diff --git a/trie/database.go b/trie/database.go
index b0fd78744492671d11ea5085afe95caaac11bfd1..dee9f7844b125e0112ba09fcfdbeb8ae7090c1ca 100644
--- a/trie/database.go
+++ b/trie/database.go
@@ -180,35 +180,31 @@ func (n *cachedNode) obj(hash common.Hash) node {
 	return expandNode(hash[:], n.node)
 }
 
-// childs returns all the tracked children of this node, both the implicit ones
-// from inside the node as well as the explicit ones from outside the node.
-func (n *cachedNode) childs() []common.Hash {
-	children := make([]common.Hash, 0, 16)
+// forChilds invokes the callback for  all the tracked children of this node,
+// both the implicit ones  from inside the node as well as the explicit ones
+//from outside the node.
+func (n *cachedNode) forChilds(onChild func(hash common.Hash)) {
 	for child := range n.children {
-		children = append(children, child)
+		onChild(child)
 	}
 	if _, ok := n.node.(rawNode); !ok {
-		gatherChildren(n.node, &children)
+		forGatherChildren(n.node, onChild)
 	}
-	return children
 }
 
-// gatherChildren traverses the node hierarchy of a collapsed storage node and
-// retrieves all the hashnode children.
-func gatherChildren(n node, children *[]common.Hash) {
+// forGatherChildren traverses the node hierarchy of a collapsed storage node and
+// invokes the callback for all the hashnode children.
+func forGatherChildren(n node, onChild func(hash common.Hash)) {
 	switch n := n.(type) {
 	case *rawShortNode:
-		gatherChildren(n.Val, children)
-
+		forGatherChildren(n.Val, onChild)
 	case rawFullNode:
 		for i := 0; i < 16; i++ {
-			gatherChildren(n[i], children)
+			forGatherChildren(n[i], onChild)
 		}
 	case hashNode:
-		*children = append(*children, common.BytesToHash(n))
-
+		onChild(common.BytesToHash(n))
 	case valueNode, nil:
-
 	default:
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("unknown node type: %T", n))
 	}
@@ -334,11 +330,11 @@ func (db *Database) insert(hash common.Hash, blob []byte, node node) {
 		size:      uint16(len(blob)),
 		flushPrev: db.newest,
 	}
-	for _, child := range entry.childs() {
+	entry.forChilds(func(child common.Hash) {
 		if c := db.dirties[child]; c != nil {
 			c.parents++
 		}
-	}
+	})
 	db.dirties[hash] = entry
 
 	// Update the flush-list endpoints
@@ -570,9 +566,9 @@ func (db *Database) dereference(child common.Hash, parent common.Hash) {
 			db.dirties[node.flushNext].flushPrev = node.flushPrev
 		}
 		// Dereference all children and delete the node
-		for _, hash := range node.childs() {
+		node.forChilds(func(hash common.Hash) {
 			db.dereference(hash, child)
-		}
+		})
 		delete(db.dirties, child)
 		db.dirtiesSize -= common.StorageSize(common.HashLength + int(node.size))
 		if node.children != nil {
@@ -766,10 +762,14 @@ func (db *Database) commit(hash common.Hash, batch ethdb.Batch, uncacher *cleane
 	if !ok {
 		return nil
 	}
-	for _, child := range node.childs() {
-		if err := db.commit(child, batch, uncacher); err != nil {
-			return err
+	var err error
+	node.forChilds(func(child common.Hash) {
+		if err == nil {
+			err = db.commit(child, batch, uncacher)
 		}
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 	if err := batch.Put(hash[:], node.rlp()); err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/trie/trie_test.go b/trie/trie_test.go
index e53ac568e9c3bdbe9cb725f2a7cb50b763bcc453..172572dddcd54e750ee7e40c67160cb08d882329 100644
--- a/trie/trie_test.go
+++ b/trie/trie_test.go
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func TestInsert(t *testing.T) {
 	exp := common.HexToHash("8aad789dff2f538bca5d8ea56e8abe10f4c7ba3a5dea95fea4cd6e7c3a1168d3")
 	root := trie.Hash()
 	if root != exp {
-		t.Errorf("exp %x got %x", exp, root)
+		t.Errorf("case 1: exp %x got %x", exp, root)
 	}
 
 	trie = newEmpty()
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func TestInsert(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("commit error: %v", err)
 	}
 	if root != exp {
-		t.Errorf("exp %x got %x", exp, root)
+		t.Errorf("case 2: exp %x got %x", exp, root)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -316,6 +316,40 @@ func TestLargeValue(t *testing.T) {
 	trie.Hash()
 }
 
