diff --git a/core/blockchain_reader.go b/core/blockchain_reader.go
index a594f9f065..51ca115c80 100644
--- a/core/blockchain_reader.go
+++ b/core/blockchain_reader.go
@@ -325,7 +325,9 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) GetAncestor(hash common.Hash, number, ancestor uint64, max
 // in the indexed part of the canonical chain without retrieving the transaction itself.
 // It's view is limited to the indexed part of the chain, so very old transactions
 // might fail the check if the indexer was constrained, or indexing is still in progress.
-func (bc *BlockChain) HasCanonicalTransaction(hash common.Hash) bool {
+// The cacheOnly flag restricts the check to the in-memory cache, avoiding database
+// access altogether.
+func (bc *BlockChain) HasCanonicalTransaction(hash common.Hash, cacheOnly bool) bool {
 	bc.txLookupLock.RLock()
 	defer bc.txLookupLock.RUnlock()
 
@@ -334,7 +336,7 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) HasCanonicalTransaction(hash common.Hash) bool {
 		return true
 	}
 	// Fallback to database lookup, without reading the transaction itself
-	if rawdb.HasCanonicalTransaction(bc.db, hash) {
+	if !cacheOnly && rawdb.HasCanonicalTransaction(bc.db, hash) {
 		return true
 	}
 	return false
diff --git a/eth/handler.go b/eth/handler.go
index 1278dceed8..4b5825d06c 100644
--- a/eth/handler.go
+++ b/eth/handler.go
@@ -180,13 +180,15 @@ func newHandler(config *handlerConfig) (*handler, error) {
 		return h.txpool.Add(txs, false)
 	}
 	hasTx := func(hash common.Hash) bool {
-		txpoolHas := h.txpool.Has(hash)
-		// check on chain as well (no need to check limbo separately, as chain checks limbo too)
-		_, tx := h.chain.GetCanonicalTransaction(hash)
-		if !txpoolHas && tx != nil {
-			log.Trace("handler: hasTx found tx on chain", "txhash", hash)
+		if h.txpool.Has(hash) {
+			return true
 		}
-		return txpoolHas || tx != nil
+		// check on chain as well (no need to check limbo separately, as chain checks limbo too)
+		if h.chain.HasCanonicalTransaction(hash, false) {
+			return true
+		}
+		// tx not found
+		return false
 	}
 	validateMeta := func(tx common.Hash, kind byte) error {
 		if hasTx(tx) {