diff --git a/lfs.c b/lfs.c
index 716a8d0b..01e36890 100644
--- a/lfs.c
+++ b/lfs.c
@@ -13471,16 +13471,16 @@ static int lfsr_data_readrcompat(lfs_t *lfs, lfsr_data_t *data,
     //
     // we don't really care about performance here
     while (lfsr_data_size(*data) > 0) {
-        lfs_scmp_t cmp = lfsr_data_cmp(lfs, *data, (uint8_t[]){0}, 1);
-        if (cmp < 0) {
-            return cmp;
+        uint8_t b;
+        lfs_ssize_t d = lfsr_data_read(lfs, data, &b, 1);
+        if (d < 0) {
+            return d;
         }
 
-        if (cmp != LFS_CMP_EQ) {
+        if (b != 0x00) {
             *rcompat |= LFSR_RCOMPAT_OVERFLOW;
+            break;
         }
-
-        *data = LFSR_DATA_SLICE(*data, d, -1);
     }
 
     return 0;
diff --git a/tests/test_mount.toml b/tests/test_mount.toml
index 684fe597..e7b22c7a 100644
--- a/tests/test_mount.toml
+++ b/tests/test_mount.toml
@@ -703,6 +703,8 @@ code = '''
 
 # these are just a bit harder to detect
 [cases.test_mount_incompat_rcompat_overflow]
+defines.OVERFLOW = 72
+defines.FLAG = 'range(72)'
 in = 'lfs.c'
 code = '''
     // create a superblock
@@ -713,12 +715,16 @@ code = '''
     //
     // note we're messing around with internals to do this! this
     // is not a user API
+    uint8_t overflow[OVERFLOW];
+    memset(overflow, 0, sizeof(overflow));
+    overflow[FLAG / 8] |= 1 << (FLAG % 8);
+
     lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
     lfsr_mdir_commit(&lfs, &lfs.mroot, LFSR_RATS(
             LFSR_RAT_CAT(
                 LFSR_TAG_RCOMPAT, 0,
                 LFSR_DATA_RCOMPAT(LFSR_RCOMPAT_COMPAT),
-                LFSR_DATA_BUF("\x00\x00\x00\x00\x80", 5)))) => 0;
+                LFSR_DATA_BUF(overflow, sizeof(overflow))))) => 0;
     lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
 
     // mount should now fail
@@ -727,22 +733,31 @@ code = '''
 '''
 
 [cases.test_mount_incompat_wcompat_overflow]
+defines.OVERFLOW = 72
+defines.FLAG = 'range(72)'
 in = 'lfs.c'
 code = '''
     // create a superblock
     lfs_t lfs;
     lfsr_format(&lfs, LFS_F_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
 
+    uint8_t flags[9] = {0};
+    flags[FLAG / 8] |= 1 << (FLAG % 8);
+
     // set a really far wcompat flag
     //
     // note we're messing around with internals to do this! this
     // is not a user API
+    uint8_t overflow[OVERFLOW];
+    memset(overflow, 0, sizeof(overflow));
+    overflow[FLAG / 8] |= 1 << (FLAG % 8);
+
     lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
     lfsr_mdir_commit(&lfs, &lfs.mroot, LFSR_RATS(
             LFSR_RAT_CAT(
                 LFSR_TAG_WCOMPAT, 0,
                 LFSR_DATA_WCOMPAT(LFSR_WCOMPAT_COMPAT),
-                LFSR_DATA_BUF("\x00\x00\x00\x00\x80", 5)))) => 0;
+                LFSR_DATA_BUF(overflow, sizeof(overflow))))) => 0;
     lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
 
     // mount should now fail
@@ -754,6 +769,8 @@ code = '''
 '''
 