+// TestRandomCases tests som cases that were found via random fuzzing
+func TestRandomCases(t *testing.T) {
+	var rt []randTestStep = []randTestStep{
+		{op: 6, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 0
+		{op: 6, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 1
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("d51b182b95d677e5f1c82508c0228de96b73092d78ce78b2230cd948674f66fd1483bd"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000002")},           // step 2
+		{op: 2, key: common.Hex2Bytes("c2a38512b83107d665c65235b0250002882ac2022eb00711552354832c5f1d030d0e408e"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                         // step 3
+		{op: 3, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 4
+		{op: 3, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 5
+		{op: 6, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 6
+		{op: 3, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 7
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("c2a38512b83107d665c65235b0250002882ac2022eb00711552354832c5f1d030d0e408e"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000008")},         // step 8
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("d51b182b95d677e5f1c82508c0228de96b73092d78ce78b2230cd948674f66fd1483bd"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000009")},           // step 9
+		{op: 2, key: common.Hex2Bytes("fd"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                               // step 10
+		{op: 6, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 11
+		{op: 6, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 12
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("fd"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("000000000000000d")},                                                                               // step 13
+		{op: 6, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 14
+		{op: 1, key: common.Hex2Bytes("c2a38512b83107d665c65235b0250002882ac2022eb00711552354832c5f1d030d0e408e"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                         // step 15
+		{op: 3, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 16
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("c2a38512b83107d665c65235b0250002882ac2022eb00711552354832c5f1d030d0e408e"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000011")},         // step 17
+		{op: 5, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 18
+		{op: 3, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 19
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("d51b182b95d677e5f1c82508c0228de96b73092d78ce78b2230cd948674f66fd1483bd"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000014")},           // step 20
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("d51b182b95d677e5f1c82508c0228de96b73092d78ce78b2230cd948674f66fd1483bd"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000015")},           // step 21
+		{op: 0, key: common.Hex2Bytes("c2a38512b83107d665c65235b0250002882ac2022eb00711552354832c5f1d030d0e408e"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000016")},         // step 22
+		{op: 5, key: common.Hex2Bytes(""), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                                 // step 23
+		{op: 1, key: common.Hex2Bytes("980c393656413a15c8da01978ed9f89feb80b502f58f2d640e3a2f5f7a99a7018f1b573befd92053ac6f78fca4a87268"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")}, // step 24
+		{op: 1, key: common.Hex2Bytes("fd"), value: common.Hex2Bytes("")},                                                                                               // step 25
+	}
+	runRandTest(rt)
+
+}
+
 // randTest performs random trie operations.
 // Instances of this test are created by Generate.
 type randTest []randTestStep
@@ -375,6 +409,8 @@ func runRandTest(rt randTest) bool {
 	values := make(map[string]string) // tracks content of the trie
 
