diff --git a/packages/evm/src/precompiles/01-ecrecover.ts b/packages/evm/src/precompiles/01-ecrecover.ts
index 06f4fdadf1..c7ab2e90d3 100644
--- a/packages/evm/src/precompiles/01-ecrecover.ts
+++ b/packages/evm/src/precompiles/01-ecrecover.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export function precompile01(opts: PrecompileInput): ExecResult {
     return OOGResult(opts.gasLimit)
   }
 
-  const data = setLengthRight(opts.data, 128)
+  const data = setLengthRight(opts.data, 128, { allowTruncate: true })
 
   const msgHash = data.subarray(0, 32)
   const v = data.subarray(32, 64)
diff --git a/packages/util/src/binaryTree.ts b/packages/util/src/binaryTree.ts
index 5995694840..0b329feb8e 100644
--- a/packages/util/src/binaryTree.ts
+++ b/packages/util/src/binaryTree.ts
@@ -279,14 +279,14 @@ export function decodeBinaryTreeLeafBasicData(
  */
 export function encodeBinaryTreeLeafBasicData(account: Account): Uint8Array {
   const encodedVersion = setLengthLeft(
-    int32ToBytes(account.version),
+    intToBytes(account.version),
     BINARY_TREE_VERSION_BYTES_LENGTH,
   )
   // Per EIP-7864, bytes 1-4 are reserved for future use
   const reservedBytes = new Uint8Array([0, 0, 0, 0])
   const encodedNonce = setLengthLeft(bigIntToBytes(account.nonce), BINARY_TREE_NONCE_BYTES_LENGTH)
   const encodedCodeSize = setLengthLeft(
-    int32ToBytes(account.codeSize),
+    intToBytes(account.codeSize),
     BINARY_TREE_CODE_SIZE_BYTES_LENGTH,
   )
   const encodedBalance = setLengthLeft(
diff --git a/packages/util/src/bytes.ts b/packages/util/src/bytes.ts
index 705744b78e..28ead6c603 100644
--- a/packages/util/src/bytes.ts
+++ b/packages/util/src/bytes.ts
@@ -56,8 +56,9 @@ for (let i = 0; i <= 256 * 256 - 1; i++) {
  * @returns {bigint}
  */
 export const bytesToBigInt = (bytes: Uint8Array, littleEndian = false): bigint => {
+  assertIsBytes(bytes)
   if (littleEndian) {
-    bytes.reverse()
+    bytes = bytes.slice().reverse()
   }
   const hex = bytesToHex(bytes)
   if (hex === '0x') {
@@ -122,48 +123,72 @@ export const bigIntToBytes = (num: bigint, littleEndian = false): Uint8Array =>
 
 /**
  * Pads a `Uint8Array` with zeros till it has `length` bytes.
- * Truncates the beginning or end of input if its length exceeds `length`.
+ * Throws if input length exceeds target length, unless allowTruncate is true.
  * @param {Uint8Array} msg the value to pad
  * @param {number} length the number of bytes the output should be
- * @param {boolean} right whether to start padding form the left or right
+ * @param {boolean} right whether to start padding from the left or right
+ * @param {boolean} allowTruncate whether to allow truncation if msg exceeds length
  * @return {Uint8Array}
  */
-const setLength = (msg: Uint8Array, length: number, right: boolean): Uint8Array => {
-  if (right) {
-    if (msg.length < length) {
-      return new Uint8Array([...msg, ...new Uint8Array(length - msg.length)])
-    }
-    return msg.subarray(0, length)
-  } else {
-    if (msg.length < length) {
-      return new Uint8Array([...new Uint8Array(length - msg.length), ...msg])
+const setLength = (
+  msg: Uint8Array,
+  length: number,
+  right: boolean,
+  allowTruncate: boolean,
+): Uint8Array => {
+  if (msg.length > length) {
+    if (!allowTruncate) {
+      throw EthereumJSErrorWithoutCode(
+        `Input length ${msg.length} exceeds target length ${length}. Use allowTruncate option to truncate.`,
+      )
     }
-    return msg.subarray(-length)
+    return right ? msg.subarray(0, length) : msg.subarray(-length)
   }
+  if (msg.length < length) {
+    return right
+      ? new Uint8Array([...msg, ...new Uint8Array(length - msg.length)])
+      : new Uint8Array([...new Uint8Array(length - msg.length), ...msg])
+  }
+  return msg
+}
+
+export interface SetLengthOpts {
+  /** Allow truncation if msg exceeds length. Default: false */
+  allowTruncate?: boolean
 }
 
 /**
  * Left Pads a `Uint8Array` with leading zeros till it has `length` bytes.
- * Or it truncates the beginning if it exceeds.
+ * Throws if input length exceeds target length, unless allowTruncate option is true.
  * @param {Uint8Array} msg the value to pad
  * @param {number} length the number of bytes the output should be
+ * @param {SetLengthOpts} opts options object with allowTruncate flag
  * @return {Uint8Array}
  */
-export const setLengthLeft = (msg: Uint8Array, length: number): Uint8Array => {
+export const setLengthLeft = (
+  msg: Uint8Array,
+  length: number,
+  opts: SetLengthOpts = {},
+): Uint8Array => {
   assertIsBytes(msg)
-  return setLength(msg, length, false)
+  return setLength(msg, length, false, opts.allowTruncate ?? false)
 }
 
