diff --git a/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommand.java b/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommand.java
index 4890ccbf4812..e8a6e51be8de 100644
--- a/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommand.java
+++ b/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommand.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 import java.util.function.BiConsumer;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 
+import graphql.VisibleForTesting;
 import org.apache.tuweni.bytes.Bytes;
 import org.apache.tuweni.bytes.Bytes32;
 import org.apache.tuweni.units.bigints.UInt256;
@@ -102,12 +103,12 @@ public void run() {
         System.exit(-1);
       }
 
-      final BlockHeader headHeader =
-          controller.getProtocolContext().getBlockchain().getChainHeadHeader();
-
       BlockHashAndStateRoot blockHashAndStateRoot = BlockHashAndStateRoot.create(overrideHashes);
 
       if (blockHashAndStateRoot == null) {
+        final BlockHeader headHeader =
+            controller.getProtocolContext().getBlockchain().getChainHeadHeader();
+
         worldStateStorage
             .getWorldStateRootHash()
             // we want state root hash to either be empty or same the same as chain head
@@ -123,27 +124,33 @@ public void run() {
         blockHashAndStateRoot =
             new BlockHashAndStateRoot(headHeader.getBlockHash(), headHeader.getStateRoot());
       }
+      verifyAndRebuild(blockHashAndStateRoot, worldStateStorage);
+    }
+  }
 
-      // rebuild trie:
-      var newHash = rebuildTrie(worldStateStorage);
-
-      // write state root and block hash from the header:
-      if (!blockHashAndStateRoot.stateRoot().equals(newHash)) {
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  protected void verifyAndRebuild(
+      final BlockHashAndStateRoot blockHashAndStateRoot,
+      final BonsaiWorldStateKeyValueStorage worldStateStorage) {
+    // rebuild trie:
+    var newHash = rebuildTrie(worldStateStorage);
+
+    // write state root and block hash from the header:
+    if (!blockHashAndStateRoot.stateRoot().equals(newHash)) {
+      LOG.error(
+          "Catastrophic: calculated state root {} after state rebuild, was expecting {}.",
+          newHash,
+          blockHashAndStateRoot.stateRoot());
+      if (overrideHashes == null) {
         LOG.error(
-            "Catastrophic: calculated state root {} after state rebuild, was expecting {}.",
-            newHash,
-            blockHashAndStateRoot.stateRoot());
-        if (overrideHashes == null) {
-          LOG.error(
-              "Refusing to write mismatched block hash and state root.  Node needs manual intervention.");
-          System.exit(-1);
-        } else {
-          LOG.error(
-              "Writing the override block hash and state root, but node likely needs manual intervention.");
-        }
+            "Refusing to write mismatched block hash and state root.  Node needs manual intervention.");
+        System.exit(-1);
+      } else {
+        LOG.error(
+            "Writing the override block hash and state root, but node likely needs manual intervention.");
       }
-      writeStateRootAndBlockHash(blockHashAndStateRoot, worldStateStorage);
     }
+    writeStateRootAndBlockHash(blockHashAndStateRoot, worldStateStorage);
   }
 
   Hash rebuildTrie(final BonsaiWorldStateKeyValueStorage worldStateStorage) {
@@ -330,8 +337,8 @@ static BlockHashAndStateRoot create(final String comboString) {
       if (comboString != null) {
         var hashArray = comboString.split(":", 2);
         try {
-          return new BlockHashAndStateRoot(Hash.fromHexString(hashArray[0]),
-              Hash.fromHexString(hashArray[1]));
+          return new BlockHashAndStateRoot(
+              Hash.fromHexString(hashArray[0]), Hash.fromHexString(hashArray[1]));
         } catch (Exception ex) {
           System.err.println("failed parsing supplied block hash and stateroot " + ex.getMessage());
         }
diff --git a/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommandTest.java b/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommandTest.java
index 0f5c9184c736..e08042857a5c 100644
--- a/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommandTest.java
+++ b/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/subcommands/storage/RebuildBonsaiStateTrieSubCommandTest.java
@@ -76,10 +76,34 @@ public void assertStateRootMatchesAfterRebuild() {
     assertThat(newHash).isEqualTo(headRootHash);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void assertOverrideBlockHashAndStateRoot() {
+    var worldstate = (BonsaiWorldState) archive.getMutable();
+    var headRootHash = worldstate.rootHash();
+    var override = new BlockHashAndStateRoot(Hash.ZERO, headRootHash);
+
+    // rebuild the trie, should not complain about block hash mismatch:
+    command.verifyAndRebuild(override, worldstate.getWorldStateStorage());
+
+    // assert new storage:
+    var newStorage = worldstate.getWorldStateStorage();
+    var newRoot = newStorage.getWorldStateRootHash();
+    var newBlockHash = newStorage.getWorldStateBlockHash();
+
+    assertThat(newRoot).isPresent();
+    assertThat(newRoot.get()).isEqualTo(override.stateRoot());
+    assertThat(newBlockHash).isPresent();
+    assertThat(newBlockHash.get()).isEqualTo(override.blockHash());
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void assertBlockHashAndStateRootParsing() {
 
     assertThat(BlockHashAndStateRoot.create("0xdeadbeef:0xdeadbeef")).isNull();
+    assertThat(BlockHashAndStateRoot.create(Hash.EMPTY + "::" + Hash.EMPTY_TRIE_HASH)).isNull();
+    assertThat(BlockHashAndStateRoot.create("" + Hash.EMPTY + Hash.EMPTY_TRIE_HASH)).isNull();
+    assertThat(BlockHashAndStateRoot.create(Hash.EMPTY + ":" + Hash.EMPTY_TRIE_HASH + ":"))
+        .isNull();
 
     var mockVal = BlockHashAndStateRoot.create(Hash.EMPTY + ":" + Hash.EMPTY_TRIE_HASH);
     assertThat(mockVal).isNotNull();