diff --git a/consensus/src/execution_pipeline.rs b/consensus/src/execution_pipeline.rs
index ed07b2aca19ca..c46d6d867f9ae 100644
--- a/consensus/src/execution_pipeline.rs
+++ b/consensus/src/execution_pipeline.rs
@@ -295,51 +295,55 @@ impl ExecutionPipeline {
                 }
             });
 
-            let (mut txns, blocking_txns_provider) =
-                monitor!("execute_filter_block_committed_transactions", {
-                    // TODO: Find a better way to do this.
-                    match block.transactions {
-                        ExecutableTransactions::Unsharded(txns) => {
-                            let transactions: Vec<_> = txns
-                                .into_iter()
-                                .filter(|txn| {
-                                    if let Valid(UserTransaction(user_txn)) = txn {
-                                        !committed_transactions.contains(&user_txn.committed_hash())
-                                    } else {
-                                        true
-                                    }
-                                })
-                                .collect();
-                            let transactions_len = transactions.len();
-                            (
-                                transactions,
-                                Arc::new(BlockingTxnsProvider::new(
-                                    max_txns_to_execute.unwrap_or(transactions_len as u64) as usize,
-                                )),
-                            )
-                        },
-                        ExecutableTransactions::UnshardedBlocking(_) => {
-                            unimplemented!("Not expecting this yet.")
-                        },
-                        ExecutableTransactions::Sharded(_) => {
-                            unimplemented!("Sharded transactions are not supported yet.")
-                        },
-                    }
-                });
-
-            let num_txns_to_execute = blocking_txns_provider.num_txns();
-            let blocking_txns_writer = blocking_txns_provider.clone();
-            let join_shuffle = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
-                // TODO: keep this previously split so we don't have to re-split it here
-                if let Some((first_user_txn_idx, _)) = txns.iter().find_position(|txn| {
+            let mut txns = monitor!("execute_filter_block_committed_transactions", {
+                // TODO: Find a better way to do this.
+                match block.transactions {
+                    ExecutableTransactions::Unsharded(txns) => {
+                        let transactions: Vec<_> = txns
+                            .into_iter()
+                            .filter(|txn| {
+                                if let Valid(UserTransaction(user_txn)) = txn {
+                                    !committed_transactions.contains(&user_txn.committed_hash())
+                                } else {
+                                    true
+                                }
+                            })
+                            .collect();
+                        transactions
+                    },
+                    ExecutableTransactions::UnshardedBlocking(_) => {
+                        unimplemented!("Not expecting this yet.")
+                    },
+                    ExecutableTransactions::Sharded(_) => {
+                        unimplemented!("Sharded transactions are not supported yet.")
+                    },
+                }
+            });
+            let num_validator_txns = if let Some((first_user_txn_idx, _)) =
+                txns.iter().find_position(|txn| {
                     let txn = match txn {
                         Valid(txn) => txn,
                         Invalid(txn) => txn,
                     };
                     matches!(txn, UserTransaction(_))
                 }) {
+                first_user_txn_idx
+            } else {
+                txns.len()
+            };
+            let num_txns_to_execute = if let Some(max_user_txns_to_execute) = max_txns_to_execute {
+                txns.len()
+                    .min(num_validator_txns.saturating_add(max_user_txns_to_execute as usize))
+            } else {
+                txns.len()
+            };
+            let blocking_txns_provider = Arc::new(BlockingTxnsProvider::new(num_txns_to_execute));
+            let blocking_txns_writer = blocking_txns_provider.clone();
+            let join_shuffle = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+                // TODO: keep this previously split so we don't have to re-split it here
+                if num_txns_to_execute > num_validator_txns {
                     let timer = Instant::now();
-                    let validator_txns: Vec<_> = txns.drain(0..first_user_txn_idx).collect();
+                    let validator_txns: Vec<_> = txns.drain(0..num_validator_txns).collect();
                     info!(
                         "Execution: Split validator txns from user txns in {} micros",
                         timer.elapsed().as_micros()
@@ -359,8 +363,6 @@ impl ExecutionPipeline {
                         blocking_txns_writer.set_txn(idx as TxnIndex, txn);
                     }
                 } else {
-                    // TODO: could num_txns_to_execute < number of validator txns?
-                    // No user transactions in the block.
                     for (idx, txn) in txns.into_iter().take(num_txns_to_execute).enumerate() {
                         blocking_txns_writer.set_txn(idx as TxnIndex, txn);
                     }