diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs
index e727bde0..05a681a4 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs
@@ -149,16 +149,16 @@ impl Web3Connections {
         let get_block_params = (*hash, false);
         // TODO: if error, retry?
         let block: ArcBlock = match rpc {
-            Some(rpc) => {
-                rpc.wait_for_request_handle(authorization, Duration::from_secs(30), false)
-                    .await?
-                    .request(
-                        "eth_getBlockByHash",
-                        &json!(get_block_params),
-                        Level::Error.into(),
-                    )
-                    .await?
-            }
+            Some(rpc) => rpc
+                .wait_for_request_handle(authorization, Duration::from_secs(30), false)
+                .await?
+                .request::<_, Option<_>>(
+                    "eth_getBlockByHash",
+                    &json!(get_block_params),
+                    Level::Error.into(),
+                )
+                .await?
+                .context("no block!")?,
             None => {
                 // TODO: helper for method+params => JsonRpcRequest
                 // TODO: does this id matter?
@@ -172,7 +172,9 @@ impl Web3Connections {
 
                 let block = response.result.context("failed fetching block")?;
 
-                serde_json::from_str(block.get())?
+                let block: Option<ArcBlock> = serde_json::from_str(block.get())?;
+
+                block.context("no block!")?
             }
         };
 
diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/connection.rs b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/connection.rs
index b24d2dbf..0fdd1f00 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/connection.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/connection.rs
@@ -193,13 +193,14 @@ impl Web3Connection {
         let head_block: ArcBlock = self
             .wait_for_request_handle(authorization, Duration::from_secs(30), true)
             .await?
-            .request(
+            .request::<_, Option<_>>(
                 "eth_getBlockByNumber",
                 &json!(("latest", false)),
                 // error here are expected, so keep the level low
                 Level::Debug.into(),
             )
-            .await?;
+            .await?
+            .context("no block!")?;
 
         if SavedBlock::from(head_block).syncing() {
             // if the node is syncing, we can't check its block data limit