diff --git a/eth/fetcher/tx_fetcher.go b/eth/fetcher/tx_fetcher.go
index 5817dfbcf5..2165b7f103 100644
--- a/eth/fetcher/tx_fetcher.go
+++ b/eth/fetcher/tx_fetcher.go
@@ -991,8 +991,10 @@ func (f *TxFetcher) scheduleFetches(timer *mclock.Timer, timeout chan struct{},
 		if len(f.announces[peer]) == 0 {
 			return // continue in the for-each
 		}
+		// hashes is allocated lazily: peers that collect no new hashes
+		// (all announces already being fetched) skip the 8KB allocation.
 		var (
-			hashes = make([]common.Hash, 0, maxTxRetrievals)
+			hashes []common.Hash
 			bytes  uint64
 		)
 		f.forEachAnnounce(f.announces[peer], func(hash common.Hash, meta txMetadata) bool {
@@ -1009,6 +1011,9 @@ func (f *TxFetcher) scheduleFetches(timer *mclock.Timer, timeout chan struct{},
 			f.alternates[hash] = f.announced[hash]
 			delete(f.announced, hash)
 
+			if hashes == nil {
+				hashes = make([]common.Hash, 0, maxTxRetrievals)
+			}
 			// Accumulate the hash and stop if the limit was reached
 			hashes = append(hashes, hash)
 			if len(hashes) >= maxTxRetrievals {