diff --git a/element_array_ephys/readers/spikeglx.py b/element_array_ephys/readers/spikeglx.py
index 4dac6956..b8e6d2a0 100644
--- a/element_array_ephys/readers/spikeglx.py
+++ b/element_array_ephys/readers/spikeglx.py
@@ -174,31 +174,10 @@ def validate_file(self, file_type="ap"):
         else:
             raise KeyError(f"Unknown file_type {file_type} - must be 'ap' or 'lf'")
 
-        expected_file_size = meta.meta.get("fileSizeBytes")
-        if expected_file_size is not None:
-            if file_size != expected_file_size:
-                raise IOError(
-                    f"File size error! {file_path} may be corrupted or in transfer?"
-                )
-            return
-
-        # "fileSizeBytes" is written by SpikeGLX only as one of the last
-        # steps of its shutdown sequence (after computing "fileSHA1"), so a
-        # recording whose acquisition finished normally can still be missing
-        # it if the app was closed/killed before that step completed. Fall
-        # back to a frame-alignment check: a genuinely truncated/corrupted
-        # file will not divide evenly into whole sample frames, whereas a
-        # fully-written recording that only failed to finalize its metadata
-        # will.
-        bytes_per_frame = meta.meta["nSavedChans"] * np.dtype("int16").itemsize
-        if file_size % bytes_per_frame:
+        if file_size != meta.meta["fileSizeBytes"]:
             raise IOError(
                 f"File size error! {file_path} may be corrupted or in transfer?"
             )
-        logger.warning(
-            f"{meta.fname} is missing 'fileSizeBytes' (recording may not have"
-            " shut down cleanly) - validated file size by frame alignment instead."
-        )
 
     def compress(self):
         from mtscomp import compress as mts_compress