diff --git a/HISTORY.txt b/HISTORY.txt
index da3ecc2..983cbcb 100644
--- a/HISTORY.txt
+++ b/HISTORY.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ October 27, 2014:
     stand more analysis.  This is why I have the careful balancing of
     "hexad" and "nonad" multiplies in its Chung-Hasan mul routine.
     
+    (TODO: reconsider whether this is even worthwhile on machines
+    without AVX2.)
+    
     The 'r12 build is a work in progress, and currently only works on
     clang (because it rearranges vectors in the timesW function).
     
diff --git a/test/test_arithmetic.c b/test/test_arithmetic.c
index f299766..bbdbf43 100644
--- a/test/test_arithmetic.c
+++ b/test/test_arithmetic.c
@@ -50,12 +50,11 @@ static mask_t field_assert_eq_gmp(
         int radix_bits = 1 + (sizeof(x->limb[0]) * FIELD_BITS - 1) / sizeof(*x);
         word_t yardstick;
 
-        if (BRANCH_ON_CONSTANT(FIELD_BITS == 521 && sizeof(*x)==12*8)) {
-            yardstick = (1ull<<58) - 1;
-        } else {
-            yardstick = (i==sizeof(*x)/sizeof(x->limb[0])/2) ?
-                (1ull<<radix_bits) - 2 : (1ull<<radix_bits) - 1; // FIELD_MAGIC
+        if (BRANCH_ON_CONSTANT(FIELD_BITS == 521) && BRANCH_ON_CONSTANT(sizeof(*x)==12*8)) {
+            radix_bits = 58;
         }
+        
+        yardstick = (1ull<<radix_bits) - 1;
 
         if (x->limb[i] < yardstick * lowBound || x->limb[i] > yardstick * highBound) {
             youfail();