diff --git a/index/upside_down/row.go b/index/upside_down/row.go
index b2bd88c4..43583f36 100644
--- a/index/upside_down/row.go
+++ b/index/upside_down/row.go
@@ -150,12 +150,12 @@ type TermFrequencyRow struct {
 }
 
 func (tfr *TermFrequencyRow) Key() []byte {
-	buf := make([]byte, 1+len(tfr.term)+1+2+len(tfr.doc))
+	buf := make([]byte, 3+len(tfr.term)+1+len(tfr.doc))
 	buf[0] = 't'
-	termLen := copy(buf[1:], tfr.term)
-	buf[1+termLen] = BYTE_SEPARATOR
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(buf[1+termLen+1:1+termLen+1+2], tfr.field)
-	copy(buf[1+termLen+1+2:], tfr.doc)
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(buf[1:3], tfr.field)
+	termLen := copy(buf[3:], tfr.term)
+	buf[3+termLen] = BYTE_SEPARATOR
+	copy(buf[3+termLen+1:], tfr.doc)
 	return buf
 }
 
@@ -211,17 +211,17 @@ func NewTermFrequencyRowKV(key, value []byte) (*TermFrequencyRow, error) {
 	buf.ReadByte() // type
 
 	var err error
+	err = binary.Read(buf, binary.LittleEndian, &rv.field)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	rv.term, err = buf.ReadBytes(BYTE_SEPARATOR)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	rv.term = rv.term[:len(rv.term)-1] // trim off separator byte
 
-	err = binary.Read(buf, binary.LittleEndian, &rv.field)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	doc, err := buf.ReadBytes(BYTE_SEPARATOR)
 	if err != io.EOF {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/index/upside_down/row_test.go b/index/upside_down/row_test.go
index aa66da19..40f09555 100644
--- a/index/upside_down/row_test.go
+++ b/index/upside_down/row_test.go
@@ -41,17 +41,17 @@ func TestRows(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			NewTermFrequencyRow([]byte{'b', 'e', 'e', 'r'}, 0, "", 3, 3.14),
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 195, 245, 72, 64},
 		},
 		{
 			NewTermFrequencyRow([]byte{'b', 'e', 'e', 'r'}, 0, "budweiser", 3, 3.14),
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 195, 245, 72, 64},
 		},
 		{
 			NewTermFrequencyRowWithTermVectors([]byte{'b', 'e', 'e', 'r'}, 0, "budweiser", 3, 3.14, []*TermVector{&TermVector{field: 0, pos: 1, start: 3, end: 11}, &TermVector{field: 0, pos: 2, start: 23, end: 31}, &TermVector{field: 0, pos: 3, start: 43, end: 51}}),
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 195, 245, 72, 64, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 11, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 23, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 31, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 43, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 51, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
 		},
 		{
@@ -131,49 +131,49 @@ func TestInvalidRows(t *testing.T) {
 			[]byte{'f', 0, 0},
 			[]byte{},
 		},
-		// type t, invalid key (missing term)
+		// type t, invalid key (missing field)
 		{
 			[]byte{'t'},
 			[]byte{},
 		},
-		// type t, invalid key (missing field)
+		// type t, invalid key (missing term)
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0},
 			[]byte{},
 		},
 		// type t, invalid key (missing id)
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR},
 			[]byte{},
 		},
 		// type t, invalid val (misisng freq)
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{},
 		},
 		// type t, invalid val (missing norm)
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
 		},
 		// type t, invalid val (half missing tv field, full missing is valid (no term vectors))
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 195, 245, 72, 64, 0},
 		},
 		// type t, invalid val (missing tv pos)
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 195, 245, 72, 64, 0, 0},
 		},
 		// type t, invalid val (missing tv start)
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 195, 245, 72, 64, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
 		},
 		// type t, invalid val (missing tv end)
 		{
-			[]byte{'t', 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 0, 0, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
+			[]byte{'t', 0, 0, 'b', 'e', 'e', 'r', BYTE_SEPARATOR, 'b', 'u', 'd', 'w', 'e', 'i', 's', 'e', 'r'},
 			[]byte{3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 195, 245, 72, 64, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
 		},
 		// type b, invalid key (missing id)