diff --git a/dht/routing_table.go b/dht/routing_table.go
index 410420f..5f30521 100644
--- a/dht/routing_table.go
+++ b/dht/routing_table.go
@@ -258,13 +258,17 @@ type routingTable struct {
 func newRoutingTable(id bits.Bitmap) *routingTable {
 	var rt routingTable
 	rt.id = id
+	rt.reset()
+	return &rt
+}
+
+func (rt *routingTable) reset() {
 	for i := range rt.buckets {
 		rt.buckets[i] = bucket{
 			peers: make([]peer, 0, bucketSize),
 			lock:  &sync.RWMutex{},
 		}
 	}
-	return &rt
 }
 
 func (rt *routingTable) BucketInfo() string {
@@ -415,6 +419,7 @@ func (rt *routingTable) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Prefix("decoding ID", err)
 	}
+	rt.reset()
 
 	for _, s := range data.Contacts {
 		parts := strings.Split(s, rtContactSep)
diff --git a/dht/routing_table_test.go b/dht/routing_table_test.go
index 7a48467..cc35a30 100644
--- a/dht/routing_table_test.go
+++ b/dht/routing_table_test.go
@@ -195,6 +195,20 @@ func TestRoutingTable_Save(t *testing.T) {
 	goldie.Assert(t, t.Name(), data)
 }
 
-func TestRoutingTable_Load(t *testing.T) {
+func TestRoutingTable_Load_ID(t *testing.T) {
+	id := "1c8aff71b99462464d9eeac639595ab99664be3482cb91a29d87467515c7d9158fe72aa1f1582dab07d8f8b5db277f41"
+	data := []byte(`{"id": "` + id + `","contacts": []}`)
+
+	rt := routingTable{}
+	err := json.Unmarshal(data, &rt)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	if rt.id.Hex() != id {
+		t.Error("id mismatch")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRoutingTable_Load_Contacts(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Skip("TODO")
 }