diff --git a/include/aaruformat/context.h b/include/aaruformat/context.h
index 6cc9b92..0ed16e9 100644
--- a/include/aaruformat/context.h
+++ b/include/aaruformat/context.h
@@ -389,6 +389,13 @@ typedef struct aaruformat_context
     uint32_t  ec_total_data_blocks;   ///< Total data blocks written (counter for round-robin assignment).
     UT_array *ec_data_stripes;        ///< Completed data stripe descriptors (serialized to ECMB).
     bool      ec_enabled;             ///< True if erasure coding is active.
+
+    /* Erasure coding (read path) */
+    void    *ec_read_stripes;         ///< Parsed EcReadStripe array for data group, NULL if no ECMB.
+    uint32_t ec_read_stripe_count;    ///< Number of data stripes parsed from ECMB.
+    void    *ec_block_lookup;         ///< uthash: block file offset → stripe index + position.
+    bool     ec_recovery_available;   ///< True if ECMB loaded and recovery is possible.
+    bool     ec_recovery_in_progress; ///< Recursion guard for recovery (prevents infinite loops).
 } aaruformat_context;
 
 #ifndef AARUFORMAT_CONTEXT_DECLARED
diff --git a/include/erasure_internal.h b/include/erasure_internal.h
index 39ce88b..2fbee25 100644
--- a/include/erasure_internal.h
+++ b/include/erasure_internal.h
@@ -22,31 +22,45 @@
 #include "aaruformat/context.h"
 #include "aaruformat/structs/data.h"
 
-/**
- * @brief Accumulate parity for a data block just written to disk.
- *
- * Called from aaruf_close_current_block() after writing header + payload.
- */
+/* ---- Write path ---- */
+
 void ec_accumulate_data_block(aaruformat_context *ctx, const BlockHeader *block_header, const uint8_t *lzma_props,
                               const uint8_t *payload, uint32_t payload_size, uint64_t file_offset);
 
-/**
- * @brief Flush a completed data stripe slot: write parity blocks and record descriptor.
- */
 void ec_flush_data_stripe(aaruformat_context *ctx, uint32_t slot);
 
-/**
- * @brief Flush partial stripes, write ECMB and recovery footer.
- *
- * Called from aaruf_finalize_write() after index is written.
- */
 void ec_finalize(aaruformat_context *ctx);
 
+/* ---- Read path ---- */
+
 /**
- * @brief Free all erasure coding state.
+ * @brief Try to load the ECMB from the recovery footer at EOF.
  *
- * Called from aaruf_close().
+ * Reads the last 160 bytes, checks for footerMagic, parses ECMB,
+ * and populates the ec_read_* fields and block lookup hashmap.
+ * Called from aaruf_open().
  */
+void ec_load_ecmb(aaruformat_context *ctx);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Attempt to recover a data block that failed decompression or CRC verification.
+ *
+ * Looks up the block's stripe via the ECMB, reads surviving stripe members + parity,
+ * RS-decodes the erased shard, and decompresses the recovered block.
+ *
+ * @param ctx Context with ec_recovery_available == true.
+ * @param block_offset File offset of the corrupted block.
+ * @param offset Sector offset within the block.
+ * @param data Output buffer for the recovered sector.
+ * @param length Output: bytes written to data.
+ * @param sector_status Sector status from DDT.
+ * @return AARUF_STATUS_OK on success, negative error code on failure.
+ */
+int32_t ec_recover_data_block(aaruformat_context *ctx, uint64_t block_offset, uint64_t offset,
+                              uint8_t *data, uint32_t *length, uint8_t sector_status);
+
+/* ---- Cleanup ---- */
+
 void ec_free(aaruformat_context *ctx);
 
 #endif /* LIBAARUFORMAT_ERASURE_INTERNAL_H */
diff --git a/src/erasure.c b/src/erasure.c
index 38219ba..2c1add4 100644
--- a/src/erasure.c
+++ b/src/erasure.c
@@ -36,6 +36,27 @@
 #include "lib/gf256.h"
 #include "lib/reed_solomon.h"
 
