diff --git a/state/runtime/evm/instructions.go b/state/runtime/evm/instructions.go
index 9c8f093d84..6d403c32ee 100644
--- a/state/runtime/evm/instructions.go
+++ b/state/runtime/evm/instructions.go
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ func opMStore(c *state) {
 	offset := c.pop()
 	val := c.pop()
 
-	if !c.checkMemory(offset, wordSize) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(offset, wordSize) {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ func opMStore8(c *state) {
 	offset := c.pop()
 	val := c.pop()
 
-	if !c.checkMemory(offset, one) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(offset, one) {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -757,7 +757,7 @@ func opExtCodeCopy(c *state) {
 	codeOffset := c.pop()
 	length := c.pop()
 
-	if !c.checkMemory(memOffset, length) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(memOffset, length) {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -788,7 +788,7 @@ func opCallDataCopy(c *state) {
 	dataOffset := c.pop()
 	length := c.pop()
 
-	if !c.checkMemory(memOffset, length) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(memOffset, length) {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -813,7 +813,7 @@ func opReturnDataCopy(c *state) {
 	dataOffset := c.pop()
 	length := c.pop()
 
-	if !c.checkMemory(memOffset, length) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(memOffset, length) {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -850,7 +850,7 @@ func opCodeCopy(c *state) {
 	dataOffset := c.pop()
 	length := c.pop()
 
-	if !c.checkMemory(memOffset, length) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(memOffset, length) {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -1207,7 +1207,7 @@ func (c *state) buildCallContract(op OpCode) (*runtime.Contract, uint64, uint64,
 		return nil, 0, 0, nil
 	}
 	// Check if the memory return offsets are out of bounds
-	if !c.checkMemory(retOffset, retSize) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(retOffset, retSize) {
 		return nil, 0, 0, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/state/runtime/evm/state.go b/state/runtime/evm/state.go
index cad372691d..3ddc347c04 100644
--- a/state/runtime/evm/state.go
+++ b/state/runtime/evm/state.go
@@ -272,7 +272,10 @@ func (c *state) Len() int {
 	return len(c.memory)
 }
 
-func (c *state) checkMemory(offset, size *big.Int) bool {
+// allocateMemory allocates memory to enable accessing in the range of [offset, offset+size]
+// throws error if the given offset and size are negative
+// consumes gas if memory needs to be expanded
+func (c *state) allocateMemory(offset, size *big.Int) bool {
 	if !offset.IsUint64() || !size.IsUint64() {
 		c.exit(errGasUintOverflow)
 
@@ -325,7 +328,7 @@ func (c *state) get2(dst []byte, offset, length *big.Int) ([]byte, bool) {
 		return nil, true
 	}
 
-	if !c.checkMemory(offset, length) {
+	if !c.allocateMemory(offset, length) {
 		return nil, false
 	}