diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 312dfe1699c08..8d4a2cafbfbb1 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
     strUsage += HelpMessageGroup(_("Node relay options:"));
     if (showDebug)
         strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-acceptnonstdtxn", strprintf("Relay and mine \"non-standard\" transactions (%sdefault: %u)", "testnet/regtest only; ", !Params(CBaseChainParams::TESTNET).RequireStandard()));
-    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-bytespersigop", strprintf(_("Minimum bytes per sigop in transactions we relay and mine (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_SIGOP));
+    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-bytespersigop", strprintf(_("Equivalent bytes per sigop in transactions for relay and mining (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_SIGOP));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-datacarrier", strprintf(_("Relay and mine data carrier transactions (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_ACCEPT_DATACARRIER));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-datacarriersize", strprintf(_("Maximum size of data in data carrier transactions we relay and mine (default: %u)"), MAX_OP_RETURN_RELAY));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-mempoolreplacement", strprintf(_("Enable transaction replacement in the memory pool (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_ENABLE_REPLACEMENT));
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index a80eb621267f4..7ddf52fc55033 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,6 @@ bool fHavePruned = false;
 bool fPruneMode = false;
 bool fIsBareMultisigStd = DEFAULT_PERMIT_BAREMULTISIG;
 bool fRequireStandard = true;
-unsigned int nBytesPerSigOp = DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_SIGOP;
 bool fCheckBlockIndex = false;
 bool fCheckpointsEnabled = DEFAULT_CHECKPOINTS_ENABLED;
 size_t nCoinCacheUsage = 5000 * 300;
@@ -1297,7 +1296,7 @@ bool AcceptToMemoryPoolWorker(CTxMemPool& pool, CValidationState& state, const C
         // itself can contain sigops MAX_STANDARD_TX_SIGOPS is less than
         // MAX_BLOCK_SIGOPS; we still consider this an invalid rather than
         // merely non-standard transaction.
-        if ((nSigOpsCost > MAX_STANDARD_TX_SIGOPS_COST) || (nBytesPerSigOp && nSigOpsCost > nSize * WITNESS_SCALE_FACTOR / nBytesPerSigOp))
+        if (nSigOpsCost > MAX_STANDARD_TX_SIGOPS_COST)
             return state.DoS(0, false, REJECT_NONSTANDARD, "bad-txns-too-many-sigops", false,
                 strprintf("%d", nSigOpsCost));
 
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index 27121890f6d70..631dc00d05dce 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ static const int64_t DEFAULT_MAX_TIP_AGE = 24 * 60 * 60;
 
 /** Default for -permitbaremultisig */
 static const bool DEFAULT_PERMIT_BAREMULTISIG = true;
-static const unsigned int DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_SIGOP = 20;
 static const bool DEFAULT_CHECKPOINTS_ENABLED = true;
 static const bool DEFAULT_TXINDEX = false;
 static const unsigned int DEFAULT_BANSCORE_THRESHOLD = 100;
@@ -165,7 +164,6 @@ extern int nScriptCheckThreads;
 extern bool fTxIndex;
 extern bool fIsBareMultisigStd;
 extern bool fRequireStandard;
-extern unsigned int nBytesPerSigOp;
 extern bool fCheckBlockIndex;
 extern bool fCheckpointsEnabled;
 extern size_t nCoinCacheUsage;
diff --git a/src/policy/policy.cpp b/src/policy/policy.cpp
index 57df1f0b1956b..48080abc778d5 100644
--- a/src/policy/policy.cpp
+++ b/src/policy/policy.cpp
@@ -154,12 +154,14 @@ bool AreInputsStandard(const CTransaction& tx, const CCoinsViewCache& mapInputs)
     return true;
 }
 
-int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(int64_t nWeight)
+unsigned int nBytesPerSigOp = DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_SIGOP;
+
+int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(int64_t nWeight, int64_t nSigOpCost)
 {
-    return (nWeight + WITNESS_SCALE_FACTOR - 1) / WITNESS_SCALE_FACTOR;
+    return (std::max(nWeight, nSigOpCost * nBytesPerSigOp) + WITNESS_SCALE_FACTOR - 1) / WITNESS_SCALE_FACTOR;
 }
 
-int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(const CTransaction& tx)
+int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(const CTransaction& tx, int64_t nSigOpCost)
 {
-    return GetVirtualTransactionSize(GetTransactionWeight(tx));
+    return GetVirtualTransactionSize(GetTransactionWeight(tx), nSigOpCost);
 }
diff --git a/src/policy/policy.h b/src/policy/policy.h
index ad209d0306e2b..6bf5ca0ee5567 100644
--- a/src/policy/policy.h
+++ b/src/policy/policy.h
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ static const unsigned int MAX_P2SH_SIGOPS = 15;
 static const unsigned int MAX_STANDARD_TX_SIGOPS_COST = MAX_BLOCK_SIGOPS_COST/5;
 /** Default for -maxmempool, maximum megabytes of mempool memory usage */
 static const unsigned int DEFAULT_MAX_MEMPOOL_SIZE = 300;
+/** Default for -bytespersigop */
+static const unsigned int DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_SIGOP = 20;
 /**
  * Standard script verification flags that standard transactions will comply
  * with. However scripts violating these flags may still be present in valid
@@ -66,8 +68,10 @@ bool IsStandardTx(const CTransaction& tx, std::string& reason, const bool witnes
      */
 bool AreInputsStandard(const CTransaction& tx, const CCoinsViewCache& mapInputs);
 
+extern unsigned int nBytesPerSigOp;
+
 /** Compute the virtual transaction size (weight reinterpreted as bytes). */
-int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(int64_t nWeight);
-int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(const CTransaction& tx);
+int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(int64_t nWeight, int64_t nSigOpCost);
+int64_t GetVirtualTransactionSize(const CTransaction& tx, int64_t nSigOpCost = 0);
 
 #endif // BITCOIN_POLICY_POLICY_H
diff --git a/src/txmempool.cpp b/src/txmempool.cpp
index 691baa674403f..82827b8e4f193 100644
--- a/src/txmempool.cpp
+++ b/src/txmempool.cpp
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ void CTxMemPoolEntry::UpdateLockPoints(const LockPoints& lp)
 
 size_t CTxMemPoolEntry::GetTxSize() const
 {
-    return GetVirtualTransactionSize(nTxWeight);
+    return GetVirtualTransactionSize(nTxWeight, sigOpCost);
 }
 
 // Update the given tx for any in-mempool descendants.