diff --git a/src/cluster.c b/src/cluster.c
index 2f37b241b..0a2e46623 100644
--- a/src/cluster.c
+++ b/src/cluster.c
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@ void clusterCloseAllSlots(void);
 void clusterSetNodeAsMaster(clusterNode *n);
 void clusterDelNode(clusterNode *delnode);
 sds representClusterNodeFlags(sds ci, uint16_t flags);
-sds representSlotInfo(sds ci, list *slot_info_pairs);
+sds representSlotInfo(sds ci, uint16_t *slot_info_pairs, int slot_info_pairs_count);
+void clusterFreeNodesSlotsInfo(clusterNode *n);
 uint64_t clusterGetMaxEpoch(void);
 int clusterBumpConfigEpochWithoutConsensus(void);
 void moduleCallClusterReceivers(const char *sender_id, uint64_t module_id, uint8_t type, const unsigned char *payload, uint32_t len);
@@ -944,6 +945,8 @@ clusterNode *createClusterNode(char *nodename, int flags) {
     node->flags = flags;
     memset(node->slots,0,sizeof(node->slots));
     node->slot_info_pairs = NULL;
+    node->slot_info_pairs_count = 0;
+    node->slot_info_pairs_alloc = 0;
     node->numslots = 0;
     node->numslaves = 0;
     node->slaves = NULL;
@@ -4565,16 +4568,10 @@ sds representClusterNodeFlags(sds ci, uint16_t flags) {
 /* Concatenate the slot ownership information to the given SDS string 'ci'.
  * If the slot ownership is in a contiguous block, it's represented as start-end pair,
  * else each slot is added separately. */
-sds representSlotInfo(sds ci, list *slot_info_pairs) {
-    listIter li;
-    listNode *ln;
-    listRewind(slot_info_pairs, &li);
-    while((ln = listNext(&li))) {
-        unsigned long start = (unsigned long)ln->value;
-        ln = listNext(&li);
-        /* List should have even number of elements */
-        serverAssert(ln != NULL);
-        unsigned long end = (unsigned long)ln->value;
+sds representSlotInfo(sds ci, uint16_t *slot_info_pairs, int slot_info_pairs_count) {
+    for (int i = 0; i< slot_info_pairs_count; i+=2) {
+        unsigned long start = slot_info_pairs[i];
+        unsigned long end = slot_info_pairs[i+1];
         if (start == end) {
             ci = sdscatfmt(ci, " %i", start);
         } else {
@@ -4633,7 +4630,7 @@ sds clusterGenNodeDescription(clusterNode *node, int use_pport) {
     /* Slots served by this instance. If we already have slots info,
      * append it directly, otherwise, generate slots only if it has. */
     if (node->slot_info_pairs) {
-        ci = representSlotInfo(ci, node->slot_info_pairs);
+        ci = representSlotInfo(ci, node->slot_info_pairs, node->slot_info_pairs_count);
     } else if (node->numslots > 0) {
         start = -1;
         for (j = 0; j < CLUSTER_SLOTS; j++) {
@@ -4693,11 +4690,15 @@ void clusterGenNodesSlotsInfo(int filter) {
          * or end of slot. */
         if (i == CLUSTER_SLOTS || n != server.cluster->slots[i]) {
             if (!(n->flags & filter)) {
-                if (n->slot_info_pairs == NULL) {
-                    n->slot_info_pairs = listCreate();
+                if (n->slot_info_pairs_count+2 > n->slot_info_pairs_alloc) {
+                    if (n->slot_info_pairs_alloc == 0)
+                        n->slot_info_pairs_alloc = 8;
+                    else
+                        n->slot_info_pairs_alloc *= 2;
+                    n->slot_info_pairs = zrealloc(n->slot_info_pairs, n->slot_info_pairs_alloc * sizeof(uint16_t));
                 }
-                listAddNodeTail(n->slot_info_pairs, (void *)(unsigned long)start);
-                listAddNodeTail(n->slot_info_pairs, (void *)(unsigned long)(i-1));
+                n->slot_info_pairs[n->slot_info_pairs_count++] = start;
+                n->slot_info_pairs[n->slot_info_pairs_count++] = i-1;
             }
             if (i == CLUSTER_SLOTS) break;
             n = server.cluster->slots[i];
@@ -4706,6 +4707,13 @@ void clusterGenNodesSlotsInfo(int filter) {
     }
 }
 
