diff --git a/pkg/core/mpt/base.go b/pkg/core/mpt/base.go
index 1c4ebd8a6..c81bfe6be 100644
--- a/pkg/core/mpt/base.go
+++ b/pkg/core/mpt/base.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func (b *BaseNode) updateHash(n Node) {
 
 // updateCache updates hash and bytes fields for this BaseNode.
 func (b *BaseNode) updateBytes(n Node) {
-	buf := io.NewBufBinWriter()
+	buf := io.NewBufBinWriterPreAlloc(b.bytes)
 	encodeNodeWithType(n, buf.BinWriter)
 	b.bytes = buf.Bytes()
 	b.bytesValid = true
diff --git a/pkg/core/mpt/trie.go b/pkg/core/mpt/trie.go
index 751b1b2f3..acc11639c 100644
--- a/pkg/core/mpt/trie.go
+++ b/pkg/core/mpt/trie.go
@@ -418,31 +418,29 @@ func (t *Trie) updateRefCount(h util.Uint256) int32 {
 func (t *Trie) addRef(h util.Uint256, bs []byte) {
 	node := t.refcount[h]
 	if node == nil {
+		data := make([]byte, len(bs))
+		copy(data, bs)
 		t.refcount[h] = &cachedNode{
 			refcount: 1,
-			bytes:    bs,
+			bytes:    data,
 		}
 		return
 	}
 	node.refcount++
-	if node.bytes == nil {
-		node.bytes = bs
-	}
 }
 
 func (t *Trie) removeRef(h util.Uint256, bs []byte) {
 	node := t.refcount[h]
 	if node == nil {
+		data := make([]byte, len(bs))
+		copy(data, bs)
 		t.refcount[h] = &cachedNode{
 			refcount: -1,
-			bytes:    bs,
+			bytes:    data,
 		}
 		return
 	}
 	node.refcount--
-	if node.bytes == nil {
-		node.bytes = bs
-	}
 }
 
 func (t *Trie) getFromStore(h util.Uint256) (Node, error) {
@@ -462,7 +460,8 @@ func (t *Trie) getFromStore(h util.Uint256) (Node, error) {
 		data = data[:len(data)-4]
 		node := t.refcount[h]
 		if node != nil {
-			node.bytes = data
+			node.bytes = make([]byte, len(data))
+			copy(node.bytes, data)
 			node.initial = int32(r.ReadU32LE())
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/io/binaryBufWriter.go b/pkg/io/binaryBufWriter.go
index 7015082e1..3e1245d3a 100644
--- a/pkg/io/binaryBufWriter.go
+++ b/pkg/io/binaryBufWriter.go
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ func NewBufBinWriter() *BufBinWriter {
 	return &BufBinWriter{BinWriter: NewBinWriterFromIO(b), buf: b}
 }
 
+// NewBufBinWriterPreAlloc makes a BufBinWriter using preallocated buffer.
+func NewBufBinWriterPreAlloc(buf []byte) *BufBinWriter {
+	b := bytes.NewBuffer(buf[:0])
+	return &BufBinWriter{BinWriter: NewBinWriterFromIO(b), buf: b}
+}
+
 // Len returns the number of bytes of the unread portion of the buffer.
 func (bw *BufBinWriter) Len() int {
 	return bw.buf.Len()