diff --git a/process/block/baseProcess.go b/process/block/baseProcess.go
index 944441e7af1..19970b91d7f 100644
--- a/process/block/baseProcess.go
+++ b/process/block/baseProcess.go
@@ -2232,3 +2232,12 @@ func (bp *baseProcessor) addPrevProofIfNeeded(header data.HeaderHandler) error {
 	header.SetPreviousProof(prevBlockProof)
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (bp *baseProcessor) getHeaderHash(header data.HeaderHandler) ([]byte, error) {
+	marshalledHeader, errMarshal := bp.marshalizer.Marshal(header)
+	if errMarshal != nil {
+		return nil, errMarshal
+	}
+
+	return bp.hasher.Compute(string(marshalledHeader)), nil
+}
diff --git a/process/block/metablock.go b/process/block/metablock.go
index 7339ead876a..951efe49747 100644
--- a/process/block/metablock.go
+++ b/process/block/metablock.go
@@ -1904,7 +1904,7 @@ func (mp *metaProcessor) checkShardHeadersValidity(metaHdr *block.MetaBlock) (ma
 		}
 		if mp.enableEpochsHandler.IsFlagEnabledInEpoch(common.EquivalentMessagesFlag, shardHdr.GetEpoch()) {
 			if shardData.Epoch != shardHdr.GetEpoch() {
-				return nil, process.ErrEpochMissmatch
+				return nil, process.ErrEpochMismatch
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -1987,22 +1987,18 @@ func (mp *metaProcessor) checkShardHeadersFinality(
 			continue
 		}
 
+		isNotarizedBasedOnProofs, errCheckProof := mp.checkShardHeaderFinalityBasedOnProofs(lastVerifiedHdr, shardId)
+		if isNotarizedBasedOnProofs {
+			if errCheckProof != nil {
+				return errCheckProof
+			}
+
+			continue
+		}
+
 		// verify if there are "K" block after current to make this one final
 		nextBlocksVerified := uint32(0)
-		isNotarizedBasedOnProofs := false
 		for _, shardHdr := range finalityAttestingShardHdrs[shardId] {
-			var errCheckProof error
-			isNotarizedBasedOnProofs, errCheckProof = mp.checkShardHeaderFinalityBasedOnProofs(shardHdr, shardId)
-			// if the header is notarized based on proofs and there is no error, break the loop
-			// if there is any error, forward it, header is not final
-			if isNotarizedBasedOnProofs {
-				if errCheckProof != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-
-				break
-			}
-
 			if nextBlocksVerified >= mp.shardBlockFinality {
 				break
 			}
@@ -2016,6 +2012,15 @@ func (mp *metaProcessor) checkShardHeadersFinality(
 					continue
 				}
 
+				isNotarizedBasedOnProofs, errCheckProof = mp.checkShardHeaderFinalityBasedOnProofs(shardHdr, shardId)
+				if isNotarizedBasedOnProofs {
+					if errCheckProof != nil {
+						return errCheckProof
+					}
+
+					break
+				}
+
 				lastVerifiedHdr = shardHdr
 				nextBlocksVerified += 1
 			}
diff --git a/process/block/shardblock.go b/process/block/shardblock.go
index e3539ac4634..830a4f46d3c 100644
--- a/process/block/shardblock.go
+++ b/process/block/shardblock.go
@@ -640,15 +640,6 @@ func (sp *shardProcessor) checkMetaHdrFinality(header data.HeaderHandler) error
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (sp *shardProcessor) getHeaderHash(header data.HeaderHandler) ([]byte, error) {
-	marshalledHeader, errMarshal := sp.marshalizer.Marshal(header)
-	if errMarshal != nil {
-		return nil, errMarshal
-	}
-
-	return sp.hasher.Compute(string(marshalledHeader)), nil
-}
-
 func (sp *shardProcessor) checkAndRequestIfMetaHeadersMissing() {
 	orderedMetaBlocks, _ := sp.blockTracker.GetTrackedHeaders(core.MetachainShardId)
 
diff --git a/process/errors.go b/process/errors.go
index 728ec6348c6..ded117ecb7e 100644
--- a/process/errors.go
+++ b/process/errors.go
@@ -1275,5 +1275,5 @@ var ErrInvalidHeaderProof = errors.New("invalid equivalent proof")
 // ErrUnexpectedHeaderProof signals that a header proof has been provided unexpectedly
 var ErrUnexpectedHeaderProof = errors.New("unexpected header proof")
 
-// ErrEpochMissmatch signals that the epoch do not match
-var ErrEpochMissmatch = errors.New("epoch missmatch")
+// ErrEpochMismatch signals that the epoch do not match
+var ErrEpochMismatch = errors.New("epoch mismatch")
diff --git a/process/track/blockProcessor.go b/process/track/blockProcessor.go
index f006f4db4ec..5ce30a09889 100644
--- a/process/track/blockProcessor.go
+++ b/process/track/blockProcessor.go
@@ -316,7 +316,11 @@ func (bp *blockProcessor) checkHeaderFinality(
 
 	if bp.enableEpochsHandler.IsFlagEnabledInEpoch(common.EquivalentMessagesFlag, header.GetEpoch()) {
 		// the index in argument is for the next block after header
-		if bp.proofsPool.HasProof(header.GetShardID(), sortedHeadersHashes[index-1]) {
+		hashIndex := index
+		if index > 0 {
+			hashIndex = index - 1
+		}
+		if bp.proofsPool.HasProof(header.GetShardID(), sortedHeadersHashes[hashIndex]) {
 			return nil
 		}
 
@@ -339,7 +343,7 @@ func (bp *blockProcessor) checkHeaderFinality(
 		// if the currentHeader(the one that should confirm the finality of the prev)
 		// is the epoch start block of equivalent messages, we must check for its proof as well
 		if bp.enableEpochsHandler.IsFlagEnabledInEpoch(common.EquivalentMessagesFlag, currHeader.GetEpoch()) {
-			if bp.proofsPool.HasProof(currHeader.GetShardID(), sortedHeadersHashes[index]) {
+			if bp.proofsPool.HasProof(currHeader.GetShardID(), sortedHeadersHashes[i]) {
 				return nil
 			}