diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dad0076bf..0ced4f1af 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 - [#586](https://github.com/cosmos/iavl/pull/586) Remove the `RangeProof` and refactor the ics23_proof to use the internal methods.
 - [#640](https://github.com/cosmos/iavl/pull/640) commit `NodeDB` batch in `LoadVersionForOverwriting`.
+- [#638](https://github.com/cosmos/iavl/pull/638) Make LazyLoadVersion check the opts.InitialVersion, add API `LazyLoadVersionForOverwriting`.
 
 ## 0.19.4 (October 28, 2022)
 
diff --git a/mutable_tree.go b/mutable_tree.go
index 4924264cd..e5e812979 100644
--- a/mutable_tree.go
+++ b/mutable_tree.go
@@ -462,17 +462,26 @@ func (tree *MutableTree) Load() (int64, error) {
 }
 
 // LazyLoadVersion attempts to lazy load only the specified target version
-// without loading previous roots/versions. Lazy loading should be used in cases
-// where only reads are expected. Any writes to a lazy loaded tree may result in
-// unexpected behavior. If the targetVersion is non-positive, the latest version
+// without loading previous roots/versions. If the targetVersion is non-positive, the latest version
 // will be loaded by default. If the latest version is non-positive, this method
 // performs a no-op. Otherwise, if the root does not exist, an error will be
 // returned.
 func (tree *MutableTree) LazyLoadVersion(targetVersion int64) (int64, error) {
+	firstVersion, err := tree.ndb.firstVersion()
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
 	latestVersion, err := tree.ndb.getLatestVersion()
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
+
+	if firstVersion > 0 && firstVersion < int64(tree.ndb.opts.InitialVersion) {
+		return latestVersion, fmt.Errorf("initial version set to %v, but found earlier version %v",
+			tree.ndb.opts.InitialVersion, firstVersion)
+	}
+
 	if latestVersion < targetVersion {
 		return latestVersion, fmt.Errorf("wanted to load target %d but only found up to %d", targetVersion, latestVersion)
 	}
@@ -613,10 +622,18 @@ func (tree *MutableTree) LoadVersion(targetVersion int64) (int64, error) {
 	return latestVersion, nil
 }
 
-// LoadVersionForOverwriting attempts to load a tree at a previously committed
+// loadVersionForOverwriting attempts to load a tree at a previously committed
 // version, or the latest version below it. Any versions greater than targetVersion will be deleted.
-func (tree *MutableTree) LoadVersionForOverwriting(targetVersion int64) (int64, error) {
-	latestVersion, err := tree.LoadVersion(targetVersion)
+func (tree *MutableTree) loadVersionForOverwriting(targetVersion int64, lazy bool) (int64, error) {
+	var (
+		latestVersion int64
+		err           error
+	)
+	if lazy {
+		latestVersion, err = tree.LazyLoadVersion(targetVersion)
+	} else {
+		latestVersion, err = tree.LoadVersion(targetVersion)
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return latestVersion, err
 	}
@@ -652,6 +669,17 @@ func (tree *MutableTree) LoadVersionForOverwriting(targetVersion int64) (int64,
 	return latestVersion, nil
 }
 
+// LoadVersionForOverwriting attempts to load a tree at a previously committed
+// version, or the latest version below it. Any versions greater than targetVersion will be deleted.
+func (tree *MutableTree) LoadVersionForOverwriting(targetVersion int64) (int64, error) {
+	return tree.loadVersionForOverwriting(targetVersion, false)
+}
+
+// LazyLoadVersionForOverwriting is the lazy version of `LoadVersionForOverwriting`.
+func (tree *MutableTree) LazyLoadVersionForOverwriting(targetVersion int64) (int64, error) {
+	return tree.loadVersionForOverwriting(targetVersion, true)
+}
+
 // Returns true if the tree may be auto-upgraded, false otherwise
 // An example of when an upgrade may be performed is when we are enaling fast storage for the first time or
 // need to overwrite fast nodes due to mismatch with live state.
diff --git a/nodedb.go b/nodedb.go
index 2d00d01ac..89a8465f3 100644
--- a/nodedb.go
+++ b/nodedb.go
@@ -767,6 +767,21 @@ func (ndb *nodeDB) getPreviousVersion(version int64) (int64, error) {
 	return 0, nil
 }
 
+// firstVersion returns the first version in the iavl tree, returns 0 if it's empty.
+func (ndb *nodeDB) firstVersion() (int64, error) {
+	itr, err := dbm.IteratePrefix(ndb.db, rootKeyFormat.Key())
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	defer itr.Close()
+	if itr.Valid() {
+		var version int64
+		rootKeyFormat.Scan(itr.Key(), &version)
+		return version, nil
+	}
+	return 0, nil
+}
+
 // deleteRoot deletes the root entry from disk, but not the node it points to.
 func (ndb *nodeDB) deleteRoot(version int64, checkLatestVersion bool) error {
 	latestVersion, err := ndb.getLatestVersion()