diff --git a/chia/consensus/difficulty_adjustment.py b/chia/consensus/difficulty_adjustment.py
index 63a85d27fb04..5fda123735c4 100644
--- a/chia/consensus/difficulty_adjustment.py
+++ b/chia/consensus/difficulty_adjustment.py
@@ -224,11 +224,10 @@ def _get_next_sub_slot_iters(
     if next_height < constants.EPOCH_BLOCKS:
         return uint64(constants.SUB_SLOT_ITERS_STARTING)
 
-    if not blocks.contains_block(prev_header_hash):
+    prev_b = blocks.try_block_record(prev_header_hash)
+    if prev_b is None:
         raise ValueError(f"Header hash {prev_header_hash} not in blocks")
 
-    prev_b: BlockRecord = blocks.block_record(prev_header_hash)
-
     # If we are in the same epoch, return same ssi
     if not skip_epoch_check:
         _, can_finish_epoch = can_finish_sub_and_full_epoch(
@@ -304,11 +303,10 @@ def _get_next_difficulty(
         # We are in the first epoch
         return uint64(constants.DIFFICULTY_STARTING)
 
-    if not blocks.contains_block(prev_header_hash):
+    prev_b = blocks.try_block_record(prev_header_hash)
+    if prev_b is None:
         raise ValueError(f"Header hash {prev_header_hash} not in blocks")
 
-    prev_b: BlockRecord = blocks.block_record(prev_header_hash)
-
     # If we are in the same slot as previous block, return same difficulty
     if not skip_epoch_check:
         _, can_finish_epoch = can_finish_sub_and_full_epoch(