Error correction methods for arrays of resistive change elements are disclosed. An array of resistive change elements is organized into a plurality of subsections. Each subsection includes at least one flag bit and a plurality of data bits. At the start of a write operation, all bits in a subsection are initialized. If any data bits fail to initialize, the pattern of errors is compared to the input data pattern. The flag cells are then activated to indicate the appropriate encoding pattern to apply to the input data to match the errors. The input data is then encoded according to this encoding pattern before being written to the array. A second error correction algorithm can be used to correct remaining errors. During a read operation, the encoding pattern indicated by the flag bits is used to decode the read data and retrieve the original input data.