diff --git a/components/espcoredump/corefile/elf.py b/components/espcoredump/corefile/elf.py
index 8ffa12b6cd..82527cf72e 100644
--- a/components/espcoredump/corefile/elf.py
+++ b/components/espcoredump/corefile/elf.py
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ class ElfFile(object):
         self.load_segments = []  # type: list[ElfSegment]
         self.note_segments = []  # type: list[ElfNoteSegment]
 
+        self.sha256 = b''  # type: bytes
+
         if elf_path and os.path.isfile(elf_path):
             self.read_elf(elf_path)
 
@@ -156,6 +158,12 @@ class ElfFile(object):
                                     sec.data,
                                     sec.sh.sh_flags) for sec in self._model.sections]
 
+        # calculate sha256 of the input bytes (note: this may not be the same as the sha256 of any generated
+        # output struct, as the ELF parser may change some details.)
+        sha256 = hashlib.sha256()
+        sha256.update(elf_bytes)
+        self.sha256 = sha256.digest()
+
     @staticmethod
     def _parse_string_table(byte_str, offset):  # type: (bytes, int) -> str
         section_name_str = byte_str[offset:]
@@ -215,15 +223,6 @@ class ElfFile(object):
 
         return Struct(*args)
 
-    @property
-    def sha256(self):  # type: () -> bytes
-        """
-        :return: SHA256 hash of the input ELF file
-        """
-        sha256 = hashlib.sha256()
-        sha256.update(self._struct.build(self._model))  # type: ignore
-        return sha256.digest()
-
 
 class ElfSection(object):
     SHF_WRITE = 0x01
@@ -284,6 +283,13 @@ class ElfNoteSegment(ElfSegment):
         super(ElfNoteSegment, self).__init__(addr, data, flags)
         self.type = ElfFile.PT_NOTE
         self.note_secs = NoteSections.parse(self.data)
+        for note in self.note_secs:
+            # note.name should include a terminating NUL byte, plus possible
+            # padding
+            #
+            # (note: construct.PaddingString can't parse this if there
+            # are non-zero padding bytes after the NUL, it also parses those.)
+            note.name = note.name.split(b'\x00')[0]
 
     @staticmethod
     def _type_str():  # type: () -> str
diff --git a/components/espcoredump/corefile/loader.py b/components/espcoredump/corefile/loader.py
index 144a350826..dbf292d517 100644
--- a/components/espcoredump/corefile/loader.py
+++ b/components/espcoredump/corefile/loader.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class EspCoreDumpVersion(object):
 
     COREDUMP_SUPPORTED_TARGETS = XTENSA_CHIPS + RISCV_CHIPS
 
-    def __init__(self, version=None):  # type: (int) -> None
+    def __init__(self, version=None):  # type: (Optional[int]) -> None
         """Constructor for core dump version
         """
         super(EspCoreDumpVersion, self).__init__()
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ class EspCoreDumpLoader(EspCoreDumpVersion):
         else:
             raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def _extract_elf_corefile(self, exe_name=None, e_machine=ESPCoreDumpElfFile.EM_XTENSA):  # type: (str, int) -> None
+    def _extract_elf_corefile(self, exe_name=None, e_machine=ESPCoreDumpElfFile.EM_XTENSA):  # type: (Optional[str], int) -> None
         """
         Reads the ELF formatted core dump image and parse it
         """
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ class EspCoreDumpLoader(EspCoreDumpVersion):
         for seg in core_elf.note_segments:
             for note_sec in seg.note_secs:
                 # Check for version info note
-                if note_sec.name == 'ESP_CORE_DUMP_INFO' \
+                if note_sec.name == b'ESP_CORE_DUMP_INFO' \
                         and note_sec.type == ESPCoreDumpElfFile.PT_INFO \
                         and exe_name:
                     exe_elf = ElfFile(exe_name)
@@ -271,10 +271,20 @@ class EspCoreDumpLoader(EspCoreDumpVersion):
                         'sha256' / Bytes(64)  # SHA256 as hex string
                     )
                     coredump_sha256 = coredump_sha256_struct.parse(note_sec.desc[:coredump_sha256_struct.sizeof()])
-                    if coredump_sha256.sha256 != app_sha256:
+
+                    logging.debug('App SHA256: {!r}'.format(app_sha256))
+                    logging.debug('Core dump SHA256: {!r}'.format(coredump_sha256))
+
+                    # Actual coredump SHA may be shorter than a full SHA256 hash
+                    # with NUL byte padding, according to the app's APP_RETRIEVE_LEN_ELF_SHA
+                    # length
+                    core_sha_trimmed = coredump_sha256.sha256.rstrip(b'\x00').decode()
+                    app_sha_trimmed = app_sha256[:len(core_sha_trimmed)].decode()
+
+                    if core_sha_trimmed != app_sha_trimmed:
                         raise ESPCoreDumpLoaderError(
-                            'Invalid application image for coredump: coredump SHA256({!r}) != app SHA256({!r}).'
-                            .format(coredump_sha256, app_sha256))
+                            'Invalid application image for coredump: coredump SHA256({}) != app SHA256({}).'
+                            .format(core_sha_trimmed, app_sha_trimmed))
                     if coredump_sha256.ver != self.version:
                         raise ESPCoreDumpLoaderError(
                             'Invalid application image for coredump: coredump SHA256 version({}) != app SHA256 version({}).'