diff --git a/tiledb/sm/query/readers/reader_base.cc b/tiledb/sm/query/readers/reader_base.cc
index cf5cca70e85..a04cf04c5b1 100644
--- a/tiledb/sm/query/readers/reader_base.cc
+++ b/tiledb/sm/query/readers/reader_base.cc
@@ -718,7 +718,11 @@ ReaderBase::load_tile_chunk_data(
   const FilterPipeline& filters = array_schema_.filters(name);
   if (!var_size ||
       !filters.skip_offsets_filtering(t_var->type(), array_schema_.version())) {
-    unfiltered_tile_size = t->load_chunk_data(tile_chunk_data, var_size);
+    if (var_size) {
+      unfiltered_tile_size = t->load_offsets_chunk_data(tile_chunk_data);
+    } else {
+      unfiltered_tile_size = t->load_chunk_data(tile_chunk_data);
+    }
   }
 
   if (var_size) {
diff --git a/tiledb/sm/query/test/unit_query_condition.cc b/tiledb/sm/query/test/unit_query_condition.cc
index 1c4837266bb..8c5fb6260db 100644
--- a/tiledb/sm/query/test/unit_query_condition.cc
+++ b/tiledb/sm/query/test/unit_query_condition.cc
@@ -2675,9 +2675,6 @@ void test_apply_cells_sparse<char*>(
   auto expected_iter = expected_cell_idx_vec.begin();
   for (uint64_t cell_idx = 0; cell_idx < cells; ++cell_idx) {
     if (result_bitmap[cell_idx]) {
-      if (*expected_iter != cell_idx) {
-        std::cout << "hello";
-      }
       REQUIRE(*expected_iter == cell_idx);
       ++expected_iter;
     }
diff --git a/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.cc b/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.cc
index 3a15ec1b43f..b873858e300 100644
--- a/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.cc
+++ b/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.cc
@@ -249,38 +249,17 @@ Status Tile::zip_coordinates() {
   return Status::Ok();
 }
 
-uint64_t Tile::load_chunk_data(ChunkData& unfiltered_tile, bool is_offsets) {
-  assert(filtered());
-
-  Deserializer deserializer(filtered_data(), filtered_size());
-
-  // Make a pass over the tile to get the chunk information.
-  uint64_t num_chunks = deserializer.read<uint64_t>();
-
-  auto& filtered_chunks = unfiltered_tile.filtered_chunks_;
-  auto& chunk_offsets = unfiltered_tile.chunk_offsets_;
-  filtered_chunks.resize(num_chunks);
-  chunk_offsets.resize(num_chunks);
-  uint64_t total_orig_size = 0;
-  for (uint64_t i = 0; i < num_chunks; i++) {
-    auto& chunk = filtered_chunks[i];
-    chunk.unfiltered_data_size_ = deserializer.read<uint32_t>();
-    chunk.filtered_data_size_ = deserializer.read<uint32_t>();
-    chunk.filtered_metadata_size_ = deserializer.read<uint32_t>();
-    chunk.filtered_metadata_ = const_cast<void*>(
-        deserializer.get_ptr<void>(chunk.filtered_metadata_size_));
-    chunk.filtered_data_ = const_cast<void*>(
-        deserializer.get_ptr<void>(chunk.filtered_data_size_));
-
-    chunk_offsets[i] = total_orig_size;
-    total_orig_size += chunk.unfiltered_data_size_;
-  }
+uint64_t Tile::load_chunk_data(ChunkData& chunk_data) {
+  return load_chunk_data(chunk_data, size());
+}
 
-  if (total_orig_size + (is_offsets ? sizeof(uint64_t) : 0) != size()) {
-    throw TileStatusException("Incorrect unfiltered tile size allocated.");
+uint64_t Tile::load_offsets_chunk_data(ChunkData& chunk_data) {
+  auto s = size();
+  if (s < 8) {
+    throw std::runtime_error("Offsets tile should at least be 8 bytes.");
   }
 