 	for i, step := range rt {
+		fmt.Printf("{op: %d, key: common.Hex2Bytes(\"%x\"), value: common.Hex2Bytes(\"%x\")}, // step %d\n",
+			step.op, step.key, step.value, i)
 		switch step.op {
 		case opUpdate:
 			tr.Update(step.key, step.value)
@@ -470,6 +506,7 @@ func benchGet(b *testing.B, commit bool) {
 func benchUpdate(b *testing.B, e binary.ByteOrder) *Trie {
 	trie := newEmpty()
 	k := make([]byte, 32)
+	b.ReportAllocs()
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 		e.PutUint64(k, uint64(i))
 		trie.Update(k, k)
@@ -481,18 +518,135 @@ func benchUpdate(b *testing.B, e binary.ByteOrder) *Trie {
 // we cannot use b.N as the number of hashing rouns, since all rounds apart from
 // the first one will be NOOP. As such, we'll use b.N as the number of account to
 // insert into the trie before measuring the hashing.
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  288680	      4561 ns/op	     682 B/op	       9 allocs/op
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  275095	      4800 ns/op	     685 B/op	       9 allocs/op
+// pure hasher:
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  319362	      4230 ns/op	     675 B/op	       9 allocs/op
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  257460	      4674 ns/op	     689 B/op	       9 allocs/op
+// With hashing in-between and pure hasher:
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  225417	      7150 ns/op	     982 B/op	      12 allocs/op
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  220378	      6197 ns/op	     983 B/op	      12 allocs/op
+// same with old hasher
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  229758	      6437 ns/op	     981 B/op	      12 allocs/op
+// BenchmarkHash-6   	  212610	      7137 ns/op	     986 B/op	      12 allocs/op
 func BenchmarkHash(b *testing.B) {
+	// Create a realistic account trie to hash. We're first adding and hashing N
+	// entries, then adding N more.
+	addresses, accounts := makeAccounts(2 * b.N)
+	// Insert the accounts into the trie and hash it
+	trie := newEmpty()
+	i := 0
+	for ; i < len(addresses)/2; i++ {
+		trie.Update(crypto.Keccak256(addresses[i][:]), accounts[i])
+	}
+	trie.Hash()
+	for ; i < len(addresses); i++ {
+		trie.Update(crypto.Keccak256(addresses[i][:]), accounts[i])
+	}
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	//trie.hashRoot(nil, nil)
+	trie.Hash()
+}
+
+type account struct {
+	Nonce   uint64
+	Balance *big.Int
+	Root    common.Hash
+	Code    []byte
+}
+
+// Benchmarks the trie Commit following a Hash. Since the trie caches the result of any operation,
+// we cannot use b.N as the number of hashing rouns, since all rounds apart from
+// the first one will be NOOP. As such, we'll use b.N as the number of account to
+// insert into the trie before measuring the hashing.
+func BenchmarkCommitAfterHash(b *testing.B) {
+	b.Run("no-onleaf", func(b *testing.B) {
+		benchmarkCommitAfterHash(b, nil)
+	})
+	var a account
+	onleaf := func(leaf []byte, parent common.Hash) error {
+		rlp.DecodeBytes(leaf, &a)
+		return nil
+	}
+	b.Run("with-onleaf", func(b *testing.B) {
+		benchmarkCommitAfterHash(b, onleaf)
+	})
+}
+
+func benchmarkCommitAfterHash(b *testing.B, onleaf LeafCallback) {
 	// Make the random benchmark deterministic
-	random := rand.New(rand.NewSource(0))
+	addresses, accounts := makeAccounts(b.N)
+	trie := newEmpty()
+	for i := 0; i < len(addresses); i++ {
+		trie.Update(crypto.Keccak256(addresses[i][:]), accounts[i])
+	}
+	// Insert the accounts into the trie and hash it
+	trie.Hash()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	trie.Commit(onleaf)
+}
+
+func TestTinyTrie(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a realistic account trie to hash
+	_, accounts := makeAccounts(10000)
+	trie := newEmpty()
+	trie.Update(common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001337"), accounts[3])
+	if exp, root := common.HexToHash("4fa6efd292cffa2db0083b8bedd23add2798ae73802442f52486e95c3df7111c"), trie.Hash(); exp != root {
+		t.Fatalf("1: got %x, exp %x", root, exp)
+	}
+	trie.Update(common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001338"), accounts[4])
+	if exp, root := common.HexToHash("cb5fb1213826dad9e604f095f8ceb5258fe6b5c01805ce6ef019a50699d2d479"), trie.Hash(); exp != root {
+		t.Fatalf("2: got %x, exp %x", root, exp)
+	}
+	trie.Update(common.Hex2Bytes("0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001339"), accounts[4])
+	if exp, root := common.HexToHash("ed7e06b4010057d8703e7b9a160a6d42cf4021f9020da3c8891030349a646987"), trie.Hash(); exp != root {
+		t.Fatalf("3: got %x, exp %x", root, exp)
+	}
+
+	checktr, _ := New(common.Hash{}, trie.db)
+	it := NewIterator(trie.NodeIterator(nil))
+	for it.Next() {
+		checktr.Update(it.Key, it.Value)
+	}
+	if troot, itroot := trie.Hash(), checktr.Hash(); troot != itroot {
+		t.Fatalf("hash mismatch in opItercheckhash, trie: %x, check: %x", troot, itroot)
+	}
+}
 