+void clusterFreeNodesSlotsInfo(clusterNode *n) {
+    zfree(n->slot_info_pairs);
+    n->slot_info_pairs = NULL;
+    n->slot_info_pairs_count = 0;
+    n->slot_info_pairs_alloc = 0;
+}
+
 /* Generate a csv-alike representation of the nodes we are aware of,
  * including the "myself" node, and return an SDS string containing the
  * representation (it is up to the caller to free it).
@@ -4740,10 +4748,7 @@ sds clusterGenNodesDescription(int filter, int use_pport) {
         ci = sdscatlen(ci,"\n",1);
 
         /* Release slots info. */
-        if (node->slot_info_pairs != NULL) {
-            listRelease(node->slot_info_pairs);
-            node->slot_info_pairs = NULL;
-        }
+        clusterFreeNodesSlotsInfo(node);
     }
     dictReleaseIterator(di);
     return ci;
@@ -5033,22 +5038,14 @@ void addNodeDetailsToShardReply(client *c, clusterNode *node) {
 }
 
 /* Add the shard reply of a single shard based off the given primary node. */
-void addShardReplyForClusterShards(client *c, clusterNode *node, list *slot_info_pairs) {
+void addShardReplyForClusterShards(client *c, clusterNode *node, uint16_t *slot_info_pairs, int slot_pairs_count) {
     addReplyMapLen(c, 2);
     addReplyBulkCString(c, "slots");
-    uint16_t slot_pair_count = 0;
     if (slot_info_pairs) {
-        slot_pair_count = listLength(slot_info_pairs);
-        serverAssert((slot_pair_count % 2) == 0);
-        addReplyArrayLen(c, slot_pair_count);
-        listIter li;
-        listRewind(slot_info_pairs, &li);
-        listNode *ln;
-        while((ln = listNext(&li))) {
-            addReplyBulkLongLong(c, (unsigned long)listNodeValue(ln));
-            ln = listNext(&li);
-            addReplyBulkLongLong(c, (unsigned long)listNodeValue(ln));
-        }
+        serverAssert((slot_pairs_count % 2) == 0);
+        addReplyArrayLen(c, slot_pairs_count);
+        for (int i = 0; i < slot_pairs_count; i++)
+            addReplyBulkLongLong(c, (unsigned long)slot_info_pairs[i]);
     } else {
         /* If no slot info pair is provided, the node owns no slots */
         addReplyArrayLen(c, 0);
@@ -5090,17 +5087,13 @@ void clusterReplyShards(client *c) {
         if (nodeIsSlave(n)) {
             /* You can force a replica to own slots, even though it'll get reverted,
              * so freeing the slot pair here just in case. */
-            if (n->slot_info_pairs) listRelease(n->slot_info_pairs);
-            n->slot_info_pairs = NULL;
+            clusterFreeNodesSlotsInfo(n);
             continue;
         }
         shard_count++;
         /* n->slot_info_pairs is set to NULL when the the node owns no slots. */
-        addShardReplyForClusterShards(c, n, n->slot_info_pairs);
-        if (n->slot_info_pairs) {
-            listRelease(n->slot_info_pairs);
-            n->slot_info_pairs = NULL;
-        }
+        addShardReplyForClusterShards(c, n, n->slot_info_pairs, n->slot_info_pairs_count);
+        clusterFreeNodesSlotsInfo(n);
     }
     dictReleaseIterator(di);
     setDeferredArrayLen(c, shard_replylen, shard_count);
diff --git a/src/cluster.h b/src/cluster.h
index a944056eb..d233c947c 100644
--- a/src/cluster.h
+++ b/src/cluster.h
@@ -118,7 +118,9 @@ typedef struct clusterNode {
     int flags;      /* CLUSTER_NODE_... */
     uint64_t configEpoch; /* Last configEpoch observed for this node */
     unsigned char slots[CLUSTER_SLOTS/8]; /* slots handled by this node */
-    list *slot_info_pairs; /* Slots info represented as (start/end) pair (consecutive index). */
+    uint16_t *slot_info_pairs; /* Slots info represented as (start/end) pair (consecutive index). */
+    int slot_info_pairs_count; /* Used number of slots in slot_info_pairs */
+    int slot_info_pairs_alloc; /* Allocated number of slots in slot_info_pairs */
     int numslots;   /* Number of slots handled by this node */
     int numslaves;  /* Number of slave nodes, if this is a master */
     struct clusterNode **slaves; /* pointers to slave nodes */