diff --git a/cmd/geth/main.go b/cmd/geth/main.go
index b7885608bc..fab83ac929 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/main.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/main.go
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ var (
 		utils.BeaconGenesisRootFlag,
 		utils.BeaconGenesisTimeFlag,
 		utils.BeaconCheckpointFlag,
+		utils.DebugCollectWitnessFlag,
 	}, utils.NetworkFlags, utils.DatabaseFlags)
 
 	rpcFlags = []cli.Flag{
diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index ecf6acc186..81e40c1b41 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -604,6 +604,11 @@ var (
 		Usage:    "Disables db compaction after import",
 		Category: flags.LoggingCategory,
 	}
+	DebugCollectWitnessFlag = &cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:     "collectwitnesses",
+		Usage:    "Enable state witness generation during block execution. Work in progress flag, don't use.",
+		Category: flags.MiscCategory,
+	}
 
 	// MISC settings
 	SyncTargetFlag = &cli.StringFlag{
@@ -2204,6 +2209,7 @@ func MakeChain(ctx *cli.Context, stack *node.Node, readonly bool) (*core.BlockCh
 			vmcfg.Tracer = t
 		}
 	}
+	vmcfg.EnableWitnessCollection = ctx.Bool(DebugCollectWitnessFlag.Name)
 	// Disable transaction indexing/unindexing by default.
 	chain, err := core.NewBlockChain(chainDb, cache, gspec, nil, engine, vmcfg, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/core/blockchain.go b/core/blockchain.go
index 7c8ab3abc4..a9047619c1 100644
--- a/core/blockchain.go
+++ b/core/blockchain.go
@@ -1809,7 +1809,7 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) insertChain(chain types.Blocks, setHead bool) (int, error)
 		// while processing transactions. Before Byzantium the prefetcher is mostly
 		// useless due to the intermediate root hashing after each transaction.
 		if bc.chainConfig.IsByzantium(block.Number()) {
-			statedb.StartPrefetcher("chain")
+			statedb.StartPrefetcher("chain", bc.vmConfig.EnableWitnessCollection)
 		}
 		activeState = statedb
 
diff --git a/core/state/state_object.go b/core/state/state_object.go
index b7a215bd17..bc5817ea51 100644
--- a/core/state/state_object.go
+++ b/core/state/state_object.go
@@ -212,6 +212,9 @@ func (s *stateObject) GetCommittedState(key common.Hash) common.Hash {
 			}
 			value.SetBytes(content)
 		}
+		if s.data.Root != types.EmptyRootHash {
+			s.db.prefetcher.prefetchWitness(s.addrHash, s.origin.Root, s.address, [][]byte{key[:]})
+		}
 	}
 	// If the snapshot is unavailable or reading from it fails, load from the database.
 	if s.db.snap == nil || err != nil {
diff --git a/core/state/statedb.go b/core/state/statedb.go
index 61e76cdd77..160a2a0782 100644
--- a/core/state/statedb.go
+++ b/core/state/statedb.go
@@ -200,14 +200,14 @@ func (s *StateDB) SetLogger(l *tracing.Hooks) {
 // StartPrefetcher initializes a new trie prefetcher to pull in nodes from the
 // state trie concurrently while the state is mutated so that when we reach the
 // commit phase, most of the needed data is already hot.
-func (s *StateDB) StartPrefetcher(namespace string) {
+func (s *StateDB) StartPrefetcher(namespace string, collectWitnesses bool) {
 	if s.prefetcher != nil {
 		s.prefetcher.terminate(false)
 		s.prefetcher.report()
 		s.prefetcher = nil
 	}
 	if s.snap != nil {
-		s.prefetcher = newTriePrefetcher(s.db, s.originalRoot, namespace)
+		s.prefetcher = newTriePrefetcher(s.db, s.originalRoot, namespace, collectWitnesses)
 
 		// With the switch to the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, block production
 		// rewards are now handled at the consensus layer. Consequently, a block may
@@ -587,6 +587,7 @@ func (s *StateDB) getStateObject(addr common.Address) *stateObject {
 			if acc == nil {
 				return nil
 			}
+			s.prefetcher.prefetchWitness(common.Hash{}, s.originalRoot, common.Address{}, [][]byte{addr[:]})
 			data = &types.StateAccount{
 				Nonce:    acc.Nonce,
 				Balance:  acc.Balance,
diff --git a/core/state/trie_prefetcher.go b/core/state/trie_prefetcher.go
index 5e5afbbecc..07d13623b6 100644
--- a/core/state/trie_prefetcher.go
+++ b/core/state/trie_prefetcher.go
@@ -40,10 +40,11 @@ var (
 //
 // Note, the prefetcher's API is not thread safe.
 type triePrefetcher struct {
-	db       Database               // Database to fetch trie nodes through
-	root     common.Hash            // Root hash of the account trie for metrics
-	fetchers map[string]*subfetcher // Subfetchers for each trie
-	term     chan struct{}          // Channel to signal interruption
+	db               Database               // Database to fetch trie nodes through
+	root             common.Hash            // Root hash of the account trie for metrics
+	fetchers         map[string]*subfetcher // Subfetchers for each trie
+	term             chan struct{}          // Channel to signal interruption
+	collectWitnesses bool                   // whether to allow prefetch calls for witness collection
 
 	deliveryMissMeter metrics.Meter
 	accountLoadMeter  metrics.Meter
@@ -54,13 +55,14 @@ type triePrefetcher struct {
 	storageWasteMeter metrics.Meter
 }
 
-func newTriePrefetcher(db Database, root common.Hash, namespace string) *triePrefetcher {
+func newTriePrefetcher(db Database, root common.Hash, namespace string, collectWitnesses bool) *triePrefetcher {
 	prefix := triePrefetchMetricsPrefix + namespace
 	return &triePrefetcher{
-		db:       db,
-		root:     root,
-		fetchers: make(map[string]*subfetcher), // Active prefetchers use the fetchers map
-		term:     make(chan struct{}),
+		db:               db,
+		root:             root,
+		fetchers:         make(map[string]*subfetcher), // Active prefetchers use the fetchers map
+		term:             make(chan struct{}),
+		collectWitnesses: collectWitnesses,
 
 		deliveryMissMeter: metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter(prefix+"/deliverymiss", nil),
 		accountLoadMeter:  metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter(prefix+"/account/load", nil),
@@ -142,6 +144,14 @@ func (p *triePrefetcher) prefetch(owner common.Hash, root common.Hash, addr comm
 	return fetcher.schedule(keys)
 }
 
+// prefetchWitness calls prefetch if witness collection is enabled.
+func (p *triePrefetcher) prefetchWitness(owner common.Hash, root common.Hash, addr common.Address, keys [][]byte) error {
+	if p.collectWitnesses {
+		return p.prefetch(owner, root, addr, keys)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // trie returns the trie matching the root hash, blocking until the fetcher of
 // the given trie terminates. If no fetcher exists for the request, nil will be
 // returned.
diff --git a/core/vm/interpreter.go b/core/vm/interpreter.go
index 66a20f434e..2b1ea38483 100644
--- a/core/vm/interpreter.go
+++ b/core/vm/interpreter.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	NoBaseFee               bool  // Forces the EIP-1559 baseFee to 0 (needed for 0 price calls)
 	EnablePreimageRecording bool  // Enables recording of SHA3/keccak preimages
 	ExtraEips               []int // Additional EIPS that are to be enabled
+	EnableWitnessCollection bool  // true if witness collection is enabled
 }
 
 // ScopeContext contains the things that are per-call, such as stack and memory,