diff --git a/crates/chia-consensus/benches/merkle-set.rs b/crates/chia-consensus/benches/merkle-set.rs
index 4dd22b08a..7b6448968 100644
--- a/crates/chia-consensus/benches/merkle-set.rs
+++ b/crates/chia-consensus/benches/merkle-set.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::MerkleSet;
+use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::{validate_merkle_proof, MerkleSet};
 use criterion::{black_box, criterion_group, criterion_main, Criterion};
 use rand::rngs::SmallRng;
 use rand::{Rng, SeedableRng};
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ fn run(c: &mut Criterion) {
 
     let mut rng = SmallRng::seed_from_u64(1337);
 
-    let mut leafs = Vec::<[u8; 32]>::with_capacity(1000);
-    for _ in 0..1000 {
+    const NUM_LEAFS: usize = 1000;
+    let mut leafs = Vec::<[u8; 32]>::with_capacity(NUM_LEAFS);
+    for _ in 0..NUM_LEAFS {
         let mut item = [0_u8; 32];
         rng.fill(&mut item);
         leafs.push(item);
@@ -24,7 +25,10 @@ fn run(c: &mut Criterion) {
         })
     });
 
-    let tree = MerkleSet::from_leafs(&mut leafs);
+    // build the tree from the first half of the leafs. The second half are
+    // examples of leafs *not* included in the tree, to also cover
+    // proofs-of-exclusion
+    let tree = MerkleSet::from_leafs(&mut leafs[0..NUM_LEAFS / 2]);
 
     group.bench_function("generate_proof", |b| {
         b.iter(|| {
@@ -45,7 +49,7 @@ fn run(c: &mut Criterion) {
         );
     }
 
-    group.bench_function("deserialize_proof", |b| {
+    group.bench_function("parse_proof", |b| {
         b.iter(|| {
             let start = Instant::now();
             for p in &proofs {
@@ -54,6 +58,18 @@ fn run(c: &mut Criterion) {
             start.elapsed()
         })
     });
+    let root = &tree.get_root();
+    use std::iter::zip;
+    group.bench_function("validate_merkle_proof", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| {
+            let start = Instant::now();
+            for (p, leaf) in zip(&proofs, &leafs) {
+                let _ =
+                    black_box(validate_merkle_proof(&p, leaf, root).expect("expect valid proof"));
+            }
+            start.elapsed()
+        })
+    });
 }
 
 criterion_group!(merkle_set, run);
diff --git a/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/deserialize-proof.rs b/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/deserialize-proof.rs
index 89b6ce2c6..dcc0dfef8 100644
--- a/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/deserialize-proof.rs
+++ b/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/deserialize-proof.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 #![no_main]
+use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::{validate_merkle_proof, MerkleSet};
+use hex_literal::hex;
 use libfuzzer_sys::fuzz_target;
 
-use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::MerkleSet;
-
 fuzz_target!(|data: &[u8]| {
     let _r = MerkleSet::from_proof(data);
+    let dummy: [u8; 32] = hex!("cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc");
+    assert!(!matches!(
+        validate_merkle_proof(data, &dummy, &dummy),
+        Ok(true)
+    ));
 });
diff --git a/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/merkle-set.rs b/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/merkle-set.rs
index 16594d53e..b93201654 100644
--- a/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/merkle-set.rs
+++ b/crates/chia-consensus/fuzz/fuzz_targets/merkle-set.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #![no_main]
-use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::MerkleSet;
+use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::{validate_merkle_proof, MerkleSet};
+use clvmr::sha2::{Digest, Sha256};
 use libfuzzer_sys::fuzz_target;
 
 fuzz_target!(|data: &[u8]| {
@@ -12,18 +13,26 @@ fuzz_target!(|data: &[u8]| {
     }
 
     let tree = MerkleSet::from_leafs(&mut leafs);
+    let root = tree.get_root();
 
-    for item in &leafs {
-        let (true, proof) = tree.generate_proof(item).expect("failed to generate proof") else {
-            panic!("item is expected to exist");
-        };
+    // this is a leaf that's *not* in the tree, to also cover
+    // proofs-of-exclusion
+    let mut hasher = Sha256::new();
+    hasher.update(data);
+    leafs.push(hasher.finalize().into());
+
+    for (idx, item) in leafs.iter().enumerate() {
+        let expect_included = idx < num_leafs;
+        let (included, proof) = tree.generate_proof(item).expect("failed to generate proof");
+        assert_eq!(included, expect_included);
         let rebuilt = MerkleSet::from_proof(&proof).expect("failed to parse proof");
+        let (included, _junk) = rebuilt
+            .generate_proof(item)
+            .expect("failed to validate proof");
+        assert_eq!(rebuilt.get_root(), root);
+        assert_eq!(included, expect_included);
         assert!(
-            rebuilt
-                .generate_proof(item)
-                .expect("failed to validate proof")
-                .0
+            validate_merkle_proof(&proof, item, &root).expect("proof failed") == expect_included
         );
-        assert_eq!(rebuilt.get_root(), tree.get_root());
     }
 });
diff --git a/crates/chia-consensus/src/merkle_tree.rs b/crates/chia-consensus/src/merkle_tree.rs
index a9668d35f..7078f1e59 100644
--- a/crates/chia-consensus/src/merkle_tree.rs
+++ b/crates/chia-consensus/src/merkle_tree.rs
@@ -333,6 +333,21 @@ fn pad_middles_for_proof_gen(proof: &mut Vec<u8>, left: &[u8; 32], right: &[u8;
     }
 }
 