-  return total_orig_size;
+  return load_chunk_data(chunk_data, s - 8);
 }
 
 void Tile::swap(Tile& tile) {
@@ -320,5 +299,44 @@ void WriterTile::swap(WriterTile& tile) {
   std::swap(filtered_buffer_, tile.filtered_buffer_);
 }
 
+/* ********************************* */
+/*         PRIVATE FUNCTIONS         */
+/* ********************************* */
+
+uint64_t Tile::load_chunk_data(
+    ChunkData& unfiltered_tile, uint64_t expected_original_size) {
+  assert(filtered());
+
+  Deserializer deserializer(filtered_data(), filtered_size());
+
+  // Make a pass over the tile to get the chunk information.
+  uint64_t num_chunks = deserializer.read<uint64_t>();
+
+  auto& filtered_chunks = unfiltered_tile.filtered_chunks_;
+  auto& chunk_offsets = unfiltered_tile.chunk_offsets_;
+  filtered_chunks.resize(num_chunks);
+  chunk_offsets.resize(num_chunks);
+  uint64_t total_orig_size = 0;
+  for (uint64_t i = 0; i < num_chunks; i++) {
+    auto& chunk = filtered_chunks[i];
+    chunk.unfiltered_data_size_ = deserializer.read<uint32_t>();
+    chunk.filtered_data_size_ = deserializer.read<uint32_t>();
+    chunk.filtered_metadata_size_ = deserializer.read<uint32_t>();
+    chunk.filtered_metadata_ = const_cast<void*>(
+        deserializer.get_ptr<void>(chunk.filtered_metadata_size_));
+    chunk.filtered_data_ = const_cast<void*>(
+        deserializer.get_ptr<void>(chunk.filtered_data_size_));
+
+    chunk_offsets[i] = total_orig_size;
+    total_orig_size += chunk.unfiltered_data_size_;
+  }
+
+  if (total_orig_size != expected_original_size) {
+    throw TileStatusException("Incorrect unfiltered tile size allocated.");
+  }
+
+  return total_orig_size;
+}
+
 }  // namespace sm
 }  // namespace tiledb
diff --git a/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.h b/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.h
index db2faae3e95..0360be55d0c 100644
--- a/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.h
+++ b/tiledb/sm/tile/tile.h
@@ -267,6 +267,31 @@ class Tile : public TileBase {
    */
   Status zip_coordinates();
 
+  /**
+   * Reads the chunk data of a tile buffer and populates a chunk data structure.
+   *
+   * @param chunk_data Tile chunk info, buffers and offsets.
+   * @return Original size.
+   */
+  uint64_t load_chunk_data(ChunkData& chunk_data);
+
+  /**
+   * Reads the chunk data of a tile offsets buffer and populates a chunk data
+   * structure.
+   *
+   * @param chunk_data Tile chunk info, buffers and offsets.
+   * @return Original size.
+   */
+  uint64_t load_offsets_chunk_data(ChunkData& chunk_data);
+
+  /** Swaps the contents (all field values) of this tile with the given tile. */
+  void swap(Tile& tile);
+
+ private:
+  /* ********************************* */
+  /*         PRIVATE FUNCTIONS         */
+  /* ********************************* */
+
   /**
    * Reads the chunk data of a tile buffer and populates a chunk data structure.
    *
@@ -291,15 +316,12 @@ class Tile : public TileBase {
    *   chunkN_data (uint8_t[])
    *
    * @param chunk_data Tile chunk info, buffers and offsets.
-   * @param is_offsets Does the tile contains offsets?
+   * @param expected_original_size Expected size for the tile.
    * @return Original size.
    */
-  uint64_t load_chunk_data(ChunkData& chunk_data, bool is_offsets = false);
-
-  /** Swaps the contents (all field values) of this tile with the given tile. */
-  void swap(Tile& tile);
+  uint64_t load_chunk_data(
+      ChunkData& chunk_data, uint64_t expected_original_size);
 
- private:
   /* ********************************* */
   /*         PRIVATE ATTRIBUTES        */
   /* ********************************* */