diff --git a/chain/actors/aerrors/wrap.go b/chain/actors/aerrors/wrap.go
index 8f2db99c1..da12cb7c6 100644
--- a/chain/actors/aerrors/wrap.go
+++ b/chain/actors/aerrors/wrap.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
+	hamt "github.com/ipfs/go-hamt-ipld"
 	"golang.org/x/xerrors"
 )
 
@@ -159,6 +160,16 @@ func HandleExternalError(err error, msg string) ActorError {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if xerrors.Is(err, &hamt.SerializationError{}) {
+		return &actorError{
+			fatal:   false,
+			retCode: 253,
+			msg:     msg,
+			frame:   xerrors.Caller(1),
+			err:     err,
+		}
+	}
+
 	return &actorError{
 		fatal: true,
 
diff --git a/chain/vm/vm.go b/chain/vm/vm.go
index b478c43d4..55516e88b 100644
--- a/chain/vm/vm.go
+++ b/chain/vm/vm.go
@@ -86,10 +86,7 @@ func (vmc *VMContext) Sys() *types.VMSyscalls {
 func (vmc *VMContext) Put(i cbg.CBORMarshaler) (cid.Cid, aerrors.ActorError) {
 	c, err := vmc.cst.Put(context.TODO(), i)
 	if err != nil {
-		if aerr := vmc.ChargeGas(0); aerr != nil {
-			return cid.Undef, aerrors.Absorb(err, outOfGasErrCode, "Put out of gas")
-		}
-		return cid.Undef, aerrors.Escalate(err, fmt.Sprintf("putting object %T", i))
+		return cid.Undef, aerrors.HandleExternalError(err, fmt.Sprintf("putting object %T", i))
 	}
 	return c, nil
 }
@@ -97,10 +94,7 @@ func (vmc *VMContext) Put(i cbg.CBORMarshaler) (cid.Cid, aerrors.ActorError) {
 func (vmc *VMContext) Get(c cid.Cid, out cbg.CBORUnmarshaler) aerrors.ActorError {
 	err := vmc.cst.Get(context.TODO(), c, out)
 	if err != nil {
-		if aerr := vmc.ChargeGas(0); aerr != nil {
-			return aerrors.Absorb(err, outOfGasErrCode, "Get out of gas")
-		}
-		return aerrors.Escalate(err, "getting cid")
+		return aerrors.HandleExternalError(err, "getting cid")
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8eb3afdfb..55d8abff5 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/ipfs/go-ds-badger v0.0.7
 	github.com/ipfs/go-filestore v0.0.2
 	github.com/ipfs/go-fs-lock v0.0.1
-	github.com/ipfs/go-hamt-ipld v0.0.14-0.20191216205022-2612fdd40689
+	github.com/ipfs/go-hamt-ipld v0.0.14-0.20191218031521-b2c774a54db1
 	github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-blockstore v0.1.1
 	github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-blocksutil v0.0.1
 	github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-chunker v0.0.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index cb071c896..f7e70bd83 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -191,6 +191,8 @@ github.com/ipfs/go-fs-lock v0.0.1 h1:XHX8uW4jQBYWHj59XXcjg7BHlHxV9ZOYs6Y43yb7/l0
 github.com/ipfs/go-fs-lock v0.0.1/go.mod h1:DNBekbboPKcxs1aukPSaOtFA3QfSdi5C855v0i9XJ8Y=
 github.com/ipfs/go-hamt-ipld v0.0.14-0.20191216205022-2612fdd40689 h1:JxdkwkDD/bZngSyVvAfelThSlJuukrjYC1lUTF6ixUI=
 github.com/ipfs/go-hamt-ipld v0.0.14-0.20191216205022-2612fdd40689/go.mod h1:8yRx0xLUps1Xq8ZDnIwIVdQRp7JjA55gGvCiRHT91Vk=
+github.com/ipfs/go-hamt-ipld v0.0.14-0.20191218031521-b2c774a54db1 h1:0xpCaaXvN8bPyws3ObiCn7G0KIfgbS9E132eL57dHx8=
+github.com/ipfs/go-hamt-ipld v0.0.14-0.20191218031521-b2c774a54db1/go.mod h1:8yRx0xLUps1Xq8ZDnIwIVdQRp7JjA55gGvCiRHT91Vk=
 github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-blockstore v0.0.1/go.mod h1:d3WClOmRQKFnJ0Jz/jj/zmksX0ma1gROTlovZKBmN08=
 github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-blockstore v0.1.0/go.mod h1:5aD0AvHPi7mZc6Ci1WCAhiBQu2IsfTduLl+422H6Rqw=
 github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-blockstore v0.1.1 h1:+PAFREAlSxLs9IEtrRcnJ/DqWkGlDa+l547WFZnohNw=