diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3f91cc56..32980e79 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1248,6 +1248,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "ciborium",
  "clap 3.2.25",
  "criterion-plot",
+ "futures",
  "itertools",
  "lazy_static",
  "num-traits",
@@ -2869,6 +2870,7 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "keyvaluedb-web"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "async-lock",
  "console_log",
  "flume",
  "futures",
diff --git a/veilid-core/src/table_store/table_db.rs b/veilid-core/src/table_store/table_db.rs
index 7b90509e..0702a6de 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/table_store/table_db.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/table_store/table_db.rs
@@ -125,7 +125,10 @@ impl TableDB {
     /// Decrypt buffer using decrypt key with nonce prepended to input
     fn maybe_decrypt(&self, data: &[u8]) -> Vec<u8> {
         if let Some(di) = &self.unlocked_inner.decrypt_info {
-            assert!(data.len() > NONCE_LENGTH);
+            assert!(data.len() >= NONCE_LENGTH);
+            if data.len() == NONCE_LENGTH {
+                return Vec::new();
+            }
 
             let mut out = unsafe { unaligned_u8_vec_uninit(data.len() - NONCE_LENGTH) };