+/* =========================================================================
+ * Read-path structures (not in on-disk format, internal only)
+ * ========================================================================= */
+
+/** @brief In-memory representation of one data stripe (parsed from ECMB). */
+typedef struct EcReadStripe
+{
+    uint16_t              actual_k;       ///< Number of data blocks in this stripe.
+    StripeDataBlockEntry *data_entries;   ///< Array of actual_k entries.
+    uint64_t             *parity_offsets; ///< Array of M parity block file offsets.
+} EcReadStripe;
+
+/** @brief Hash table entry mapping block file offset -> stripe index + position. */
+typedef struct EcBlockLookupEntry
+{
+    uint64_t       block_offset;   ///< Key: file offset of the data block.
+    uint32_t       stripe_index;   ///< Index into ec_read_stripes array.
+    uint16_t       position;       ///< Position within the stripe (0..actual_k-1).
+    UT_hash_handle hh;
+} EcBlockLookupEntry;
+
 /* UT_array icd for completed stripe descriptors.
  * Each descriptor is a variable-length blob serialized in-place. We store
  * them as flat byte buffers since the size per stripe depends on K and M. */
@@ -564,4 +585,437 @@ void ec_free(aaruformat_context *ctx)
     }
 
     ctx->ec_enabled = false;
+
+    /* Free read-path state */
+    if(ctx->ec_read_stripes)
+    {
+        EcReadStripe *stripes = (EcReadStripe *)ctx->ec_read_stripes;
+        for(uint32_t i = 0; i < ctx->ec_read_stripe_count; i++)
+        {
+            free(stripes[i].data_entries);
+            free(stripes[i].parity_offsets);
+        }
+        free(stripes);
+        ctx->ec_read_stripes = NULL;
+    }
+    ctx->ec_read_stripe_count = 0;
+
+    /* Free block lookup hashmap */
+    if(ctx->ec_block_lookup)
+    {
+        EcBlockLookupEntry *root = (EcBlockLookupEntry *)ctx->ec_block_lookup;
+        EcBlockLookupEntry *entry, *tmp;
+        HASH_ITER(hh, root, entry, tmp)
+        {
+            HASH_DEL(root, entry);
+            free(entry);
+        }
+        ctx->ec_block_lookup = NULL;
+    }
+
+    ctx->ec_recovery_available = false;
+}
+
+/* =========================================================================
+ * ECMB loading (read path)
+ * ========================================================================= */
+
+void ec_load_ecmb(aaruformat_context *ctx)
+{
+    TRACE("Entering ec_load_ecmb(%p)", (void *)ctx);
+
+    /* Read recovery footer from last 160 bytes of file */
+    aaruf_fseek(ctx->imageStream, 0, SEEK_END);
+    int64_t file_size = aaruf_ftell(ctx->imageStream);
+    if(file_size < (int64_t)sizeof(AaruRecoveryFooter))
+    {
+        TRACE("File too small for recovery footer");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    aaruf_fseek(ctx->imageStream, (aaru_off_t)(file_size - (int64_t)sizeof(AaruRecoveryFooter)), SEEK_SET);
+
+    AaruRecoveryFooter footer;
+    if(fread(&footer, sizeof(AaruRecoveryFooter), 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1)
+    {
+        TRACE("Cannot read recovery footer");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if(footer.footerMagic != AARU_RECOVERY_FOOTER_MAGIC)
+    {
+        TRACE("Recovery footer magic mismatch: 0x%016" PRIx64, footer.footerMagic);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    /* Read ECMB header */
+    aaruf_fseek(ctx->imageStream, (aaru_off_t)footer.ecmbOffset, SEEK_SET);
+
+    ErasureCodingMapHeader ecmb;
+    if(fread(&ecmb, sizeof(ErasureCodingMapHeader), 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1)
+    {
+        TRACE("Cannot read ECMB header");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if(ecmb.identifier != ErasureCodingMapBlock)
+    {
+        TRACE("ECMB identifier mismatch");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    /* Read payload (uncompressed only for now) */
+    if(ecmb.length == 0 || ecmb.length > 256 * 1024 * 1024) return;  /* sanity limit */
+
+    uint8_t *payload = (uint8_t *)malloc((size_t)ecmb.length);
+    if(!payload) return;
+
+    if(ecmb.compression == kCompressionNone)
+    {
+        if(fread(payload, (size_t)ecmb.cmpLength, 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1)
+        {
+            free(payload);
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        /* Compressed ECMB payload — read compressed, decompress */
+        uint8_t *cmp = (uint8_t *)malloc((size_t)ecmb.cmpLength);
+        if(!cmp) { free(payload); return; }
+        if(fread(cmp, (size_t)ecmb.cmpLength, 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1) { free(cmp); free(payload); return; }
+
+        if(ecmb.compression == kCompressionLzma)
+        {
+            size_t out_size = (size_t)ecmb.length;
