diff --git a/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bit_vector.rs b/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bit_vector.rs
index ba63281cf..cc4b1bdd5 100644
--- a/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bit_vector.rs
+++ b/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bit_vector.rs
@@ -46,25 +46,15 @@ impl_bitfield_fns!(BitVector);
 impl<N: Unsigned> BitVector<N> {
     /// Create a new bitfield.
     pub fn new() -> Self {
-        Self::with_capacity(Self::capacity()).expect("Capacity must be correct")
+        Self {
+            bitfield: Bitfield::with_capacity(Self::capacity()),
+            _phantom: PhantomData,
+        }
     }
 
     fn capacity() -> usize {
         N::to_usize()
     }
-
-    fn validate_length(len: usize) -> Result<(), Error> {
-        let fixed_len = N::to_usize();
-
-        if len > fixed_len {
-            Err(Error::InvalidLength {
-                i: len,
-                len: fixed_len,
-            })
-        } else {
-            Ok(())
-        }
-    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bitfield.rs b/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bitfield.rs
index a64615bd7..380b56f16 100644
--- a/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bitfield.rs
+++ b/eth2/utils/ssz_types/src/bitfield.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 ///
 /// The internal representation of the bitfield is the same as that required by SSZ - the highest
 /// byte (by `Vec` index) stores the lowest bit-indices and the right-most bit stores the lowest
-/// bit-index. E.g., `vec![0b0000_0010, 0b0000_0001]` has bits `1, 9` set.
+/// bit-index. E.g., `vec![0b0000_0010, 0b0000_0001]` has bits `0, 9` set.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub struct Bitfield {
     bytes: Vec<u8>,
@@ -69,21 +69,6 @@ impl Bitfield {
         (bit_len + 7) / 8
     }
 
-    /// Verify that the given `bytes` faithfully represent a bitfield of length `bit_len`.
-    ///
-    /// The only valid `bytes` for `bit_len == 0` is `&[0]`.
-    fn verify_bitfield_bytes(bytes: &[u8], bit_len: usize) -> bool {
-        if bytes.len() == 1 && bit_len == 0 && bytes == &[0] {
-            true // A bitfield with `bit_len` 0 can only be represented by a single zero byte.
-        } else if bytes.len() != Bitfield::bytes_for_bit_len(bit_len) || bytes.is_empty() {
-            false // The number of bytes must be the minimum required to represent `bit_len`.
-        } else {
-            // Ensure there are no bits higher than `bit_len` that are set to true.
-            let (mask, _) = u8::max_value().overflowing_shr(bit_len as u32 % 8);
-            (bytes.last().expect("Bytes cannot be empty") & !mask) == 0
-        }
-    }
-
     pub fn to_bytes(self) -> Vec<u8> {
         self.bytes
     }
@@ -213,12 +198,6 @@ impl<'a> Iterator for BitIter<'a> {
 macro_rules! impl_bitfield_fns {
     ($name: ident) => {
         impl<N: Unsigned> $name<N> {
-            pub fn with_capacity(initial_len: usize) -> Result<Self, Error> {
-                Self::validate_length(initial_len)?;
-
-                Self::with_capacity(initial_len)
-            }
-
             pub fn get(&self, i: usize) -> Result<bool, Error> {
                 if i < N::to_usize() {
                     match self.bitfield.get(i) {