diff --git a/cmd/devp2p/nodesetcmd.go b/cmd/devp2p/nodesetcmd.go
index d7725fadb1..7e56c44967 100644
--- a/cmd/devp2p/nodesetcmd.go
+++ b/cmd/devp2p/nodesetcmd.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func showAttributeCounts(ns nodeSet) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	var keys []string
+	keys := make([]string, 0, len(attrcount))
 	var maxlength int
 	for key := range attrcount {
 		keys = append(keys, key)