+            size_t lzma_src_size = (size_t)ecmb.cmpLength - LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH;
+            aaruf_lzma_decode_buffer(payload, &out_size, cmp + LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH,
+                                     &lzma_src_size, cmp, LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH);
+        }
+        else if(ecmb.compression == kCompressionZstd)
+        {
+            aaruf_zstd_decode_buffer(payload, (size_t)ecmb.length, cmp, (size_t)ecmb.cmpLength);
+        }
+        free(cmp);
+    }
+
+    /* Verify CRC64 */
+    uint64_t computed_crc = aaruf_crc64_data(payload, (uint32_t)ecmb.length);
+    if(computed_crc != ecmb.crc64)
+    {
+        TRACE("ECMB payload CRC64 mismatch");
+        free(payload);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    /* Parse stripe group descriptor */
+    if(ecmb.length < sizeof(StripeGroupDescriptor)) { free(payload); return; }
+
+    StripeGroupDescriptor group;
+    memcpy(&group, payload, sizeof(StripeGroupDescriptor));
+
+    ctx->ec_algorithm       = ecmb.algorithm;
+    ctx->ec_K               = group.K;
+    ctx->ec_M               = group.M;
+    ctx->ec_data_shard_size = group.shardSize;
+
+    /* Parse stripe descriptors */
+    uint8_t *p = payload + sizeof(StripeGroupDescriptor);
+    size_t   remaining = (size_t)ecmb.length - sizeof(StripeGroupDescriptor);
+
+    EcReadStripe *stripes = (EcReadStripe *)calloc(group.stripeCount, sizeof(EcReadStripe));
+    if(!stripes) { free(payload); return; }
+
+    EcBlockLookupEntry *lookup_root = NULL;
+
+    for(uint32_t s = 0; s < group.stripeCount; s++)
+    {
+        if(remaining < sizeof(uint16_t)) break;
+        uint16_t ak;
+        memcpy(&ak, p, sizeof(uint16_t)); p += sizeof(uint16_t); remaining -= sizeof(uint16_t);
+        stripes[s].actual_k = ak;
+
+        size_t data_bytes = (size_t)ak * sizeof(StripeDataBlockEntry);
+        size_t parity_bytes = (size_t)group.M * sizeof(StripeParityBlockEntry);
+        if(remaining < data_bytes + parity_bytes) break;
+
+        stripes[s].data_entries = (StripeDataBlockEntry *)malloc(data_bytes);
+        if(!stripes[s].data_entries) break;
+        memcpy(stripes[s].data_entries, p, data_bytes); p += data_bytes; remaining -= data_bytes;
+
+        stripes[s].parity_offsets = (uint64_t *)malloc((size_t)group.M * sizeof(uint64_t));
+        if(!stripes[s].parity_offsets) break;
+        for(uint16_t m = 0; m < group.M; m++)
+        {
+            StripeParityBlockEntry pe;
+            memcpy(&pe, p, sizeof(StripeParityBlockEntry)); p += sizeof(StripeParityBlockEntry);
+            remaining -= sizeof(StripeParityBlockEntry);
+            stripes[s].parity_offsets[m] = pe.offset;
+        }
+
+        /* Build lookup hashmap entries for each data block in this stripe */
+        for(uint16_t k = 0; k < ak; k++)
+        {
+            EcBlockLookupEntry *le = (EcBlockLookupEntry *)calloc(1, sizeof(EcBlockLookupEntry));
+            if(!le) break;
+            le->block_offset = stripes[s].data_entries[k].offset;
+            le->stripe_index = s;
+            le->position     = k;
+            HASH_ADD(hh, lookup_root, block_offset, sizeof(uint64_t), le);
+        }
+    }
+
+    free(payload);
+
+    ctx->ec_read_stripes      = stripes;
+    ctx->ec_read_stripe_count = group.stripeCount;
+    ctx->ec_block_lookup      = lookup_root;
+    ctx->ec_recovery_available = true;
+
+    /* Create RS codec for decoding */
+    if(!ctx->ec_rs_ctx)
+        ctx->ec_rs_ctx = rs_create(group.K, group.M);
+
+    TRACE("ECMB loaded: K=%u M=%u shard_size=%u stripes=%u", group.K, group.M, group.shardSize, group.stripeCount);
+}
+
+/* =========================================================================
+ * Data block recovery (read path)
+ * ========================================================================= */
+
+int32_t ec_recover_data_block(aaruformat_context *ctx, uint64_t block_offset, uint64_t offset,
+                              uint8_t *data, uint32_t *length, uint8_t sector_status)
+{
+    if(!ctx->ec_recovery_available || ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress) return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+
+    ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress = true;
+
+    /* Look up which stripe this block belongs to */
+    EcBlockLookupEntry *le = NULL;
+    HASH_FIND(hh, (EcBlockLookupEntry *)ctx->ec_block_lookup, &block_offset, sizeof(uint64_t), le);
+    if(!le) { ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress = false; return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK; }
+
+    uint32_t si  = le->stripe_index;
+    EcReadStripe *stripes = (EcReadStripe *)ctx->ec_read_stripes;
+    EcReadStripe *stripe  = &stripes[si];
