diff --git a/amt.go b/amt.go
index 586a088..cc438ca 100644
--- a/amt.go
+++ b/amt.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package amt
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
@@ -149,11 +148,11 @@ func (r *Root) Set(ctx context.Context, i uint64, val cbg.CBORMarshaler) error {
 	if val == nil {
 		d.Raw = cbg.CborNull
 	} else {
-		valueBuf := new(bytes.Buffer)
-		if err := val.MarshalCBOR(valueBuf); err != nil {
+		data, err := cborToBytes(val)
+		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		d.Raw = valueBuf.Bytes()
+		d.Raw = data
 	}
 
 	// where the index is greater than the number of elements we can fit into the
diff --git a/util.go b/util.go
index adf86a6..577debd 100644
--- a/util.go
+++ b/util.go
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 package amt
 
-import "math"
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"math"
+	"sync"
+
+	cbg "github.com/whyrusleeping/cbor-gen"
+)
 
 // Given height 'height', how many nodes in a maximally full tree can we
 // build? (bitWidth^2)^height = width^height. If we pass in height+1 we can work
@@ -13,3 +19,30 @@ func nodesForHeight(bitWidth uint, height int) uint64 {
 	}
 	return 1 << heightLogTwo
 }
+
+var bufferPool sync.Pool = sync.Pool{
+	New: func() any {
+		return bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	},
+}
+
+func cborToBytes(val cbg.CBORMarshaler) ([]byte, error) {
+	// Temporary location to put values. We'll copy them to an exact-sized buffer when done.
+	valueBuf := bufferPool.Get().(*bytes.Buffer)
+	defer func() {
+		valueBuf.Reset()
+		bufferPool.Put(valueBuf)
+	}()
+
+	if err := val.MarshalCBOR(valueBuf); err != nil {
+
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Copy to shrink the allocation.
+	buf := valueBuf.Bytes()
+	cpy := make([]byte, len(buf))
+	copy(cpy, buf)
+
+	return cpy, nil
+}