diff --git a/core/src/bytes/mod.rs b/core/src/bytes/mod.rs
index f6d5bc482c..2cf8c8fb1c 100644
--- a/core/src/bytes/mod.rs
+++ b/core/src/bytes/mod.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ use crate::bytes::trace::NUM_ROWS;
 pub const NUM_BYTE_OPS: usize = 9;
 
 /// The number of different byte lookup channels.
-pub const NUM_BYTE_LOOKUP_CHANNELS: u32 = 4;
+pub const NUM_BYTE_LOOKUP_CHANNELS: u32 = 16;
 
 /// A chip for computing byte operations.
 ///
diff --git a/core/src/stark/chip.rs b/core/src/stark/chip.rs
index c3e8abdc09..f184a33c5d 100644
--- a/core/src/stark/chip.rs
+++ b/core/src/stark/chip.rs
@@ -65,6 +65,23 @@ where
         air.eval(&mut builder);
         let (sends, receives) = builder.interactions();
 
+        let nb_byte_sends = sends
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|s| s.kind == InteractionKind::Byte)
+            .count();
+        let nb_byte_receives = receives
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|r| r.kind == InteractionKind::Byte)
+            .count();
+        tracing::debug!(
+            "chip {} has {} byte interactions",
+            air.name(),
+            nb_byte_sends + nb_byte_receives
+        );
+        if nb_byte_sends + nb_byte_receives > 1 << 11 {
+            panic!("too many byte interactions : {}", air.name());
+        }
+
         let mut max_constraint_degree =
             get_max_constraint_degree(&air, air.preprocessed_width(), PROOF_MAX_NUM_PVS);