+    uint16_t K = ctx->ec_K;
+    uint16_t M = ctx->ec_M;
+    uint32_t shard_size = ctx->ec_data_shard_size;
+
+    /* Always use K+M shards for RS. For partial stripes (actual_k < K),
+     * positions actual_k..K-1 are all-zero (calloc'd) and marked present.
+     * This works because the encoding used the K-size generator matrix
+     * and zero-contributions for unused positions. */
+    uint16_t total_shards = K + M;
+
+    /* Allocate shard pointers and present flags */
+    uint8_t **shards  = (uint8_t **)calloc(total_shards, sizeof(uint8_t *));
+    uint8_t  *present = (uint8_t *)calloc(total_shards, 1);
+    if(!shards || !present) { free(shards); free(present); ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress = false; return AARUF_ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY; }
+
+    for(uint16_t i = 0; i < total_shards; i++)
+    {
+        shards[i] = (uint8_t *)calloc(1, shard_size);
+        if(!shards[i])
+        {
+            for(uint16_t j = 0; j < i; j++) free(shards[j]);
+            free(shards); free(present);
+            ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress = false;
+            return AARUF_ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /* Read data shards from file and verify each one's CRC64 against ECMB */
+    for(uint16_t k = 0; k < stripe->actual_k; k++)
+    {
+        StripeDataBlockEntry *de = &stripe->data_entries[k];
+        uint32_t read_size = de->onDiskSize;
+        if(read_size > shard_size) read_size = shard_size;
+
+        aaruf_fseek(ctx->imageStream, (aaru_off_t)de->offset, SEEK_SET);
+        if(fread(shards[k], read_size, 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1)
+        {
+            present[k] = 0;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        /* Verify CRC64 (zero-padded to shard_size via calloc) */
+        uint64_t crc = aaruf_crc64_data(shards[k], shard_size);
+        present[k] = (crc == de->shardCrc64) ? 1 : 0;
+    }
+
+    /* Positions actual_k..K-1 are all-zero and present (unused stripe positions) */
+    for(uint16_t k = stripe->actual_k; k < K; k++)
+        present[k] = 1; /* All-zero shards, implicitly correct */
+
+    /* Read parity shards */
+    for(uint16_t m = 0; m < M; m++)
+    {
+        uint16_t shard_idx = K + m;
+        uint64_t parity_offset = stripe->parity_offsets[m];
+
+        aaruf_fseek(ctx->imageStream, (aaru_off_t)parity_offset, SEEK_SET);
+
+        /* Read parity block header */
+        BlockHeader parity_header;
+        if(fread(&parity_header, sizeof(BlockHeader), 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1)
+        {
+            present[shard_idx] = 0;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        /* Read and decompress parity payload */
+        if(parity_header.compression == kCompressionNone)
+        {
+            uint32_t to_read = parity_header.length;
+            if(to_read > shard_size) to_read = shard_size;
+            if(fread(shards[shard_idx], to_read, 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1)
+            {
+                present[shard_idx] = 0;
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
+        else if(parity_header.compression == kCompressionLzma)
+        {
+            uint32_t cmp_data_len = parity_header.cmpLength - LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH;
+            uint8_t lzma_props[LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH];
+            if(fread(lzma_props, LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH, 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1 )
+            {
+                present[shard_idx] = 0;
+                continue;
+            }
+            uint8_t *cmp = (uint8_t *)malloc(cmp_data_len);
+            if(!cmp) { present[shard_idx] = 0; continue; }
+            if(fread(cmp, cmp_data_len, 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1) { free(cmp); present[shard_idx] = 0; continue; }
+
+            size_t out_size = shard_size;
+            size_t lzma_src = (size_t)cmp_data_len;
+            aaruf_lzma_decode_buffer(shards[shard_idx], &out_size, cmp, &lzma_src, lzma_props, LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH);
+            free(cmp);
+        }
+        else if(parity_header.compression == kCompressionZstd)
+        {
+            uint8_t *cmp = (uint8_t *)malloc(parity_header.cmpLength);
+            if(!cmp) { present[shard_idx] = 0; continue; }
+            if(fread(cmp, parity_header.cmpLength, 1, ctx->imageStream) != 1) { free(cmp); present[shard_idx] = 0; continue; }
+
+            aaruf_zstd_decode_buffer(shards[shard_idx], shard_size, cmp, parity_header.cmpLength);
+            free(cmp);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            present[shard_idx] = 0;
