Data is processed by obtaining a length of an error locator polynomial. It is determined whether the length of the error locator polynomial is greater than a threshold. In the event the length of the error locator polynomial is greater than the threshold, performance of a Chien search on the error locator polynomial is skipped. In the event the length of the error locator polynomial is less than or equal to than the threshold, the Chien search is performed on the error locator polynomial to determine one or more roots of the error locator polynomial, where the roots correspond to one or more error locations.