 /**
  * Right Pads a `Uint8Array` with trailing zeros till it has `length` bytes.
- * it truncates the end if it exceeds.
+ * Throws if input length exceeds target length, unless allowTruncate option is true.
  * @param {Uint8Array} msg the value to pad
  * @param {number} length the number of bytes the output should be
+ * @param {SetLengthOpts} opts options object with allowTruncate flag
  * @return {Uint8Array}
  */
-export const setLengthRight = (msg: Uint8Array, length: number): Uint8Array => {
+export const setLengthRight = (
+  msg: Uint8Array,
+  length: number,
+  opts: SetLengthOpts = {},
+): Uint8Array => {
   assertIsBytes(msg)
-  return setLength(msg, length, true)
+  return setLength(msg, length, true, opts.allowTruncate ?? false)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -380,8 +405,8 @@ export const bigIntToAddressBytes = (value: bigint, strict: boolean = true): Uin
     throw Error(`Invalid address bytes length=${addressBytes.length} strict=${strict}`)
   }
 
-  // setLength already slices if more than requisite length
-  return setLengthLeft(addressBytes, 20)
+  // When not strict, allow truncation of values larger than 20 bytes
+  return setLengthLeft(addressBytes, 20, { allowTruncate: !strict })
 }
 
 /**
@@ -447,7 +472,7 @@ export const concatBytes = (...arrays: Uint8Array[]): Uint8Array<ArrayBuffer> =>
  */
 export function bytesToInt32(bytes: Uint8Array, littleEndian: boolean = false): number {
   if (bytes.length < 4) {
-    bytes = setLength(bytes, 4, littleEndian)
+    bytes = setLength(bytes, 4, littleEndian, false)
   }
   const dataView = new DataView(bytes.buffer, bytes.byteOffset, bytes.byteLength)
   return dataView.getUint32(0, littleEndian)
@@ -461,7 +486,7 @@ export function bytesToInt32(bytes: Uint8Array, littleEndian: boolean = false):
  */
 export function bytesToBigInt64(bytes: Uint8Array, littleEndian: boolean = false): bigint {
   if (bytes.length < 8) {
-    bytes = setLength(bytes, 8, littleEndian)
+    bytes = setLength(bytes, 8, littleEndian, false)
   }
   const dataView = new DataView(bytes.buffer, bytes.byteOffset, bytes.byteLength)
   return dataView.getBigUint64(0, littleEndian)
diff --git a/packages/util/test/bytes.spec.ts b/packages/util/test/bytes.spec.ts
index 45e2fb7735..110a88fb89 100644
--- a/packages/util/test/bytes.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/util/test/bytes.spec.ts
@@ -102,9 +102,15 @@ describe('setLengthLeft', () => {
     const padded = setLengthLeft(bytes, 3)
     assert.strictEqual(bytesToHex(padded), '0x000909')
   })
-  it('should left truncate a Uint8Array', () => {
+  it('should throw by default when input exceeds target length', () => {
     const bytes = new Uint8Array([9, 0, 9])
-    const padded = setLengthLeft(bytes, 2)
+    assert.throws(function () {
+      setLengthLeft(bytes, 2)
+    }, /Input length 3 exceeds target length 2/)
+  })
+  it('should left truncate a Uint8Array when allowTruncate is true', () => {
+    const bytes = new Uint8Array([9, 0, 9])
+    const padded = setLengthLeft(bytes, 2, { allowTruncate: true })
     assert.strictEqual(bytesToHex(padded), '0x0009')
   })
   it('should throw if input is not a Uint8Array', () => {
@@ -121,9 +127,15 @@ describe('setLengthRight', () => {
     const padded = setLengthRight(bytes, 3)
     assert.strictEqual(bytesToHex(padded), '0x090900')
   })
-  it('should right truncate a Uint8Array', () => {
+  it('should throw by default when input exceeds target length', () => {
+    const bytes = new Uint8Array([9, 0, 9])
+    assert.throws(function () {
+      setLengthRight(bytes, 2)
+    }, /Input length 3 exceeds target length 2/)
+  })
+  it('should right truncate a Uint8Array when allowTruncate is true', () => {
     const bytes = new Uint8Array([9, 0, 9])
-    const padded = setLengthRight(bytes, 2)
+    const padded = setLengthRight(bytes, 2, { allowTruncate: true })
     assert.strictEqual(bytesToHex(padded), '0x0900')
   })
   it('should throw if input is not a Uint8Array', () => {
@@ -372,6 +384,26 @@ describe('bytesToBigInt', () => {
     const buf = hexToBytes('0x123')
     assert.strictEqual(BigInt(0x123), bytesToBigInt(buf))
   })
+  it('should return 0n for empty Uint8Array', () => {
+    assert.strictEqual(bytesToBigInt(new Uint8Array(0)), 0n)
+  })
+  it('should throw if input is not a Uint8Array', () => {
+    assert.throws(function () {
+      // @ts-expect-error -- Testing invalid input
+      bytesToBigInt([1, 2, 3])
+    }, /This method only supports Uint8Array/)
+  })
+  it('should not mutate input when littleEndian is true', () => {
+    const bytes = new Uint8Array([0x01, 0x02, 0x03])
+    const original = new Uint8Array([0x01, 0x02, 0x03])
+    bytesToBigInt(bytes, true)
+    assert.deepEqual(bytes, original)
+  })
+  it('should correctly convert littleEndian bytes', () => {
+    // 0x030201 in big-endian = 0x010203 in little-endian
+    const bytes = new Uint8Array([0x01, 0x02, 0x03])
+    assert.strictEqual(bytesToBigInt(bytes, true), BigInt(0x030201))
+  })
 })
 
 describe('bigIntToBytes', () => {