diff --git a/cmd/evm/runner.go b/cmd/evm/runner.go
index 8c382e625722..2884487faace 100644
--- a/cmd/evm/runner.go
+++ b/cmd/evm/runner.go
@@ -84,19 +84,20 @@ type execStats struct {
 
 func timedExec(bench bool, execFunc func() ([]byte, uint64, error)) ([]byte, execStats, error) {
 	if bench {
+		testing.Init()
 		// Do one warm-up run
 		output, gasUsed, err := execFunc()
 		result := testing.Benchmark(func(b *testing.B) {
 			for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 				haveOutput, haveGasUsed, haveErr := execFunc()
 				if !bytes.Equal(haveOutput, output) {
-					b.Fatalf("output differs, have\n%x\nwant%x\n", haveOutput, output)
+					panic(fmt.Sprintf("output differs\nhave %x\nwant %x\n", haveOutput, output))
 				}
 				if haveGasUsed != gasUsed {
-					b.Fatalf("gas differs, have %v want%v", haveGasUsed, gasUsed)
+					panic(fmt.Sprintf("gas differs, have %v want %v", haveGasUsed, gasUsed))
 				}
 				if haveErr != err {
-					b.Fatalf("err differs, have %v want%v", haveErr, err)
+					panic(fmt.Sprintf("err differs, have %v want %v", haveErr, err))
 				}
 			}
 		})
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ func runCmd(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	var (
 		tracer      *tracing.Hooks
 		debugLogger *logger.StructLogger
-		statedb     *state.StateDB
+		prestate    *state.StateDB
 		chainConfig *params.ChainConfig
 		sender      = common.BytesToAddress([]byte("sender"))
 		receiver    = common.BytesToAddress([]byte("receiver"))
@@ -174,7 +175,7 @@ func runCmd(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	defer triedb.Close()
 	genesis := genesisConfig.MustCommit(db, triedb)
 	sdb := state.NewDatabase(triedb, nil)
-	statedb, _ = state.New(genesis.Root(), sdb)
+	prestate, _ = state.New(genesis.Root(), sdb)
 	chainConfig = genesisConfig.Config
 
 	if ctx.String(SenderFlag.Name) != "" {
@@ -231,7 +232,7 @@ func runCmd(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	}
 	runtimeConfig := runtime.Config{
 		Origin:      sender,
-		State:       statedb,
+		State:       prestate,
 		GasLimit:    initialGas,
 		GasPrice:    flags.GlobalBig(ctx, PriceFlag.Name),
 		Value:       flags.GlobalBig(ctx, ValueFlag.Name),
@@ -274,14 +275,18 @@ func runCmd(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	if ctx.Bool(CreateFlag.Name) {
 		input = append(code, input...)
 		execFunc = func() ([]byte, uint64, error) {
+			// don't mutate the state!
+			runtimeConfig.State = prestate.Copy()
 			output, _, gasLeft, err := runtime.Create(input, &runtimeConfig)
 			return output, gasLeft, err
 		}
 	} else {
 		if len(code) > 0 {
-			statedb.SetCode(receiver, code)
+			prestate.SetCode(receiver, code)
 		}
 		execFunc = func() ([]byte, uint64, error) {
+			// don't mutate the state!
+			runtimeConfig.State = prestate.Copy()
 			output, gasLeft, err := runtime.Call(receiver, input, &runtimeConfig)
 			return output, initialGas - gasLeft, err
 		}
@@ -291,7 +296,7 @@ func runCmd(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	output, stats, err := timedExec(bench, execFunc)
 
 	if ctx.Bool(DumpFlag.Name) {
-		root, err := statedb.Commit(genesisConfig.Number, true)
+		root, err := runtimeConfig.State.Commit(genesisConfig.Number, true)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("Failed to commit changes %v\n", err)
 			return err
@@ -310,7 +315,7 @@ func runCmd(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 			logger.WriteTrace(os.Stderr, debugLogger.StructLogs())
 		}
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "#### LOGS ####")
-		logger.WriteLogs(os.Stderr, statedb.Logs())
+		logger.WriteLogs(os.Stderr, runtimeConfig.State.Logs())
 	}
 
