diff --git a/src/disktree/dptr.rs b/src/disktree/dptr.rs
index 7500591..0ee907e 100644
--- a/src/disktree/dptr.rs
+++ b/src/disktree/dptr.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,25 @@ where
     Ok(dptr)
 }
 
+/// Read 5 * `n` bytes from disk, for up to n=7, and parses them as
+/// litte-endien `u64`s.
+pub(crate) fn read_n<R>(src: &mut R, n: usize) -> Result<Vec<u64>>
+where
+    R: Read + Seek,
+{
+    assert!(n <= 7);
+    let mut buf = [0; DPTR_SZ * 7];
+    src.read_exact(&mut buf[..(DPTR_SZ * n)])?;
+    Ok(buf[..(DPTR_SZ * n)]
+        .chunks(DPTR_SZ)
+        .map(|chunk| {
+            let mut buf = [0u8; size_of::<u64>()];
+            buf[..DPTR_SZ].copy_from_slice(chunk);
+            u64::from_le_bytes(buf)
+        })
+        .collect())
+}
+
 /// Writes the 5 lower bytes of a `u64` to disk.
 pub(crate) fn write<W>(dst: &mut W, dptr: u64) -> Result
 where
diff --git a/src/disktree/iter.rs b/src/disktree/iter.rs
index c8de2a7..65f55d8 100644
--- a/src/disktree/iter.rs
+++ b/src/disktree/iter.rs
@@ -48,24 +48,22 @@ where
     fn read_node(&mut self, dptr: u64) -> Result<Node> {
         self.seek_to(dptr)?;
         let node_tag = self.rdr.read_u8()?;
-        let base_pos = self.rdr.stream_position()?;
+        let base_pos = dptr + std::mem::size_of_val(&node_tag) as u64;
+        debug_assert_eq!(base_pos, self.rdr.stream_position().unwrap());
         assert!(node_tag == 0 || node_tag > 0b1000_0000);
-        let node = if node_tag == 0 {
-            Node::Leaf(base_pos)
+        if node_tag == 0 {
+            Ok(Node::Leaf(base_pos))
         } else {
             let mut buf = self.node_buf();
+            let n_children = (node_tag & 0b0111_1111).count_ones() as usize;
+            let mut child_dptrs = dptr::read_n(&mut self.rdr, n_children)?;
             for digit in (0..7).rev() {
                 if node_tag & (1 << digit) != 0 {
-                    let bit_cnt = (((node_tag as u16) << (8 - digit)) & 0xFF).count_ones();
-                    let child_dptr_pos = base_pos + (bit_cnt as u64 * dptr::DPTR_SZ as u64);
-                    self.seek_to(child_dptr_pos)?;
-                    let child_dptr = dptr::read(&mut self.rdr)?;
-                    buf.push((digit, child_dptr));
+                    buf.push((digit, child_dptrs.pop().unwrap()));
                 }
             }
-            Node::Parent(buf)
-        };
-        Ok(node)
+            Ok(Node::Parent(buf))
+        }
     }
 
     fn node_buf(&mut self) -> Vec<(u8, u64)> {