax = 0;
 	count_file = 0;
 	count_block = 0;
 	count_hardlink = 0;
@@ -2207,6 +2217,10 @@ static void state_read_binary(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, ST
 					switch (c) {
 					case 'b' :
 						block_state_set(block, BLOCK_STATE_BLK);
+
+						/* keep track of the required parity size */
+						if (v_pos + 1 > paritymax)
+							paritymax = v_pos + 1;
 						break;
 					case 'n' :
 						block_state_set(block, BLOCK_STATE_NEW);
@@ -2703,7 +2717,9 @@ static void state_read_binary(struct snapraid_state* state, const char* path, ST
 		fprintf(stderr, "Internal inconsistency in parity size in '%s' at offset %"PRIi64"\n", path, stell(f));
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
-	state->loaded_blockmax = blockmax;
+
+	/* set the required parity size */
+	state->loaded_paritymax = paritymax;
 
 	if (state->opt.verbose) {
 		printf("%8u files\n", count_file);
diff --git a/state.h b/state.h
index fc5e77ee..a8403be8 100644
--- a/state.h
+++ b/state.h
@@ -104,7 +104,17 @@ struct snapraid_state {
 	tommy_hashdyn importset; /**< Hashtable by hash of all the import blocks. */
 	tommy_hashdyn previmportset; /**< Hashtable by prevhash of all the import blocks. Valid only if we are in a rehash state. */
 	tommy_arrayblkof infoarr; /**< Block information array. */
-	block_off_t loaded_blockmax; /**< Previous size of the parity file, computed from the loaded state. */
+
+	/**
+	 * Required size of the parity file, computed from the loaded state.
+	 * This size only counts BLK blocks, ignoring NEW, CHG and DELETED ones.
+	 *
+	 * In normal case it's also the blockmax size returned by parity_size().
+	 * In case of interrupted sync, this is the position + 1 of the last BLK block.
+	 * Potentionally smaller than parity_size().
+	 */
+	block_off_t loaded_paritymax;
+
 	int clear_undeterminate_hash; /**< Clear all the hash from CHG and DELETED blocks when reading the state from an incomplete sync. */
 	time_t progress_start; /**< Start of processing for progress visualization. */
 	time_t progress_last; /**< Last update of progress visualization. */
diff --git a/sync.c b/sync.c
index 14550a10..15cf888b 100644
--- a/sync.c
+++ b/sync.c
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ int state_sync(struct snapraid_state* state, block_off_t blockstart, block_off_t
 
 	blockmax = parity_size(state);
 	size = blockmax * (data_off_t)state->block_size;
-	loaded_size = state->loaded_blockmax * (data_off_t)state->block_size;
+	loaded_size = state->loaded_paritymax * (data_off_t)state->block_size;
 
 	if (blockstart > blockmax) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Error in the starting block %u. It's bigger than the parity size %u.\n", blockstart, blockmax);