 	if bench || ctx.Bool(StatDumpFlag.Name) {
diff --git a/core/blockchain_reader.go b/core/blockchain_reader.go
index 19c1b17f369c..8f1da82a2bf4 100644
--- a/core/blockchain_reader.go
+++ b/core/blockchain_reader.go
@@ -277,6 +277,13 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) GetTransactionLookup(hash common.Hash) (*rawdb.LegacyTxLoo
 	if tx == nil {
 		progress, err := bc.TxIndexProgress()
 		if err != nil {
+			// No error is returned if the transaction indexing progress is unreachable
+			// due to unexpected internal errors. In such cases, it is impossible to
+			// determine whether the transaction does not exist or has simply not been
+			// indexed yet without a progress marker.
+			//
+			// In such scenarios, the transaction is treated as unreachable, though
+			// this is clearly an unintended and unexpected situation.
 			return nil, nil, nil
 		}
 		// The transaction indexing is not finished yet, returning an
diff --git a/core/state/snapshot/snapshot.go b/core/state/snapshot/snapshot.go
index 181dc6b746fc..7466f1235198 100644
--- a/core/state/snapshot/snapshot.go
+++ b/core/state/snapshot/snapshot.go
@@ -206,24 +206,47 @@ func New(config Config, diskdb ethdb.KeyValueStore, triedb *triedb.Database, roo
 		log.Warn("Snapshot maintenance disabled (syncing)")
 		return snap, nil
 	}
+	// Create the building waiter iff the background generation is allowed
+	if !config.NoBuild && !config.AsyncBuild {
+		defer snap.waitBuild()
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Warn("Failed to load snapshot", "err", err)
-		if config.NoBuild {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		wait := snap.Rebuild(root)
-		if !config.AsyncBuild {
-			wait()
+		if !config.NoBuild {
+			snap.Rebuild(root)
+			return snap, nil
 		}
-		return snap, nil
+		return nil, err // Bail out the error, don't rebuild automatically.
 	}
 	// Existing snapshot loaded, seed all the layers
-	for ; head != nil; head = head.Parent() {
+	for head != nil {
 		snap.layers[head.Root()] = head
+		head = head.Parent()
 	}
 	return snap, nil
 }
 
+// waitBuild blocks until the snapshot finishes rebuilding. This method is meant
+// to be used by tests to ensure we're testing what we believe we are.
+func (t *Tree) waitBuild() {
+	// Find the rebuild termination channel
+	var done chan struct{}
+
+	t.lock.RLock()
+	for _, layer := range t.layers {
+		if layer, ok := layer.(*diskLayer); ok {
+			done = layer.genPending
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	t.lock.RUnlock()
+
+	// Wait until the snapshot is generated
+	if done != nil {
+		<-done
+	}
+}
+
 // Disable interrupts any pending snapshot generator, deletes all the snapshot
 // layers in memory and marks snapshots disabled globally. In order to resume
 // the snapshot functionality, the caller must invoke Rebuild.
@@ -665,9 +688,8 @@ func (t *Tree) Journal(root common.Hash) (common.Hash, error) {
 
 // Rebuild wipes all available snapshot data from the persistent database and
 // discard all caches and diff layers. Afterwards, it starts a new snapshot
-// generator with the given root hash. The returned function blocks until
-// regeneration is complete.
-func (t *Tree) Rebuild(root common.Hash) (wait func()) {
+// generator with the given root hash.
+func (t *Tree) Rebuild(root common.Hash) {
 	t.lock.Lock()
 	defer t.lock.Unlock()
 
@@ -699,11 +721,9 @@ func (t *Tree) Rebuild(root common.Hash) (wait func()) {
 	// Start generating a new snapshot from scratch on a background thread. The
 	// generator will run a wiper first if there's not one running right now.
 	log.Info("Rebuilding state snapshot")
-	disk := generateSnapshot(t.diskdb, t.triedb, t.config.CacheSize, root)
 	t.layers = map[common.Hash]snapshot{
-		root: disk,
+		root: generateSnapshot(t.diskdb, t.triedb, t.config.CacheSize, root),
 	}
-	return func() { <-disk.genPending }
 }
 
 // AccountIterator creates a new account iterator for the specified root hash and
diff --git a/core/tracing/hooks.go b/core/tracing/hooks.go
index a21bb1577b08..0c5cae354b5c 100644
--- a/core/tracing/hooks.go
+++ b/core/tracing/hooks.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ type StateDB interface {
 	GetBalance(common.Address) *uint256.Int
 	GetNonce(common.Address) uint64
 	GetCode(common.Address) []byte
+	GetCodeHash(common.Address) common.Hash
 	GetState(common.Address, common.Hash) common.Hash
 	GetTransientState(common.Address, common.Hash) common.Hash
 	Exist(common.Address) bool