diff --git a/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils.go b/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils.go
index 0513343404..241b8a7d3c 100644
--- a/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils.go
+++ b/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package pathdb
 import (
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
+	"math/bits"
 	"slices"
 )
 
@@ -81,3 +82,25 @@ func isBitSet(b []byte, index int) bool {
 func setBit(b []byte, index int) {
 	b[index/8] |= 1 << (7 - index%8)
 }
+
+// bitPosTwoBytes returns the positions of set bits in a 2-byte bitmap.
+//
+// The bitmap is interpreted as a big-endian uint16. Bit positions are
+// numbered from 0 to 15, where position 0 corresponds to the most
+// significant bit of b[0], and position 15 corresponds to the least
+// significant bit of b[1].
+func bitPosTwoBytes(b []byte) []int {
+	if len(b) != 2 {
+		panic("expect 2 bytes")
+	}
+	var (
+		pos  []int
+		mask = binary.BigEndian.Uint16(b)
+	)
+	for mask != 0 {
+		p := bits.LeadingZeros16(mask)
+		pos = append(pos, p)
+		mask &^= 1 << (15 - p)
+	}
+	return pos
+}
diff --git a/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils_test.go b/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils_test.go
index 17eabb2a98..c3bd0d5b1f 100644
--- a/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils_test.go
+++ b/triedb/pathdb/history_trienode_utils_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package pathdb
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -79,3 +80,47 @@ func TestBitmapSet(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestBitPositions(t *testing.T) {
+	suites := []struct {
+		input  []byte
+		expect []int
+	}{
+		{
+			[]byte{0b10000000, 0x0}, []int{0},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b01000000, 0x0}, []int{1},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b00000001, 0x0}, []int{7},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b00000000, 0b10000000}, []int{8},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b00000000, 0b00000001}, []int{15},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b10000000, 0b00000001}, []int{0, 15},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b10000001, 0b00000001}, []int{0, 7, 15},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b10000001, 0b10000001}, []int{0, 7, 8, 15},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0b11111111, 0b11111111}, []int{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15},
+		},
+		{
+			[]byte{0x0, 0x0}, nil,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range suites {
+		got := bitPosTwoBytes(tc.input)
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(got, tc.expect) {
+			t.Fatalf("Unexpected position set, want: %v, got: %v", tc.expect, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/triedb/pathdb/nodes.go b/triedb/pathdb/nodes.go
index 4eede439e4..b7290ed235 100644
--- a/triedb/pathdb/nodes.go
+++ b/triedb/pathdb/nodes.go
@@ -500,8 +500,7 @@ func encodeNodeCompressed(addExtension bool, elements [][]byte, indices []int) [
 				flag |= 1 << 4 // Use the reserved flagE
 				continue
 			}
-			bitIndex := uint(pos % 8)
-			bitmap[pos/8] |= 1 << bitIndex
+			setBit(bitmap, pos)
 		}
 		enc = append(enc, flag)
 		enc = append(enc, bitmap...)
@@ -553,14 +552,7 @@ func decodeNodeCompressed(data []byte) ([][]byte, []int, error) {
 			return nil, nil, errors.New("invalid data: too short")
 		}
 		bitmap := data[1:3]
-		for index, b := range bitmap {
-			for bitIdx := 0; bitIdx < 8; bitIdx++ {
-				if b&(1<<uint(bitIdx)) != 0 {
-					pos := index*8 + bitIdx
-					indices = append(indices, pos)
-				}
-			}
-		}
+		indices = bitPosTwoBytes(bitmap)
 		if flag&byte(16) != 0 { // flagE
 			indices = append(indices, 16)
 			log.Info("Unexpected 16th child encountered in a full node")