Lake sediment cores are records of ancient climate change. Radiocarbon dates provide the records a timeframe. We present a database of radiocarbon data from Lake Baikal sediment cores to aid re-use of this data, and evaluate a key correction required to use radiocarbon data. Previous studies used corrections of 380–2100 years with an uncertainty of 90 years at most. Our results (1610 ± 760 years) highlight that age offset uncertainty has been underestimated and better estimators are needed.