+func TestCommitAfterHash(t *testing.T) {
 	// Create a realistic account trie to hash
-	addresses := make([][20]byte, b.N)
+	addresses, accounts := makeAccounts(1000)
+	trie := newEmpty()
+	for i := 0; i < len(addresses); i++ {
+		trie.Update(crypto.Keccak256(addresses[i][:]), accounts[i])
+	}
+	// Insert the accounts into the trie and hash it
+	trie.Hash()
+	trie.Commit(nil)
+	root := trie.Hash()
+	exp := common.HexToHash("e5e9c29bb50446a4081e6d1d748d2892c6101c1e883a1f77cf21d4094b697822")
+	if exp != root {
+		t.Errorf("got %x, exp %x", root, exp)
+	}
+	root, _ = trie.Commit(nil)
+	if exp != root {
+		t.Errorf("got %x, exp %x", root, exp)
+	}
+}
+
+func makeAccounts(size int) (addresses [][20]byte, accounts [][]byte) {
+	// Make the random benchmark deterministic
+	random := rand.New(rand.NewSource(0))
+	// Create a realistic account trie to hash
+	addresses = make([][20]byte, size)
 	for i := 0; i < len(addresses); i++ {
 		for j := 0; j < len(addresses[i]); j++ {
 			addresses[i][j] = byte(random.Intn(256))
 		}
 	}
-	accounts := make([][]byte, len(addresses))
+	accounts = make([][]byte, len(addresses))
 	for i := 0; i < len(accounts); i++ {
 		var (
 			nonce   = uint64(random.Int63())
@@ -500,16 +654,168 @@ func BenchmarkHash(b *testing.B) {
 			root    = emptyRoot
 			code    = crypto.Keccak256(nil)
 		)
-		accounts[i], _ = rlp.EncodeToBytes([]interface{}{nonce, balance, root, code})
+		accounts[i], _ = rlp.EncodeToBytes(&account{nonce, balance, root, code})
 	}
-	// Insert the accounts into the trie and hash it
+	return addresses, accounts
+}
+
+// BenchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize benchmarks the Commit (after Hash) of a fixed number of updates to a trie.
+// This benchmark is meant to capture the difference on efficiency of small versus large changes. Typically,
+// storage tries are small (a couple of entries), whereas the full post-block account trie update is large (a couple
+// of thousand entries)
+func BenchmarkHashFixedSize(b *testing.B) {
+	b.Run("10", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(20)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("100", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(100)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("1K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(1000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("10K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(10000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("100K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(100000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func benchmarkHashFixedSize(b *testing.B, addresses [][20]byte, accounts [][]byte) {
+	b.ReportAllocs()
 	trie := newEmpty()
 	for i := 0; i < len(addresses); i++ {
 		trie.Update(crypto.Keccak256(addresses[i][:]), accounts[i])
 	}
-	b.ResetTimer()
+	// Insert the accounts into the trie and hash it
+	b.StartTimer()
+	trie.Hash()
+	b.StopTimer()
+}
+
+func BenchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize(b *testing.B) {
+	b.Run("10", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(20)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("100", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(100)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("1K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(1000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("10K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(10000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("100K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(100000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func benchmarkCommitAfterHashFixedSize(b *testing.B, addresses [][20]byte, accounts [][]byte) {
 	b.ReportAllocs()
+	trie := newEmpty()
+	for i := 0; i < len(addresses); i++ {
+		trie.Update(crypto.Keccak256(addresses[i][:]), accounts[i])
+	}
+	// Insert the accounts into the trie and hash it
 	trie.Hash()
+	b.StartTimer()
+	trie.Commit(nil)
+	b.StopTimer()
+}
+
+func BenchmarkDerefRootFixedSize(b *testing.B) {
+	b.Run("10", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(20)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkDerefRootFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("100", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(100)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkDerefRootFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("1K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(1000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkDerefRootFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("10K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(10000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkDerefRootFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("100K", func(b *testing.B) {
+		b.StopTimer()
+		acc, add := makeAccounts(100000)
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			benchmarkDerefRootFixedSize(b, acc, add)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func benchmarkDerefRootFixedSize(b *testing.B, addresses [][20]byte, accounts [][]byte) {
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	trie := newEmpty()
+	for i := 0; i < len(addresses); i++ {
+		trie.Update(crypto.Keccak256(addresses[i][:]), accounts[i])
+	}
+	h := trie.Hash()
+	trie.Commit(nil)
+	b.StartTimer()
+	trie.db.Dereference(h)
+	b.StopTimer()
 }
 
 func tempDB() (string, *Database) {