+// returns true if the item is included in the tree with the specified root,
+// given the proof, or false if it's not included in the tree.
+// If neither can be proven, it fails with SetError
+pub fn validate_merkle_proof(
+    proof: &[u8],
+    item: &[u8; 32],
+    root: &[u8; 32],
+) -> Result<bool, SetError> {
+    let tree = MerkleSet::from_proof(proof)?;
+    if tree.get_root() != *root {
+        return Err(SetError);
+    }
+    Ok(tree.generate_proof(item)?.0)
+}
+
 #[cfg(feature = "py-bindings")]
 #[pymethods]
 impl MerkleSet {
@@ -607,7 +622,7 @@ mod tests {
             assert_eq!(rebuilt.get_root(), root);
             let (included, new_proof) = rebuilt.generate_proof(&item).unwrap();
             assert!(included);
-            assert_eq!(new_proof, vec![]);
+            assert_eq!(new_proof, Vec::<u8>::new());
             assert_eq!(rebuilt.get_root(), root);
         }
 
@@ -622,7 +637,7 @@ mod tests {
             let rebuilt = MerkleSet::from_proof(&proof).expect("failed to parse proof");
             let (included, new_proof) = rebuilt.generate_proof(&item).unwrap();
             assert!(!included);
-            assert_eq!(new_proof, vec![]);
+            assert_eq!(new_proof, Vec::<u8>::new());
             assert_eq!(rebuilt.get_root(), root);
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/test_merkle_set.py b/tests/test_merkle_set.py
index 0702a7d7d..efe7f167d 100644
--- a/tests/test_merkle_set.py
+++ b/tests/test_merkle_set.py
@@ -5,35 +5,34 @@
 import time
 from chia_rs import (
     MerkleSet as RustMerkleSet,
-    deserialize_proof as ru_deserialize_proof,
     compute_merkle_set_root,
+    confirm_included_already_hashed as ru_confirm_included_already_hashed,
+    confirm_not_included_already_hashed as ru_confirm_not_included_already_hashed,
 )
 from random import Random
 from merkle_set import (
     MerkleSet as PythonMerkleSet,
-    deserialize_proof as py_deserialize_proof,
+    confirm_included_already_hashed as py_confirm_included_already_hashed,
+    confirm_not_included_already_hashed as py_confirm_not_included_already_hashed,
 )
 from chia_rs.sized_bytes import bytes32
 
 
 def check_proof(
     proof: bytes,
-    deserialize: Callable[[bytes], Any],
+    confirm_included_already_hashed: Callable[[bytes32, bytes32, bytes], bool],
+    confirm_not_included_already_hashed: Callable[[bytes32, bytes32, bytes], bool],
     *,
     root: bytes32,
     item: bytes32,
     expect_included: bool = True,
 ) -> None:
-    proof_tree = deserialize(proof)
-    assert proof_tree.get_root() == root
-    included, junk = proof_tree.is_included_already_hashed(item)
-    assert included == expect_included
-
-    # the rust implementation does not round-trip proofs of exclusions.
-    # doing so requires additional complexity (and cost).
-    # rust deliberately generates an empty proof from a tree generated from a
-    # proof
-    assert junk == b"" or junk == proof
+    if expect_included:
+        assert confirm_included_already_hashed(root, item, proof)
+        assert not confirm_not_included_already_hashed(root, item, proof)
+    else:
+        assert not confirm_included_already_hashed(root, item, proof)
+        assert confirm_not_included_already_hashed(root, item, proof)
 
 
 def check_tree(leafs: List[bytes32]) -> None:
@@ -51,8 +50,8 @@ def check_tree(leafs: List[bytes32]) -> None:
         assert py_proof == ru_proof
         proof = ru_proof
 
-        check_proof(proof, py_deserialize_proof, root=root, item=item)
-        check_proof(proof, ru_deserialize_proof, root=root, item=item)
+        check_proof(proof, py_confirm_included_already_hashed, py_confirm_not_included_already_hashed, root=root, item=item)
+        check_proof(proof, ru_confirm_included_already_hashed, ru_confirm_not_included_already_hashed, root=root, item=item)
 
     for i in range(256):
         item = bytes32([i] + [2] * 31)
@@ -63,12 +62,8 @@ def check_tree(leafs: List[bytes32]) -> None:
         assert py_proof == ru_proof
         proof = ru_proof
 
