diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 5b486854e0..b24ae8606a 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -1502,6 +1502,7 @@ bool AppInitMain(NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockAndHeaderTipInfo* tip_info)
         options.prune = chainman.m_blockman.IsPruneMode();
         options.check_blocks = args.GetIntArg("-checkblocks", DEFAULT_CHECKBLOCKS);
         options.check_level = args.GetIntArg("-checklevel", DEFAULT_CHECKLEVEL);
+        options.require_full_verification = args.IsArgSet("-checkblocks") || args.IsArgSet("-checklevel");
         options.check_interrupt = ShutdownRequested;
         options.coins_error_cb = [] {
             uiInterface.ThreadSafeMessageBox(
@@ -1533,7 +1534,7 @@ bool AppInitMain(NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockAndHeaderTipInfo* tip_info)
             }
         }
 
-        if (status == node::ChainstateLoadStatus::FAILURE_INCOMPATIBLE_DB) {
+        if (status == node::ChainstateLoadStatus::FAILURE_INCOMPATIBLE_DB || status == node::ChainstateLoadStatus::FAILURE_INSUFFICIENT_DBCACHE) {
             return InitError(error);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/node/chainstate.cpp b/src/node/chainstate.cpp
index 7d6e0f3bb0..c521b20b2a 100644
--- a/src/node/chainstate.cpp
+++ b/src/node/chainstate.cpp
@@ -197,6 +197,11 @@ ChainstateLoadResult VerifyLoadedChainstate(ChainstateManager& chainman, const C
                 break;
             case VerifyDBResult::CORRUPTED_BLOCK_DB:
                 return {ChainstateLoadStatus::FAILURE, _("Corrupted block database detected")};
+            case VerifyDBResult::SKIPPED_L3_CHECKS:
+                if (options.require_full_verification) {
+                    return {ChainstateLoadStatus::FAILURE_INSUFFICIENT_DBCACHE, _("Insufficient dbcache for block verification")};
+                }
+                break;
             } // no default case, so the compiler can warn about missing cases
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/node/chainstate.h b/src/node/chainstate.h
index d3c7656bf2..7838a62d0c 100644
--- a/src/node/chainstate.h
+++ b/src/node/chainstate.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ struct ChainstateLoadOptions {
     bool reindex{false};
     bool reindex_chainstate{false};
     bool prune{false};
+    bool require_full_verification{true};
     int64_t check_blocks{DEFAULT_CHECKBLOCKS};
     int64_t check_level{DEFAULT_CHECKLEVEL};
     std::function<bool()> check_interrupt;
@@ -35,7 +36,13 @@ struct ChainstateLoadOptions {
 //! case, and treat other cases as errors. More complex applications may want to
 //! try reindexing in the generic failure case, and pass an interrupt callback
 //! and exit cleanly in the interrupted case.
-enum class ChainstateLoadStatus { SUCCESS, FAILURE, FAILURE_INCOMPATIBLE_DB, INTERRUPTED };
+enum class ChainstateLoadStatus {
+    SUCCESS,
+    FAILURE,
+    FAILURE_INCOMPATIBLE_DB,
+    FAILURE_INSUFFICIENT_DBCACHE,
+    INTERRUPTED,
+};
 
 //! Chainstate load status code and optional error string.
 using ChainstateLoadResult = std::tuple<ChainstateLoadStatus, bilingual_str>;
diff --git a/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp b/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp
index e2a1efea55..28a619fe54 100644
--- a/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/blockchain.cpp
@@ -1110,7 +1110,7 @@ static RPCHelpMan verifychain()
                     {"nblocks", RPCArg::Type::NUM, RPCArg::DefaultHint{strprintf("%d, 0=all", DEFAULT_CHECKBLOCKS)}, "The number of blocks to check."},
                 },
                 RPCResult{
-                    RPCResult::Type::BOOL, "", "Verified or not"},
+                    RPCResult::Type::BOOL, "", "Verification finished successfully. If false, check debug.log for reason."},
                 RPCExamples{
                     HelpExampleCli("verifychain", "")
             + HelpExampleRpc("verifychain", "")
diff --git a/src/test/util/setup_common.cpp b/src/test/util/setup_common.cpp
index 6e72f69968..0b347d3141 100644
--- a/src/test/util/setup_common.cpp
+++ b/src/test/util/setup_common.cpp
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ void TestingSetup::LoadVerifyActivateChainstate()
     options.prune = chainman.m_blockman.IsPruneMode();
     options.check_blocks = m_args.GetIntArg("-checkblocks", DEFAULT_CHECKBLOCKS);
     options.check_level = m_args.GetIntArg("-checklevel", DEFAULT_CHECKLEVEL);
+    options.require_full_verification = m_args.IsArgSet("-checkblocks") || m_args.IsArgSet("-checklevel");
     auto [status, error] = LoadChainstate(chainman, m_cache_sizes, options);
     assert(status == node::ChainstateLoadStatus::SUCCESS);
 
diff --git a/src/validation.cpp b/src/validation.cpp
index 5a6db2674d..4da52b7d8b 100644
--- a/src/validation.cpp
+++ b/src/validation.cpp
@@ -4185,6 +4185,9 @@ VerifyDBResult CVerifyDB::VerifyDB(
 
     LogPrintf("Verification: No coin database inconsistencies in last %i blocks (%i transactions)\n", block_count, nGoodTransactions);
 
+    if (skipped_l3_checks) {
+        return VerifyDBResult::SKIPPED_L3_CHECKS;
+    }
     return VerifyDBResult::SUCCESS;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/validation.h b/src/validation.h
index a9977e76e3..044b4ef823 100644
--- a/src/validation.h
+++ b/src/validation.h
@@ -353,6 +353,7 @@ enum class VerifyDBResult {
     SUCCESS,
     CORRUPTED_BLOCK_DB,
     INTERRUPTED,
+    SKIPPED_L3_CHECKS,
 };
 
 /** RAII wrapper for VerifyDB: Verify consistency of the block and coin databases */