diff --git a/sstable/block_property_obsolete.go b/sstable/block_property_obsolete.go
index 80b4da8b16..2fe9ea2029 100644
--- a/sstable/block_property_obsolete.go
+++ b/sstable/block_property_obsolete.go
@@ -6,56 +6,66 @@ package sstable
 
 import "github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
 
+// obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector is a block property collector used to
+// implement obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter - a filter that excludes blocks
+// which contain only obsolete keys.
+//
+// For an explanation of obsolete keys, see the comment for TableFormatPebblev4
+// which explains obsolete keys.
 type obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector struct {
 	blockIsNonObsolete bool
 	indexIsNonObsolete bool
 	tableIsNonObsolete bool
 }
 
-func encodeNonObsolete(isNonObsolete bool, buf []byte) []byte {
-	if isNonObsolete {
-		return buf
-	}
-	return append(buf, 't')
-}
+var _ BlockPropertyCollector = (*obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector)(nil)
 
+// Name is part of the BlockPropertyCollector interface.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) Name() string {
 	return "obsolete-key"
 }
 
+// Add is part of the BlockPropertyCollector interface.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) Add(key InternalKey, value []byte) error {
 	// Ignore.
 	return nil
 }
 
+// AddPoint is an out-of-band method that is specific to this collector.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) AddPoint(isObsolete bool) {
 	o.blockIsNonObsolete = o.blockIsNonObsolete || !isObsolete
 }
 
+// FinishDataBlock is part of the BlockPropertyCollector interface.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) FinishDataBlock(buf []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	o.tableIsNonObsolete = o.tableIsNonObsolete || o.blockIsNonObsolete
-	return encodeNonObsolete(o.blockIsNonObsolete, buf), nil
+	return obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyEncode(!o.blockIsNonObsolete, buf), nil
 }
 
+// AddPrevDataBlockToIndexBlock is part of the BlockPropertyCollector interface.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) AddPrevDataBlockToIndexBlock() {
 	o.indexIsNonObsolete = o.indexIsNonObsolete || o.blockIsNonObsolete
 	o.blockIsNonObsolete = false
 }
 
+// FinishIndexBlock is part of the BlockPropertyCollector interface.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) FinishIndexBlock(buf []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	indexIsNonObsolete := o.indexIsNonObsolete
+	buf = obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyEncode(!o.indexIsNonObsolete, buf)
 	o.indexIsNonObsolete = false
-	return encodeNonObsolete(indexIsNonObsolete, buf), nil
+	return buf, nil
 }
 
+// FinishTable is part of the BlockPropertyCollector interface.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) FinishTable(buf []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	return encodeNonObsolete(o.tableIsNonObsolete, buf), nil
+	return obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyEncode(!o.tableIsNonObsolete, buf), nil
 }
 
+// UpdateKeySuffixes is part of the BlockPropertyCollector interface.
 func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) UpdateKeySuffixes(
 	oldProp []byte, oldSuffix, newSuffix []byte,
 ) error {
-	_, err := propToIsObsolete(oldProp)
+	// Verify the property is valid.
+	_, err := obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyDecode(oldProp)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -64,41 +74,72 @@ func (o *obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector) UpdateKeySuffixes(
 	return nil
 }
 
+// obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter implements the filter that excludes blocks
+// that only contain obsolete keys. It pairs with
+// obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector.
+//
+// Note that we filter data blocks as well as first-level index blocks.
+//
+// For an explanation of obsolete keys, see the comment for TableFormatPebblev4
+// which explains obsolete keys.
+//
 // NB: obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter is stateless. This aspect of the filter
 // is used in table_cache.go for in-place modification of a filters slice.
 type obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter struct{}
 
+var _ BlockPropertyFilter = obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter{}
+
+// Name is part of the BlockPropertyFilter interface. It must match
+// obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyCollector.Name.
 func (o obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter) Name() string {
 	return "obsolete-key"
 }
 
-// Intersects returns true if the set represented by prop intersects with
-// the set in the filter.
+// Intersects is part of the BlockPropertyFilter interface. It returns true
+// if the block may contain non-obsolete keys.
 func (o obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter) Intersects(prop []byte) (bool, error) {
-	return propToIsObsolete(prop)
+	isObsolete, err := obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyDecode(prop)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return !isObsolete, nil
 }
 
+// SyntheticSuffixIntersects is part of the BlockPropertyFilter interface. It
+// expects that synthetic suffix is never used with tables that contain obsolete
+// keys.
 func (o obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyFilter) SyntheticSuffixIntersects(
 	prop []byte, suffix []byte,
 ) (bool, error) {
-	// A block with suffix replacement should never be
-	// obselete, so return an assertion error if it is.
-	isNotObsolete, err := o.Intersects(prop)
+	isObsolete, err := obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyDecode(prop)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
-	if !isNotObsolete {
-		return false, errors.AssertionFailedf("block with synthetic suffix is obselete")
+	// A block with suffix replacement should never be obsolete.
+	if isObsolete {
+		return false, errors.AssertionFailedf("block with synthetic suffix is obsolete")
 	}
 	return true, nil
 }
 
-func propToIsObsolete(prop []byte) (bool, error) {
-	if len(prop) == 0 {
-		return true, nil
+// Encodes the information of whether the block contains only obsolete keys. We
+// use the empty encoding for the common case of a block not being obsolete.
+func obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyEncode(isObsolete bool, buf []byte) []byte {
+	if isObsolete {
+		return append(buf, 't')
 	}
-	if len(prop) > 1 || prop[0] != 't' {
-		return false, errors.Errorf("unexpected property %x", prop)
+	return buf
+}
+
+// Decodes the information of whether the block contains only obsolete keys (the
+// inverse of obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyEncode).
+func obsoleteKeyBlockPropertyDecode(prop []byte) (isObsolete bool, _ error) {
+	switch {
+	case len(prop) == 0:
+		return false, nil
+	case len(prop) == 1 && prop[0] == 't':
+		return true, nil
+	default:
+		return false, errors.Errorf("invalid obsolete block property %x", prop)
 	}
-	return false, nil
 }