diff --git a/ethcore/src/engines/authority_round.rs b/ethcore/src/engines/authority_round.rs
index dbfcbda31..6bce4cf83 100644
--- a/ethcore/src/engines/authority_round.rs
+++ b/ethcore/src/engines/authority_round.rs
@@ -287,10 +287,6 @@ impl Engine for AuthorityRound {
 			try!(Err(EngineError::DoubleVote(header.author().clone())));
 		}
 
-		// Check difficulty is correct given the two timestamps.
-		if header.difficulty() != parent.difficulty() {
-			return Err(From::from(BlockError::InvalidDifficulty(Mismatch { expected: *parent.difficulty(), found: *header.difficulty() })))
-		}
 		let gas_limit_divisor = self.our_params.gas_limit_bound_divisor;
 		let min_gas = parent.gas_limit().clone() - parent.gas_limit().clone() / gas_limit_divisor;
 		let max_gas = parent.gas_limit().clone() + parent.gas_limit().clone() / gas_limit_divisor;
diff --git a/ethcore/src/engines/tendermint/mod.rs b/ethcore/src/engines/tendermint/mod.rs
index ae7d804d5..e35dc6749 100644
--- a/ethcore/src/engines/tendermint/mod.rs
+++ b/ethcore/src/engines/tendermint/mod.rs
@@ -475,10 +475,6 @@ impl Engine for Tendermint {
 			return Err(From::from(BlockError::RidiculousNumber(OutOfBounds { min: Some(1), max: None, found: header.number() })));
 		}
 
-		// Check difficulty is correct given the two timestamps.
-		if header.difficulty() != parent.difficulty() {
-			return Err(From::from(BlockError::InvalidDifficulty(Mismatch { expected: *parent.difficulty(), found: *header.difficulty() })))
-		}
 		let gas_limit_divisor = self.our_params.gas_limit_bound_divisor;
 		let min_gas = parent.gas_limit().clone() - parent.gas_limit().clone() / gas_limit_divisor;
 		let max_gas = parent.gas_limit().clone() + parent.gas_limit().clone() / gas_limit_divisor;