 [cases.test_mount_incompat_ocompat_overflow]
+defines.OVERFLOW = 72
+defines.FLAG = 'range(72)'
 in = 'lfs.c'
 code = '''
     // create a superblock
@@ -764,12 +781,16 @@ code = '''
     //
     // note we're messing around with internals to do this! this
     // is not a user API
+    uint8_t overflow[OVERFLOW];
+    memset(overflow, 0, sizeof(overflow));
+    overflow[FLAG / 8] |= 1 << (FLAG % 8);
+
     lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
     lfsr_mdir_commit(&lfs, &lfs.mroot, LFSR_RATS(
             LFSR_RAT_CAT(
                 LFSR_TAG_OCOMPAT, 0,
                 LFSR_DATA_OCOMPAT(LFSR_OCOMPAT_COMPAT),
-                LFSR_DATA_BUF("\x00\x00\x00\x00\x80", 5)))) => 0;
+                LFSR_DATA_BUF(overflow, sizeof(overflow))))) => 0;
     lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
 
     // mount should _not_ fail, ocompat should always be ignored
@@ -779,6 +800,100 @@ code = '''
     lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
 '''
 
+# but just appending zeros is _not_ an error
+[cases.test_mount_incompat_rcompat_padding]
+defines.OVERFLOW = 72
+in = 'lfs.c'
+code = '''
+    // create a superblock
+    lfs_t lfs;
+    lfsr_format(&lfs, LFS_F_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+
+    // set a really far rcompat flag
+    //
+    // note we're messing around with internals to do this! this
+    // is not a user API
+    uint8_t overflow[OVERFLOW];
+    memset(overflow, 0, sizeof(overflow));
+
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_mdir_commit(&lfs, &lfs.mroot, LFSR_RATS(
+            LFSR_RAT_CAT(
+                LFSR_TAG_RCOMPAT, 0,
+                LFSR_DATA_RCOMPAT(LFSR_RCOMPAT_COMPAT),
+                LFSR_DATA_BUF(overflow, sizeof(overflow))))) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+
+    // mount should _not_ fail, extra zeros should be ignored
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDONLY, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+'''
+
+[cases.test_mount_incompat_wcompat_padding]
+defines.OVERFLOW = 72
+in = 'lfs.c'
+code = '''
+    // create a superblock
+    lfs_t lfs;
+    lfsr_format(&lfs, LFS_F_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+
+    uint8_t flags[9] = {0};
+    flags[FLAG / 8] |= 1 << (FLAG % 8);
+
+    // set a really far wcompat flag
+    //
+    // note we're messing around with internals to do this! this
+    // is not a user API
+    uint8_t overflow[OVERFLOW];
+    memset(overflow, 0, sizeof(overflow));
+
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_mdir_commit(&lfs, &lfs.mroot, LFSR_RATS(
+            LFSR_RAT_CAT(
+                LFSR_TAG_WCOMPAT, 0,
+                LFSR_DATA_WCOMPAT(LFSR_WCOMPAT_COMPAT),
+                LFSR_DATA_BUF(overflow, sizeof(overflow))))) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+
+    // mount should _not_ fail, extra zeros should be ignored
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDONLY, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+'''
+
+[cases.test_mount_incompat_ocompat_padding]
+defines.OVERFLOW = 72
+in = 'lfs.c'
+code = '''
+    // create a superblock
+    lfs_t lfs;
+    lfsr_format(&lfs, LFS_F_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+
+    // set a really far ocompat flag
+    //
+    // note we're messing around with internals to do this! this
+    // is not a user API
+    uint8_t overflow[OVERFLOW];
+    memset(overflow, 0, sizeof(overflow));
+
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_mdir_commit(&lfs, &lfs.mroot, LFSR_RATS(
+            LFSR_RAT_CAT(
+                LFSR_TAG_OCOMPAT, 0,
+                LFSR_DATA_OCOMPAT(LFSR_OCOMPAT_COMPAT),
+                LFSR_DATA_BUF(overflow, sizeof(overflow))))) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+
+    // mount should _not_ fail, extra zeros should be ignored
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDWR, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+    lfsr_mount(&lfs, LFS_M_RDONLY, CFG) => 0;
+    lfsr_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+'''
+
 # test that we fail to mount incompatible block sizes
 [cases.test_mount_incompat_block_size]
 defines.INC_BLOCK_SIZE = ['BLOCK_SIZE/2', 'BLOCK_SIZE*2']