diff --git a/p2p/discover/table.go b/p2p/discover/table.go
index e6dafb0dca..564fe86172 100644
--- a/p2p/discover/table.go
+++ b/p2p/discover/table.go
@@ -459,6 +459,25 @@ func (tab *Table) findnodeByID(target enode.ID, nresults int, preferLive bool) *
 	return nodes
 }
 
+func (tab *Table) appendBucketNodes(dist uint, result []*enode.Node) []*enode.Node {
+	if dist > 256 {
+		return result
+	}
+	if dist == 0 {
+		return append(result, tab.self())
+	}
+
+	tab.mutex.Lock()
+	defer tab.mutex.Unlock()
+	for _, n := range tab.bucketAtDistance(int(dist)).entries {
+		if n.livenessChecks > 1 {
+			node := n.Node // avoid handing out pointer to struct field
+			result = append(result, &node)
+		}
+	}
+	return result
+}
+
 // len returns the number of nodes in the table.
 func (tab *Table) len() (n int) {
 	tab.mutex.Lock()
diff --git a/p2p/discover/v5_udp.go b/p2p/discover/v5_udp.go
index 6ba7a90618..4b96a1dec7 100644
--- a/p2p/discover/v5_udp.go
+++ b/p2p/discover/v5_udp.go
@@ -852,6 +852,7 @@ func (t *UDPv5) handleFindnode(p *v5wire.Findnode, fromID enode.ID, fromAddr *ne
 // collectTableNodes creates a FINDNODE result set for the given distances.
 func (t *UDPv5) collectTableNodes(rip net.IP, distances []uint, limit int) []*enode.Node {
 	var nodes []*enode.Node
+	var bn []*enode.Node
 	var processed = make(map[uint]struct{})
 	for _, dist := range distances {
 		// Reject duplicate / invalid distances.
@@ -860,20 +861,10 @@ func (t *UDPv5) collectTableNodes(rip net.IP, distances []uint, limit int) []*en
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// Get the nodes.
-		var bn []*enode.Node
-		if dist == 0 {
-			bn = []*enode.Node{t.Self()}
-		} else if dist <= 256 {
-			t.tab.mutex.Lock()
-			bn = unwrapNodes(t.tab.bucketAtDistance(int(dist)).entries)
-			t.tab.mutex.Unlock()
-		}
-		processed[dist] = struct{}{}
-
-		// Apply some pre-checks to avoid sending invalid nodes.
+		bn = t.tab.appendBucketNodes(dist, limit, bn[:0])
 		for _, n := range bn {
-			// TODO livenessChecks > 1
+			// Apply some pre-checks to avoid sending invalid nodes.
+			// Note liveness is checked by appendBucketNodes.
 			if netutil.CheckRelayIP(rip, n.IP()) != nil {
 				continue
 			}