+            continue;
+        }
+        present[shard_idx] = 1;
+    }
+
+    /* Always use the original RS(K,M) codec — partial stripes have zero-padded unused positions */
+    rs_context *rs = (rs_context *)ctx->ec_rs_ctx;
+    if(!rs)
+    {
+        for(uint16_t i = 0; i < total_shards; i++) free(shards[i]);
+        free(shards); free(present);
+        ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress = false;
+        return AARUF_ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY;
+    }
+
+    /* RS decode */
+    int rc = rs_decode(rs, shards, present, shard_size);
+
+    if(rc != 0)
+    {
+        for(uint16_t i = 0; i < total_shards; i++) free(shards[i]);
+        free(shards); free(present);
+        ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress = false;
+        return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+    }
+
+    /* Find the shard corresponding to our corrupted block */
+    uint16_t our_pos = le->position;
+    uint8_t *recovered_shard = shards[our_pos];
+
+    /* Parse the recovered BlockHeader */
+    BlockHeader recovered_header;
+    memcpy(&recovered_header, recovered_shard, sizeof(BlockHeader));
+
+    /* Decompress the recovered payload */
+    uint32_t hdr_size = sizeof(BlockHeader);
+    uint8_t *recovered_payload = recovered_shard + hdr_size;
+    uint32_t payload_len = recovered_header.cmpLength;
+
+    uint8_t *block = NULL;
+
+    if(recovered_header.compression == kCompressionNone)
+    {
+        block = (uint8_t *)malloc(recovered_header.length);
+        if(block) memcpy(block, recovered_payload, recovered_header.length);
+    }
+    else if(recovered_header.compression == kCompressionLzma)
+    {
+        uint8_t *lzma_props = recovered_payload;
+        uint8_t *lzma_data  = recovered_payload + LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH;
+        uint32_t lzma_data_len = payload_len - LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH;
+
+        block = (uint8_t *)malloc(recovered_header.length);
+        if(block)
+        {
+            size_t out_size = recovered_header.length;
+            size_t lzma_src2 = (size_t)lzma_data_len;
+            aaruf_lzma_decode_buffer(block, &out_size, lzma_data, &lzma_src2, lzma_props, LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH);
+        }
+    }
+    else if(recovered_header.compression == kCompressionZstd)
+    {
+        block = (uint8_t *)malloc(recovered_header.length);
+        if(block)
+            aaruf_zstd_decode_buffer(block, recovered_header.length, recovered_payload, payload_len);
+    }
+    else if(recovered_header.compression == kCompressionFlac)
+    {
+        block = (uint8_t *)malloc(recovered_header.length);
+        if(block)
+            aaruf_flac_decode_redbook_buffer(block, recovered_header.length, recovered_payload, payload_len);
+    }
+
+    int32_t result = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+
+    if(block)
+    {
+        /* Verify recovered uncompressed data CRC64 */
+        uint64_t block_crc = aaruf_crc64_data(block, recovered_header.length);
+        if(block_crc == recovered_header.crc64)
+        {
+            /* Extract the requested sector */
+            uint32_t sector_size = recovered_header.sectorSize;
+            if(sector_size > 0 && offset * sector_size + sector_size <= recovered_header.length)
+            {
+                memcpy(data, block + offset * sector_size, sector_size);
+                *length = sector_size;
+                result = AARUF_STATUS_OK;
+
+                /* Cache the recovered block so subsequent sector reads from the same
+                 * block don't re-trigger recovery (this is the critical optimization). */
+                add_to_cache_uint64(&ctx->block_cache, block_offset, block);
+
+                /* Also cache the recovered BlockHeader */
+                BlockHeader *cached_hdr = (BlockHeader *)malloc(sizeof(BlockHeader));
+                if(cached_hdr)
+                {
+                    memcpy(cached_hdr, &recovered_header, sizeof(BlockHeader));
+                    add_to_cache_uint64(&ctx->block_header_cache, block_offset, cached_hdr);
+                }
+
+                block = NULL; /* Ownership transferred to cache — don't free */
+            }
+        }
+        free(block); /* Only frees if not transferred to cache */
+    }
+
+    for(uint16_t i = 0; i < total_shards; i++) free(shards[i]);
+    free(shards);
+    free(present);
+
+    ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress = false;
+    return result;
 }
diff --git a/src/open.c b/src/open.c
index 1a245d3..7a4f31a 100644
--- a/src/open.c
+++ b/src/open.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 #include <aaruformat.h>
 
