diff --git a/accounts-db/src/accounts_hash.rs b/accounts-db/src/accounts_hash.rs
index e735f07961aa0c..61db8b06b7e52d 100644
--- a/accounts-db/src/accounts_hash.rs
+++ b/accounts-db/src/accounts_hash.rs
@@ -337,28 +337,32 @@ impl CumulativeHashesFromFiles {
 
     // return the biggest hash data possible that starts at the overall index 'start'
     // start is the index of hashes
-    // The data is returned as raw bytes vec. The caller is responsible for casting the byte slice into Hash slices.
-    fn get_data(&self, start: usize) -> Arc<Vec<u8>> {
+    fn get_data(&self, start: usize) -> Box<[Hash]> {
         let (start, offset, num_hashes) = self.cumulative.find(start);
         let data_source_index = offset.index[0];
         let mut data = self.readers[data_source_index].lock().unwrap();
 
-        // unwrap here because we should never ask for data that doesn't exist. If we do, then cumulative calculated incorrectly.
+        // unwrap here because we should never ask for data that doesn't exist.
+        // If we do, then cumulative calculated incorrectly.
         let file_offset_in_bytes = std::mem::size_of::<Hash>() * start;
         data.seek(SeekFrom::Start(file_offset_in_bytes.try_into().unwrap()))
             .unwrap();
 
         #[cfg(test)]
-        const MAX_BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 128; // for testing
+        const MAX_BUFFER_SIZE_IN_HASH: usize = 4; // 4 hashes (total 128 bytes) for testing
         #[cfg(not(test))]
-        const MAX_BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 64 * 1024 * 1024; // 64MB
+        const MAX_BUFFER_SIZE_IN_HASH: usize = 2 * 1024 * 1024; // 2M hashes (total 64MB bytes)
 
-        let eof_offset_in_bytes = std::mem::size_of::<Hash>() * num_hashes;
-        let buffer_size = (eof_offset_in_bytes - file_offset_in_bytes).min(MAX_BUFFER_SIZE);
+        let remaining_num_hashes = num_hashes - start;
+        let num_hashes_to_read = remaining_num_hashes.min(MAX_BUFFER_SIZE_IN_HASH);
+        let mut hashes = vec![Hash::default(); num_hashes_to_read].into_boxed_slice();
 
-        let mut result_bytes: Vec<u8> = vec![0; buffer_size];
-        data.read_exact(&mut result_bytes).unwrap();
-        Arc::new(result_bytes)
+        // unwrap here because the slice that we are reading into is guaranteed
+        // to be the correct size.
+        data.read_exact(bytemuck::must_cast_slice_mut(hashes.as_mut()))
+            .unwrap();
+
+        hashes
     }
 }
 
@@ -376,15 +380,12 @@ impl AsHashSlice for &[Hash] {
     }
 }
 
-impl AsHashSlice for Arc<Vec<u8>> {
+impl AsHashSlice for Arc<Box<[Hash]>> {
     fn num_hashes(&self) -> usize {
-        self.len() / std::mem::size_of::<Hash>()
+        self.len()
     }
     fn get(&self, i: usize) -> &Hash {
-        let start = i * std::mem::size_of::<Hash>();
-        let end = start + std::mem::size_of::<Hash>();
-        let bytes = &self[start..end];
-        unsafe { &*(bytes.as_ptr() as *const Hash) }
+        &self[i]
     }
 }
 
@@ -1200,7 +1201,7 @@ impl AccountsHasher<'_> {
             cumulative.total_count(),
             MERKLE_FANOUT,
             None,
-            |start| cumulative.get_data(start),
+            |start| Arc::new(cumulative.get_data(start)),
             None,
         );
         hash_time.stop();
@@ -2485,17 +2486,19 @@ mod tests {
         // Create a temporary directory for test files
         let temp_dir = tempdir().unwrap();
 
-        const MAX_BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 128;
+        const MAX_BUFFER_SIZE_IN_BYTES: usize = 128;
         let extra_size = 64;
 
         // Create a test file and write some data to it
         let file_path = temp_dir.path().join("test_file");
         let mut file = File::create(&file_path).unwrap();
-        let test_data: Vec<u8> = (0..(MAX_BUFFER_SIZE + extra_size) as u8).collect(); // 128 + 64 bytes of test data
+        let test_data: Vec<u8> = (0..(MAX_BUFFER_SIZE_IN_BYTES + extra_size) as u8).collect(); // 128 + 64 bytes of test data
         file.write_all(&test_data).unwrap();
         file.seek(SeekFrom::Start(0)).unwrap();
         drop(file);
 
+        let test_data: &[Hash] = bytemuck::cast_slice(&test_data);
+
         // Create a BufReader for the test file
         let file = File::open(&file_path).unwrap();
         let reader = BufReader::new(file);
@@ -2507,7 +2510,7 @@ mod tests {
                 index: [0, 0],
                 start_offset: 0,
             }],
-            total_count: test_data.len() / std::mem::size_of::<Hash>(),
+            total_count: test_data.len(),
         };
 
         // Create a CumulativeHashesFromFiles instance
@@ -2517,18 +2520,21 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         // Test get_data function
-        // First read MAX_BUFFER_SIZE 128 bytes
+        // First read MAX_BUFFER_SIZE 128 bytes (4 hashes)
         let start_index = 0;
         let result = cumulative_hashes.get_data(start_index);
-        assert_eq!(result.len(), MAX_BUFFER_SIZE);
+        assert_eq!(
+            result.len(),
+            MAX_BUFFER_SIZE_IN_BYTES / std::mem::size_of::<Hash>()
+        );
         assert_eq!(&test_data[..result.len()], &result[..]);
 
-        // Second read 64 bytes
-        let start_index = 4;
+        // Second read extra 64 bytes (2 hashes)
+        let start_index = result.len();
         let result = cumulative_hashes.get_data(start_index);
-        assert_eq!(result.len(), extra_size);
+        assert_eq!(result.len(), extra_size / std::mem::size_of::<Hash>());
         assert_eq!(
-            &test_data[start_index * 32..start_index * 32 + result.len()],
+            &test_data[start_index..start_index + result.len()],
             &result[..]
         );
     }