diff --git a/sxt/rdb.c b/sxt/rdb.c
index 5e6bbc5..c83892d 100644
--- a/sxt/rdb.c
+++ b/sxt/rdb.c
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ uint32_t sxtrdb_write_raw(sxtrdb_t *b, void *wi, uint32_t len)
   memcpy((void *)b->raw + b->ulength, (const void *)wi, len);
   b->ulength += len;
 
-  return sizeof(uint64_t);
+  return len;
 }
 
 /* write raw data *before* existing data */