+#include "erasure_internal.h"
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "utarray.h"
@@ -684,6 +685,9 @@ AARU_EXPORT void *AARU_CALL aaruf_open(const char *filepath, const bool resume_m
     ctx->library_major_version = LIBAARUFORMAT_MAJOR_VERSION;
     ctx->library_minor_version = LIBAARUFORMAT_MINOR_VERSION;
 
+    /* Try to load erasure coding recovery metadata from EOF footer */
+    ec_load_ecmb(ctx);
+
     if(!resume_mode)
     {
         TRACE("Exiting aaruf_open() = %p", ctx);
diff --git a/src/read.c b/src/read.c
index 0ef033f..274abb9 100644
--- a/src/read.c
+++ b/src/read.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 #include <aaruformat.h>
 
+#include "erasure_internal.h"
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "ngcw/lfg.h"
@@ -818,7 +819,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                       block_header->length);
 
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             lzma_size = block_header->cmpLength - LZMA_PROPERTIES_LENGTH;
@@ -853,7 +854,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(cmp_data);
 
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             read_bytes = fread(cmp_data, 1, lzma_size, ctx->imageStream);
@@ -864,7 +865,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(block);
 
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             TRACE("Decompressing block of size %zu bytes", block_header->length);
@@ -879,7 +880,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(block);
 
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             if(read_bytes != block_header->length)
@@ -889,7 +890,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(block);
 
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             free(cmp_data);
@@ -901,7 +902,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 FATAL("Invalid zstd block lengths (cmpLength=%u, length=%u)", block_header->cmpLength,
                       block_header->length);
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             TRACE("Allocating memory for block of size %zu bytes", block_header->length);
@@ -932,7 +933,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(cmp_data);
                 free(block);
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             read_bytes = aaruf_zstd_decode_buffer(block, block_header->length, cmp_data, block_header->cmpLength);
@@ -942,7 +943,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(cmp_data);
                 free(block);
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             free(cmp_data);
@@ -980,7 +981,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(block);
 
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             TRACE("Decompressing block of size %zu bytes", block_header->length);
@@ -994,7 +995,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
                 free(block);
 
                 TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
-                return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
+                goto ec_try_recovery;
             }
 
             free(cmp_data);
@@ -1003,7 +1004,7 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
         default:
             FATAL("Unsupported compression %d", block_header->compression);
             TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_COMPRESSION");
-            return AARUF_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_COMPRESSION;
+            goto ec_try_recovery;
     }
 
     // Add block to cache
@@ -1166,6 +1167,26 @@ AARU_EXPORT int32_t AARU_CALL aaruf_read_sector(void *context, const uint64_t se
 
     TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_STATUS_OK");
     return AARUF_STATUS_OK;
+
+    /* Erasure coding recovery: attempt to reconstruct a block that failed
+     * decompression due to on-disk corruption. ec_recover_data_block()
+     * reads the stripe, RS-decodes the erased shard, decompresses it,
+     * and extracts the requested sector. */
+ec_try_recovery:
+    if(ctx->ec_recovery_available && !ctx->ec_recovery_in_progress)
+    {
+        TRACE("Attempting erasure coding recovery for block at offset %" PRIu64, block_offset);
+        int32_t rc = ec_recover_data_block(ctx, block_offset, offset, data, length, *sector_status);
+        if(rc == AARUF_STATUS_OK)
+        {
+            TRACE("Erasure coding recovery succeeded");
+            return AARUF_STATUS_OK;
+        }
+        TRACE("Erasure coding recovery failed: %d", rc);
+    }
+
+    TRACE("Exiting aaruf_read_sector() = AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK");
+    return AARUF_ERROR_CANNOT_DECOMPRESS_BLOCK;
 }
 
 /**