Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with data decoding are described. According to one embodiment, a method includes receiving an output value from one of a first block and a second block that form a pair of concatenated decoding blocks. The method includes determining a value of a modification criteria and modifying the output value based, at least in part, on the value of the modification criteria to form a modified output value. The modified output value is input to one of the first and second decoding blocks.