diff --git a/src/manysearch.rs b/src/manysearch.rs
index 26a4b967..861598d8 100644
--- a/src/manysearch.rs
+++ b/src/manysearch.rs
@@ -98,8 +98,7 @@ pub fn manysearch(
                             .downsample_scaled(scaled)
                             .expect("cannot downsample search minhash to requested scaled");
                         for query in query_sketchlist.iter() {
-                            // avoid calculating details unless there is overlap
-
+                            // be paranoid and confirm scaled match.
                             if query.minhash.scaled() != scaled {
                                 panic!("different query scaled");
                             }
diff --git a/src/multisearch.rs b/src/multisearch.rs
index 2eb79107..d672cc24 100644
--- a/src/multisearch.rs
+++ b/src/multisearch.rs
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ pub fn multisearch(
     };
 
     let ksize = selection.ksize().unwrap() as f64;
+    let expected_scaled = scaled; // nicer name.
 
     let mut new_selection = selection;
     new_selection.set_scaled(scaled as u32);
@@ -86,8 +87,13 @@ pub fn multisearch(
                     eprintln!("Processed {} comparisons", i);
                 }
 
-                if query.minhash.scaled() != against.minhash.scaled() {
-                    panic!("different scaled");
+                // be paranoid and check scaled.
+                if query.minhash.scaled() != set_scaled {
+                    panic!("different scaled for query");
+                }
+
+                if against.minhash.scaled() != set_scaled {
+                    panic!("different scaled for against");
                 }
 
                 let overlap = query
diff --git a/src/pairwise.rs b/src/pairwise.rs
index f09beba3..0b903fc7 100644
--- a/src/pairwise.rs
+++ b/src/pairwise.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ pub fn pairwise(
     write_all: bool,
     output: Option<String>,
 ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    // @CTB test for heterogenous scaled.
+
     // Load all sigs into memory at once.
     let collection = load_collection(
         &siglist,
diff --git a/src/python/tests/test_manysearch.py b/src/python/tests/test_manysearch.py
index bf4019ad..350d3407 100644
--- a/src/python/tests/test_manysearch.py
+++ b/src/python/tests/test_manysearch.py
@@ -423,7 +423,8 @@ def test_simple_scaled_fail(runtmp, capfd, indexed, zip_query):
     make_file_list(against_list, [against])
 
     if indexed:
-        against_list = index_siglist(runtmp, against_list, runtmp.output("db"))
+        against_list = index_siglist(runtmp, against_list, runtmp.output("db"),
+                                     scaled=100_000)
 
     if zip_query:
         query_list = zip_siglist(runtmp, query_list, runtmp.output("query.zip"))