diff --git a/include/valik/split/metadata.hpp b/include/valik/split/metadata.hpp
index 00549873..1c56b6fd 100644
--- a/include/valik/split/metadata.hpp
+++ b/include/valik/split/metadata.hpp
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ struct metadata
         }
     };
 
-    uint64_t total_len;
+    uint64_t total_len{0};
     size_t seq_count;
     size_t seg_count;
 
@@ -179,7 +179,6 @@ struct metadata
         {
             using traits_type = seqan3::sequence_file_input_default_traits_dna;
             seqan3::sequence_file_input<traits_type> fin{bin_path[0][0]};   // single input file
-            total_len = 0;
             size_t fasta_ind = sequences.size();
             for (auto & record : fin)
             {
diff --git a/test/cli/valik_test.cpp b/test/cli/valik_test.cpp
index 7db67eb2..07418c64 100644
--- a/test/cli/valik_test.cpp
+++ b/test/cli/valik_test.cpp
@@ -14,16 +14,17 @@ struct valik_split_clusters : public valik_base {};
 
 TEST_F(valik_split_clusters, split_metagenome_clusters)
 {
+    size_t genome_count{8};
     {
         std::ofstream one_per_bin{"single_seq_bin_paths.txt"};
-        for (size_t i{0}; i < 8; i++)
+        for (size_t i{0}; i < genome_count; i++)
         {
             std::string file_path = cli_test::data("bin_" + std::to_string(i) + ".fasta");
             one_per_bin << file_path << '\n';
         }
     
         std::ofstream two_per_bin{"multi_seq_bin_paths.txt"};
-        for (size_t i{0}; i < 8; i=i+2)
+        for (size_t i{0}; i < genome_count; i = i + 2)
         {
             std::string file_path = cli_test::data("bin_" + std::to_string(i) + ".fasta");
             two_per_bin << file_path << '\t';
@@ -42,8 +43,8 @@ TEST_F(valik_split_clusters, split_metagenome_clusters)
     EXPECT_EQ(result_one_per_bin.err, std::string{});
 
     auto one_per_bin_meta = valik::metadata("single_seq_meta.bin");
-    EXPECT_EQ(one_per_bin_meta.seq_count, 16);
-    EXPECT_EQ(one_per_bin_meta.seg_count, 8);
+    EXPECT_EQ(one_per_bin_meta.seq_count, genome_count * 2);
+    EXPECT_EQ(one_per_bin_meta.seg_count, genome_count);
 
     cli_test_result const result_two_per_bin = execute_app("valik", "split",
                                                            "--metagenome",
@@ -55,10 +56,11 @@ TEST_F(valik_split_clusters, split_metagenome_clusters)
     EXPECT_EQ(result_two_per_bin.err, std::string{});
 
     auto two_per_bin_meta = valik::metadata("multi_seq_meta.bin");
-    EXPECT_EQ(two_per_bin_meta.seq_count, 16);
-    EXPECT_EQ(two_per_bin_meta.seg_count, 4);
+    EXPECT_EQ(two_per_bin_meta.seq_count, genome_count * 2);
+    EXPECT_EQ(two_per_bin_meta.seg_count, genome_count / 2u);
 
-    EXPECT_EQ(one_per_bin_meta.total_len, two_per_bin_meta.total_len)
+    EXPECT_EQ(one_per_bin_meta.total_len, two_per_bin_meta.total_len);
+    EXPECT_EQ(one_per_bin_meta.total_len, 8192*2);    // hard coded value from test/data/build/cli_test_input.sh
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////