diff --git a/include/silo/storage/database_partition.h b/include/silo/storage/database_partition.h
index fad07534c..b04dcc1ef 100644
--- a/include/silo/storage/database_partition.h
+++ b/include/silo/storage/database_partition.h
@@ -80,6 +80,12 @@ class DatabasePartition {
 
    void validateMetadataColumns() const;
 
+   template <typename ColumnPartition>
+   void validateColumnsHaveSize(
+      const std::map<std::string, ColumnPartition>& columnsOfTheType,
+      const std::string& columnType
+   ) const;
+
   public:
    explicit DatabasePartition(std::vector<silo::preprocessing::PartitionChunk> chunks);
 
diff --git a/src/silo/storage/database_partition.cpp b/src/silo/storage/database_partition.cpp
index fb8bb9031..e1ed20b07 100644
--- a/src/silo/storage/database_partition.cpp
+++ b/src/silo/storage/database_partition.cpp
@@ -93,74 +93,33 @@ void DatabasePartition::validateAminoAcidSequences() const {
    }
 }
 
-void DatabasePartition::validateMetadataColumns() const {
-   const size_t partition_size = sequence_count;
-
-   for (const auto& col : columns.aa_insertion_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "aa_insertion_column " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.pango_lineage_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "pango_lineage_column " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.nuc_insertion_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "nuc_insertion_column " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.date_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "date_column " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.bool_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
+template <typename ColumnPartition>
+void DatabasePartition::validateColumnsHaveSize(
+   const std::map<std::string, ColumnPartition>& columnsOfTheType,
+   const std::string& columnType
+) const {
+   for (const auto& column : columnsOfTheType) {
+      if (column.second.getValues().size() != sequence_count) {
          throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "bool_columns " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.int_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "int_columns " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.indexed_string_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "indexed_string_columns " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.string_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "string_columns " + col.first + " has invalid size."
-         );
-      }
-   }
-   for (const auto& col : columns.float_columns) {
-      if (col.second.getValues().size() != partition_size) {
-         throw preprocessing::PreprocessingException(
-            "float_columns " + col.first + " has invalid size."
+            columnType + " " + column.first + " has invalid size " +
+            std::to_string(column.second.getValues().size())
          );
       }
    }
 }
 
+void DatabasePartition::validateMetadataColumns() const {
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.aa_insertion_columns, "aa_insertion_column");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.pango_lineage_columns, "pango_lineage_column");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.nuc_insertion_columns, "nuc_insertion_column");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.date_columns, "date_column");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.bool_columns, "bool_columns");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.int_columns, "int_columns");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.indexed_string_columns, "indexed_string_columns");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.string_columns, "string_columns");
+   validateColumnsHaveSize(columns.float_columns, "float_columns");
+}
+
 const std::vector<preprocessing::PartitionChunk>& DatabasePartition::getChunks() const {
    return chunks;
 }