diff --git a/bitswap/client/internal/messagequeue/messagequeue.go b/bitswap/client/internal/messagequeue/messagequeue.go
index f6b7a45e2..6fd6c3e40 100644
--- a/bitswap/client/internal/messagequeue/messagequeue.go
+++ b/bitswap/client/internal/messagequeue/messagequeue.go
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ func (mq *MessageQueue) runQueue() {
 			if mq.events != nil {
 				mq.events <- messageQueued
 			}
-			mq.sendIfReady()
+			mq.sendMessage()
 			hasWorkChan = nil
 			scheduleWork.Reset(sendMessageDelay)
 
@@ -520,12 +520,6 @@ func (mq *MessageQueue) signalWorkReady() {
 	}
 }
 
-func (mq *MessageQueue) sendIfReady() {
-	if mq.hasPendingWork() {
-		mq.sendMessage()
-	}
-}
-
 func (mq *MessageQueue) sendMessage() {
 	sender, err := mq.initializeSender()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -547,6 +541,8 @@ func (mq *MessageQueue) sendMessage() {
 	// After processing the message, clear out its fields to save memory
 	defer mq.msg.Reset(false)
 
+	var wantlist []bsmsg.Entry
+
 	for {
 		// Convert want lists to a Bitswap Message
 		message, onSent := mq.extractOutgoingMessage(supportsHave)
@@ -554,7 +550,7 @@ func (mq *MessageQueue) sendMessage() {
 			return
 		}
 
-		wantlist := message.Wantlist()
+		wantlist = message.FillWantlist(wantlist)
 		mq.logOutgoingMessage(wantlist)
 
 		if err = sender.SendMsg(mq.ctx, message); err != nil {
diff --git a/bitswap/message/message.go b/bitswap/message/message.go
index 86ba866ad..f673848dc 100644
--- a/bitswap/message/message.go
+++ b/bitswap/message/message.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 // BitSwapMessage is the basic interface for interacting building, encoding,
 // and decoding messages sent on the BitSwap protocol.
 type BitSwapMessage interface {
+	FillWantlist([]Entry) []Entry
 	// Wantlist returns a slice of unique keys that represent data wanted by
 	// the sender.
 	Wantlist() []Entry
@@ -244,6 +245,18 @@ func (m *impl) Empty() bool {
 	return len(m.blocks) == 0 && len(m.wantlist) == 0 && len(m.blockPresences) == 0
 }
 
+func (m *impl) FillWantlist(out []Entry) []Entry {
+	if cap(out) < len(m.wantlist) {
+		out = make([]Entry, len(m.wantlist))
+	}
+	var i int
+	for _, e := range m.wantlist {
+		out[i] = *e
+		i++
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 func (m *impl) Wantlist() []Entry {
 	out := make([]Entry, len(m.wantlist))
 	var i int