diff --git a/crates/validator-core/src/data_types.rs b/crates/validator-core/src/data_types.rs
index b7b6ba3..f24d90a 100644
--- a/crates/validator-core/src/data_types.rs
+++ b/crates/validator-core/src/data_types.rs
@@ -71,6 +71,19 @@ impl PlainKey {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Encodes an account address into a stack-allocated 20-byte array.
+    pub fn encode_account(addr: Address) -> [u8; ACCOUNT_ADDRESS_LEN] {
+        addr.into_array()
+    }
+
+    /// Encodes an address + storage slot into a stack-allocated 52-byte array.
+    pub fn encode_storage(addr: Address, slot: B256) -> [u8; STORAGE_SLOT_KEY_LEN] {
+        let mut buf = [0u8; STORAGE_SLOT_KEY_LEN];
+        buf[..ACCOUNT_ADDRESS_LEN].copy_from_slice(addr.as_slice());
+        buf[ACCOUNT_ADDRESS_LEN..].copy_from_slice(slot.as_slice());
+        buf
+    }
+
     /// Decodes a byte slice into a PlainKey.
     ///
     /// Returns `PlainKey::Unknown` if the buffer length is neither 20 (account)
diff --git a/crates/validator-core/src/database.rs b/crates/validator-core/src/database.rs
index 9596113..b3849fe 100644
--- a/crates/validator-core/src/database.rs
+++ b/crates/validator-core/src/database.rs
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ where
     fn basic_ref(&self, address: Address) -> Result<Option<AccountInfo>, Self::Error> {
         trace!(?address, "basic_ref");
 
-        let raw_value = self.plain_value(&PlainKey::Account(address).encode())?;
+        let raw_value = self.plain_value(&PlainKey::encode_account(address))?;
 
         match raw_value.and_then(|v| match PlainValue::decode(&v) {
             PlainValue::Account(acc) => Some(acc),
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ where
     fn storage_ref(&self, address: Address, index: U256) -> Result<U256, Self::Error> {
         trace!(?address, index = %format_args!("{:#x}", index), "storage_ref");
 
-        let raw_value = self.plain_value(&PlainKey::Storage(address, index.into()).encode())?;
+        let raw_value = self.plain_value(&PlainKey::encode_storage(address, index.into()))?;
 
         Ok(raw_value
             .and_then(|v| match PlainValue::decode(&v) {
@@ -292,11 +292,11 @@ impl SaltEnv for WitnessExternalEnv {
     }
 
     fn bucket_id_for_account(account: Address) -> BucketId {
-        hasher::bucket_id(&PlainKey::Account(account).encode())
+        hasher::bucket_id(&PlainKey::encode_account(account))
     }
 
     fn bucket_id_for_slot(address: Address, key: U256) -> BucketId {
-        hasher::bucket_id(&PlainKey::Storage(address, key.into()).encode())
+        hasher::bucket_id(&PlainKey::encode_storage(address, key.into()))
     }
 }