diff --git a/core/state/statedb.go b/core/state/statedb.go
index 085f2379fb..8cd076bc77 100644
--- a/core/state/statedb.go
+++ b/core/state/statedb.go
@@ -750,8 +750,10 @@ func (s *StateDB) Commit(deleteEmptyObjects bool) (common.Hash, error) {
 	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
 		defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountCommits += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
 	}
+	// The onleaf func is called _serially_, so we can reuse the same account
+	// for unmarshalling every time.
+	var account Account
 	return s.trie.Commit(func(leaf []byte, parent common.Hash) error {
-		var account Account
 		if err := rlp.DecodeBytes(leaf, &account); err != nil {
 			return nil
 		}