-        check_proof(
-            proof, py_deserialize_proof, root=root, item=item, expect_included=False
-        )
-        check_proof(
-            proof, ru_deserialize_proof, root=root, item=item, expect_included=False
-        )
+        check_proof(proof, py_confirm_included_already_hashed, py_confirm_not_included_already_hashed, root=root, item=item, expect_included=False)
+        check_proof(proof, ru_confirm_included_already_hashed, ru_confirm_not_included_already_hashed, root=root, item=item, expect_included=False)
 
 
 def h(b: str) -> bytes32:
diff --git a/wheel/generate_type_stubs.py b/wheel/generate_type_stubs.py
index 2218b85f6..b28ac22ed 100644
--- a/wheel/generate_type_stubs.py
+++ b/wheel/generate_type_stubs.py
@@ -289,6 +289,18 @@ def deserialize_proof(
     proof: bytes
 ) -> MerkleSet: ...
 
+def confirm_included_already_hashed(
+    root: bytes32,
+    item: bytes32,
+    proof: bytes,
+) -> bool: ...
+
+def confirm_not_included_already_hashed(
+    root: bytes32,
+    item: bytes32,
+    proof: bytes,
+) -> bool: ...
+
 COND_ARGS_NIL: int = ...
 NO_UNKNOWN_CONDS: int = ...
 STRICT_ARGS_COUNT: int = ...
diff --git a/wheel/python/chia_rs/chia_rs.pyi b/wheel/python/chia_rs/chia_rs.pyi
index d4f5f04d4..c0ea87f70 100644
--- a/wheel/python/chia_rs/chia_rs.pyi
+++ b/wheel/python/chia_rs/chia_rs.pyi
@@ -37,6 +37,18 @@ def deserialize_proof(
     proof: bytes
 ) -> MerkleSet: ...
 
+def confirm_included_already_hashed(
+    root: bytes32,
+    item: bytes32,
+    proof: bytes,
+) -> bool: ...
+
+def confirm_not_included_already_hashed(
+    root: bytes32,
+    item: bytes32,
+    proof: bytes,
+) -> bool: ...
+
 COND_ARGS_NIL: int = ...
 NO_UNKNOWN_CONDS: int = ...
 STRICT_ARGS_COUNT: int = ...
diff --git a/wheel/src/api.rs b/wheel/src/api.rs
index 6e2943850..faecf1da7 100644
--- a/wheel/src/api.rs
+++ b/wheel/src/api.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use chia_consensus::gen::run_puzzle::run_puzzle as native_run_puzzle;
 use chia_consensus::gen::solution_generator::solution_generator as native_solution_generator;
 use chia_consensus::gen::solution_generator::solution_generator_backrefs as native_solution_generator_backrefs;
 use chia_consensus::merkle_set::compute_merkle_set_root as compute_merkle_root_impl;
-use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::MerkleSet;
+use chia_consensus::merkle_tree::{validate_merkle_proof, MerkleSet};
 use chia_protocol::{
     BlockRecord, Bytes32, ChallengeBlockInfo, ChallengeChainSubSlot, ClassgroupElement, Coin,
     CoinSpend, CoinState, CoinStateUpdate, EndOfSubSlotBundle, Foliage, FoliageBlockData,
@@ -78,8 +78,24 @@ pub fn compute_merkle_set_root<'p>(
 }
 
 #[pyfunction]
-pub fn deserialize_proof(proof: &[u8]) -> PyResult<MerkleSet> {
-    MerkleSet::from_proof(proof).map_err(|_| PyValueError::new_err("Invalid proof"))
+pub fn confirm_included_already_hashed(
+    root: Bytes32,
+    item: Bytes32,
+    proof: &[u8],
+) -> PyResult<bool> {
+    validate_merkle_proof(proof, (&item).into(), (&root).into())
+        .map_err(|_| PyValueError::new_err("Invalid proof"))
+}
+
+#[pyfunction]
+pub fn confirm_not_included_already_hashed(
+    root: Bytes32,
+    item: Bytes32,
+    proof: &[u8],
+) -> PyResult<bool> {
+    validate_merkle_proof(proof, (&item).into(), (&root).into())
+        .map_err(|_| PyValueError::new_err("Invalid proof"))
+        .map(|r| !r)
 }
 
 #[pyfunction]
@@ -357,7 +373,8 @@ pub fn chia_rs(_py: Python, m: &PyModule) -> PyResult<()> {
 
     // merkle tree
     m.add_class::<MerkleSet>()?;
-    m.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(deserialize_proof, m)?)?;
+    m.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(confirm_included_already_hashed, m)?)?;
+    m.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(confirm_not_included_already_hashed, m)?)?;
 
     // clvm functions
     m.add("COND_ARGS_NIL", COND_ARGS_NIL)?;