diff --git a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
index 82ac43cb1..a748bc894 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
@@ -74,8 +74,6 @@ cdef weight_t pop_cost(StateClass stcls, const GoldParseC* gold, int target) nog
             break
         if BINARY_COSTS and cost >= 1:
             return cost
-    #if Break.is_valid(stcls.c, 0) and Break.move_cost(stcls, gold) == 0:
-    #    cost += 1
     return cost
 
 
@@ -117,16 +115,12 @@ cdef bint _is_gold_root(const GoldParseC* gold, int word) nogil:
 cdef class Shift:
     @staticmethod
     cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
-        if not st.can_push():
-            return False
-        elif st.stack_depth() == 0: # If the stack is empty, we must push
-            return True
-        elif st.shifted[st.B(0)]:
-            return False
-        elif st.at_break():
-            return False
+        if st.buffer_length == 0:
+            return 0
+        elif st.shifted[st.B(0)] and st.stack_depth() >= 1:
+            return 0
         else:
-            return True
+            return 1
 
     @staticmethod
     cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
@@ -156,11 +150,9 @@ cdef class Reduce:
     @staticmethod
     cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         if st.stack_depth() >= 2:
-            return True
-        elif st.at_break() and st.stack_depth() == 1:
-            return True
+            return 1
         else:
-            return False
+            return 0
 
     @staticmethod
     cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
@@ -186,8 +178,6 @@ cdef class Reduce:
                     cost -= 1
                 if gold.heads[S_i] == st.S(0):
                     cost -= 1
-            #if Break.is_valid(st.c, 0) and Break.move_cost(st, gold) == 0:
-            #    cost -= 1
         return cost
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -198,7 +188,10 @@ cdef class Reduce:
 cdef class LeftArc:
     @staticmethod
     cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
-        return st.can_arc()
+        if st.buffer_length >= 1 and st.stack_depth() >= 1:
+            return 1
+        else:
+            return 0
 
     @staticmethod
     cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
@@ -233,9 +226,11 @@ cdef class LeftArc:
 cdef class RightArc:
     @staticmethod
     cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
-        # If there's (perhaps partial) parse pre-set, don't allow cycle.
-        if not st.can_arc():
+        if st.stack_depth() < 1:
             return 0
+        elif st.buffer_length == 0:
+            return 0
+        # If there's (perhaps partial) parse pre-set, don't allow cycle.
         elif st.H(st.S(0)) == st.B(0):
             return 0
         else:
@@ -269,13 +264,16 @@ cdef class Break:
     cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int i
         if not USE_BREAK:
-            return False
+            return 0
+        if st.stack_depth() != 1:
+            return 0
         else:
-            return st.can_break()
+            return 1
 
     @staticmethod
     cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.set_break(0)
+        st._sent[st.S(0)].dep = label
         st.pop()
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/spacy/tests/parser/test_arc_eager_oracle.py b/spacy/tests/parser/test_arc_eager_oracle.py
index 3145c5c07..ca056ac42 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/parser/test_arc_eager_oracle.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/parser/test_arc_eager_oracle.py
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def test_oracle_four_words(arc_eager, vocab):
         assert state_costs[actions[i]] == 0.0, actions[i]
         for other_action, cost in state_costs.items():
             if other_action != actions[i]:
-                assert cost >= 1
+                assert cost >= 1, (i, other_action, actions[i])
 
 def test_non_monotonic_sequence_four_words(arc_eager, vocab):
     words = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
@@ -147,24 +147,31 @@ def test_non_monotonic_sequence_four_words(arc_eager, vocab):
     assert c1['R-right'] != 0.0
     c2 = cost_history.pop(0)
     assert c2['R-right'] != 0.0
-    assert c2['B-ROOT'] == 0.0
+    assert c2['B-ROOT'] == 9000.0
     assert c2['D'] == 0.0
     c3 = cost_history.pop(0)
     assert c3['L-left'] == -1.0
+    c4 = cost_history.pop(0)
+    assert c4['D'] == 0.0
+    c5 = cost_history.pop(0)
+    assert c5['B-ROOT'] == 0.0
  
 
-def test_reduce_is_gold_at_break(arc_eager, vocab):
+def test_oracle_at_sentence_break(arc_eager, vocab):
     words = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
     heads = [1, 1, 3, 3]
     deps = ['left', 'B-ROOT', 'left', 'B-ROOT']
-    actions = ['S', 'R-right', 'B-ROOT', 'D', 'S', 'L-left', 'S']
+    actions = ['S', 'R-right', 'D', 'B-ROOT', 'S']
     state, cost_history = get_sequence_costs(arc_eager, words, heads, deps, actions)
-    assert state.is_final(), state.print_state(words)
+    assert not state.is_final(), state.print_state(words)
     c0 = cost_history.pop(0)
     c1 = cost_history.pop(0)
     c2 = cost_history.pop(0)
     c3 = cost_history.pop(0)
-    assert c3['D'] == 0.0
+    assert c2['D'] == 0.0
+    assert c2['B-ROOT'] == 9000.0
+    assert c3['B-ROOT'] == 0.0
+    assert c3['D'] == 9000.0
 
 annot_tuples = [
     (0, 'When', 'WRB', 11, 'advmod', 'O'),