diff --git a/src/hnswutils.c b/src/hnswutils.c
index 4881b60..764e9d5 100644
--- a/src/hnswutils.c
+++ b/src/hnswutils.c
@@ -112,6 +112,12 @@ typedef union
 	tidhash_hash *tids;
 }			visited_hash;
 
+typedef union
+{
+	HnswElement element;
+	ItemPointerData indextid;
+}			HnswUnvisited;
+
 /*
  * Get the max number of connections in an upper layer for each element in the index
  */
@@ -547,19 +553,19 @@ HnswLoadElementFromTuple(HnswElement element, HnswElementTuple etup, bool loadHe
 /*
  * Load an element and optionally get its distance from q
  */
-void
-HnswLoadElement(HnswElement element, float *distance, Datum *q, Relation index, FmgrInfo *procinfo, Oid collation, bool loadVec, float *maxDistance)
+static void
+HnswLoadElementImpl(BlockNumber blkno, OffsetNumber offno, float *distance, Datum *q, Relation index, FmgrInfo *procinfo, Oid collation, bool loadVec, float *maxDistance, HnswElement * element)
 {
 	Buffer		buf;
 	Page		page;
 	HnswElementTuple etup;
 
 	/* Read vector */
-	buf = ReadBuffer(index, element->blkno);
+	buf = ReadBuffer(index, blkno);
 	LockBuffer(buf, BUFFER_LOCK_SHARE);
 	page = BufferGetPage(buf);
 
-	etup = (HnswElementTuple) PageGetItem(page, PageGetItemId(page, element->offno));
+	etup = (HnswElementTuple) PageGetItem(page, PageGetItemId(page, offno));
 
 	Assert(HnswIsElementTuple(etup));
 
@@ -574,11 +580,25 @@ HnswLoadElement(HnswElement element, float *distance, Datum *q, Relation index,
 
 	/* Load element */
 	if (distance == NULL || maxDistance == NULL || *distance < *maxDistance)
-		HnswLoadElementFromTuple(element, etup, true, loadVec);
+	{
+		if (*element == NULL)
+			*element = HnswInitElementFromBlock(blkno, offno);
+
+		HnswLoadElementFromTuple(*element, etup, true, loadVec);
+	}
 
 	UnlockReleaseBuffer(buf);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Load an element and optionally get its distance from q
+ */
+void
+HnswLoadElement(HnswElement element, float *distance, Datum *q, Relation index, FmgrInfo *procinfo, Oid collation, bool loadVec, float *maxDistance)
+{
+	HnswLoadElementImpl(element->blkno, element->offno, distance, q, index, procinfo, collation, loadVec, maxDistance, &element);
+}
+
 /*
  * Get the distance for an element
  */
@@ -720,7 +740,7 @@ CountElement(char *base, HnswElement skipElement, HnswElement e)
  * Load unvisited neighbors from memory
  */
 static void
-HnswLoadUnvisitedFromMemory(char *base, HnswElement element, HnswElement * unvisited, int *unvisitedLength, visited_hash * v, int lc, HnswNeighborArray * neighborhoodData, Size neighborhoodSize)
+HnswLoadUnvisitedFromMemory(char *base, HnswElement element, HnswUnvisited * unvisited, int *unvisitedLength, visited_hash * v, int lc, HnswNeighborArray * neighborhoodData, Size neighborhoodSize)
 {
 	/* Get the neighborhood at layer lc */
 	HnswNeighborArray *neighborhood = HnswGetNeighbors(base, element, lc);
@@ -741,7 +761,7 @@ HnswLoadUnvisitedFromMemory(char *base, HnswElement element, HnswElement * unvis
 		AddToVisited(base, v, hc->element, NULL, &found);
 
 		if (!found)
-			unvisited[(*unvisitedLength)++] = HnswPtrAccess(base, hc->element);
+			unvisited[(*unvisitedLength)++].element = HnswPtrAccess(base, hc->element);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -749,7 +769,7 @@ HnswLoadUnvisitedFromMemory(char *base, HnswElement element, HnswElement * unvis
  * Load unvisited neighbors from disk
  */
 static void
-HnswLoadUnvisitedFromDisk(HnswElement element, HnswElement * unvisited, int *unvisitedLength, visited_hash * v, Relation index, int m, int lm, int lc)
+HnswLoadUnvisitedFromDisk(HnswElement element, HnswUnvisited * unvisited, int *unvisitedLength, visited_hash * v, Relation index, int m, int lm, int lc)
 {
 	Buffer		buf;
 	Page		page;
@@ -782,7 +802,7 @@ HnswLoadUnvisitedFromDisk(HnswElement element, HnswElement * unvisited, int *unv
 		tidhash_insert(v->tids, *indextid, &found);
 
 		if (!found)
-			unvisited[(*unvisitedLength)++] = HnswInitElementFromBlock(ItemPointerGetBlockNumber(indextid), ItemPointerGetOffsetNumber(indextid));
+			unvisited[(*unvisitedLength)++].indextid = *indextid;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -801,7 +821,7 @@ HnswSearchLayer(char *base, Datum q, List *ep, int ef, int lc, Relation index, F
 	HnswNeighborArray *neighborhoodData = NULL;
 	Size		neighborhoodSize = 0;
 	int			lm = HnswGetLayerM(m, lc);
-	HnswElement *unvisited = palloc(lm * sizeof(HnswElement));
+	HnswUnvisited *unvisited = palloc(lm * sizeof(HnswUnvisited));
 	int			unvisitedLength;
 
 	InitVisited(base, &v, index, ef, m);
@@ -853,16 +873,27 @@ HnswSearchLayer(char *base, Datum q, List *ep, int ef, int lc, Relation index, F
 
 		for (int i = 0; i < unvisitedLength; i++)
 		{
-			HnswElement eElement = unvisited[i];
+			HnswElement eElement;
 			float		eDistance;
 			bool		alwaysAdd = wlen < ef;
 
 			f = HnswGetPairingHeapCandidate(w_node, pairingheap_first(W));
 
 			if (index == NULL)
+			{
+				eElement = unvisited[i].element;
 				eDistance = GetElementDistance(base, eElement, q, procinfo, collation);
+			}
 			else
-				HnswLoadElement(eElement, &eDistance, &q, index, procinfo, collation, inserting, alwaysAdd ? NULL : &f->distance);
+			{
+				ItemPointer indextid = &unvisited[i].indextid;
+				BlockNumber blkno = ItemPointerGetBlockNumber(indextid);
+				OffsetNumber offno = ItemPointerGetOffsetNumber(indextid);
+
+				/* Avoid any allocations if not adding */
+				eElement = NULL;
+				HnswLoadElementImpl(blkno, offno, &eDistance, &q, index, procinfo, collation, inserting, alwaysAdd ? NULL : &f->distance, &eElement);
+			}
 
 			if (eDistance < f->distance || alwaysAdd)
 			{