diff --git a/consensus/beacon/consensus.go b/consensus/beacon/consensus.go
index d01aa75ee4..c4dfd4d36b 100644
--- a/consensus/beacon/consensus.go
+++ b/consensus/beacon/consensus.go
@@ -275,18 +275,22 @@ func (beacon *Beacon) verifyHeader(chain consensus.ChainHeaderReader, header, pa
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Verify the existence / non-existence of Amsterdam-specific header fields
 	amsterdam := chain.Config().IsAmsterdam(header.Number, header.Time)
-	if amsterdam && header.SlotNumber == nil {
-		return errors.New("header is missing slotNumber")
-	}
-	if !amsterdam && header.SlotNumber != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid slotNumber: have %d, expected nil", *header.SlotNumber)
-	}
-	if amsterdam && header.BlockAccessListHash == nil {
-		return errors.New("header is missing block access list hash")
-	}
-	if !amsterdam && header.BlockAccessListHash != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid block access list hash: have %x, expected nil", header.BlockAccessListHash)
+	if amsterdam {
+		if header.BlockAccessListHash == nil {
+			return errors.New("header is missing block access list hash")
+		}
+		if header.SlotNumber == nil {
+			return errors.New("header is missing slotNumber")
+		}
+	} else {
+		if header.BlockAccessListHash != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid block access list hash: have %x, expected nil", header.BlockAccessListHash)
+		}
+		if header.SlotNumber != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid slotNumber: have %d, expected nil", *header.SlotNumber)
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/core/rawdb/accessors_chain.go b/core/rawdb/accessors_chain.go
index c986aa99ac..0582e842c3 100644
--- a/core/rawdb/accessors_chain.go
+++ b/core/rawdb/accessors_chain.go
@@ -608,7 +608,8 @@ func DeleteReceipts(db ethdb.KeyValueWriter, hash common.Hash, number uint64) {
 
 // HasAccessList verifies the existence of a block access list for a block.
 func HasAccessList(db ethdb.Reader, hash common.Hash, number uint64) bool {
-	return len(ReadAccessListRLP(db, hash, number)) > 0
+	has, _ := db.Has(accessListKey(number, hash))
+	return has
 }
 
 // ReadAccessListRLP retrieves the RLP-encoded block access list for a block from KV.
@@ -709,21 +710,23 @@ func ReadBlock(db ethdb.Reader, hash common.Hash, number uint64) *types.Block {
 		return nil
 	}
 	block := types.NewBlockWithHeader(header).WithBody(*body)
+
+	// Best-effort assembly of the block access list from the database.
 	if header.BlockAccessListHash != nil {
-		accessList := ReadAccessList(db, hash, number)
-		if accessList != nil {
-			block = block.WithAccessList(accessList)
-		}
+		al := ReadAccessList(db, hash, number)
+		block = block.WithAccessListUnsafe(al)
 	}
 	return block
 }
 
 // WriteBlock serializes a block into the database, header and body separately.
 func WriteBlock(db ethdb.KeyValueWriter, block *types.Block) {
-	WriteBody(db, block.Hash(), block.NumberU64(), block.Body())
+	hash, number := block.Hash(), block.NumberU64()
+	WriteBody(db, hash, number, block.Body())
 	WriteHeader(db, block.Header())
-	if block.AccessList() != nil {
-		WriteAccessList(db, block.Hash(), block.NumberU64(), block.AccessList())
+
+	if accessList := block.AccessList(); accessList != nil {
+		WriteAccessList(db, hash, number, accessList)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/core/types/bal/bal_encoding.go b/core/types/bal/bal_encoding.go
index 1b1406ea32..6d52c17c83 100644
--- a/core/types/bal/bal_encoding.go
+++ b/core/types/bal/bal_encoding.go
@@ -350,9 +350,12 @@ func (e *BlockAccessList) PrettyPrint() string {
 }
 
 // Copy returns a deep copy of the access list
-func (e *BlockAccessList) Copy() (res BlockAccessList) {
-	for _, accountAccess := range e.Accesses {
-		res.Accesses = append(res.Accesses, accountAccess.Copy())
+func (e *BlockAccessList) Copy() *BlockAccessList {
+	cpy := &BlockAccessList{
+		Accesses: make([]AccountAccess, 0, len(e.Accesses)),
 	}
-	return
+	for _, accountAccess := range e.Accesses {
+		cpy.Accesses = append(cpy.Accesses, accountAccess.Copy())
+	}
+	return cpy
 }
diff --git a/core/types/block.go b/core/types/block.go
index eacd96902b..2d65adeff3 100644
--- a/core/types/block.go
+++ b/core/types/block.go
@@ -28,10 +28,9 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types/bal"
-
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types/bal"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rlp"
 )
 
@@ -110,18 +109,17 @@ type Header struct {
 
 // field type overrides for gencodec
 type headerMarshaling struct {
-	Difficulty          *hexutil.Big
-	Number              *hexutil.Big
-	GasLimit            hexutil.Uint64
-	GasUsed             hexutil.Uint64
-	Time                hexutil.Uint64
-	Extra               hexutil.Bytes
-	BaseFee             *hexutil.Big
-	Hash                common.Hash `json:"hash"` // adds call to Hash() in MarshalJSON
-	BlobGasUsed         *hexutil.Uint64
-	ExcessBlobGas       *hexutil.Uint64
-	BlockAccessListHash *common.Hash
-	SlotNumber          *hexutil.Uint64
+	Difficulty    *hexutil.Big
+	Number        *hexutil.Big
+	GasLimit      hexutil.Uint64
+	GasUsed       hexutil.Uint64
+	Time          hexutil.Uint64
+	Extra         hexutil.Bytes
+	BaseFee       *hexutil.Big
+	Hash          common.Hash `json:"hash"` // adds call to Hash() in MarshalJSON
+	BlobGasUsed   *hexutil.Uint64
+	ExcessBlobGas *hexutil.Uint64
+	SlotNumber    *hexutil.Uint64
 }
 
 // Hash returns the block hash of the header, which is simply the keccak256 hash of its
@@ -523,20 +521,20 @@ func (b *Block) WithBody(body Body) *Block {
 
 // WithAccessList returns a copy of the block with the given access list embedded.
 func (b *Block) WithAccessList(accessList *bal.BlockAccessList) *Block {
-	alCopy := accessList.Copy()
-	alHash := accessList.Hash()
-	b.header.BlockAccessListHash = &alHash
-	block := &Block{
+	return b.WithAccessListUnsafe(accessList.Copy())
+}
+
+// WithAccessListUnsafe returns a copy of the block with the given access list
+// embedded. Note that the access list is not deep-copied; use WithAccessList
+// if the provided list may be modified by other actors.
+func (b *Block) WithAccessListUnsafe(accessList *bal.BlockAccessList) *Block {
+	return &Block{
 		header:       b.header,
-		transactions: slices.Clone(b.transactions),
-		uncles:       make([]*Header, len(b.uncles)),
-		withdrawals:  slices.Clone(b.withdrawals),
-		accessList:   &alCopy,
+		transactions: b.transactions,
+		uncles:       b.uncles,
+		withdrawals:  b.withdrawals,
+		accessList:   accessList,
 	}
-	for i := range b.uncles {
-		block.uncles[i] = CopyHeader(b.uncles[i])
-	}
-	return block
 }
 
 // Hash returns the keccak256 hash of b's header.