diff --git a/benches/benches.rs b/benches/benches.rs
index ad6c81c..ce90ffe 100644
--- a/benches/benches.rs
+++ b/benches/benches.rs
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ fn bench_hamt_find<IS: ItemStore<u64, u64>>(empty: HamtMap<u64, u64, IS>, count:
             let val = val + (i as u64 & 1);
 
             unsafe {
-                match map.find(&val) {
+                match test::black_box(map.find(&val)) {
                     Some(&x) => RESULTS[i] = Some(x),
                     None => RESULTS[i] = None,
                 }
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ fn bench_hamt_insert<IS: ItemStore<u64, u64>>(empty: HamtMap<u64, u64, IS>, coun
 
         for i in (0usize .. BENCH_INSERT_COUNT) {
             let val = keys[count + i];
-            map1 = map1.plus(val, val);
+            map1 = test::black_box(map1.plus(val, val));
         }
     })
 }
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ fn bench_hamt_remove<IS: ItemStore<u64, u64>>(empty: HamtMap<u64, u64, IS>, coun
         let mut map = map.clone();
 
         for x in (0 .. count).filter(|x| x % 2 == 0) {
-            map = map.minus(&keys[x]);
+            map = test::black_box(map.minus(&keys[x]));
         }
     })
 }
@@ -120,13 +120,13 @@ fn bench_std_hashmap_find(count: usize, bh: &mut Bencher) {
 
     bh.iter(|| {
         for i in (0usize .. BENCH_FIND_COUNT) {
-            let val = values[i % count];
+            let val = test::black_box(values[i % count]);
 
             // lets make about half of the lookups fail
             let val = val + (i as u64 & 1);
 
             unsafe {
-                match map.get(&val) {
+                match test::black_box(map.get(&val)) {
                     Some(&x) => RESULTS[i] = Some(x),
                     None => RESULTS[i] = None,
                 }
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ fn bench_std_hashmap_insert(count: usize, bh: &mut Bencher) {
         let mut map1 = map.clone();
 
         for i in (0usize .. BENCH_INSERT_COUNT) {
-            let val = values[count + i];
-            map1.insert(val, val);
+            let val = test::black_box(values[count + i]);
+            test::black_box(map1.insert(val, val));
         }
     })
 }
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ fn bench_std_hashmap_clone(count: usize, bh: &mut Bencher) {
     }
 
     bh.iter(|| {
-        map.clone();
+        test::black_box(map.clone());
     })
 }
 
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ fn bench_std_hashmap_remove(count: usize, bh: &mut Bencher) {
         let mut map1 = map.clone();
 
         for x in (0..count).filter(|x| x % 2 == 0) {
-            map1.remove(&values[x]);
+            test::black_box(map1.remove(&values[x]));
         }
     })
 }
diff --git a/src/hamt.rs b/src/hamt.rs
index c4c4b0b..49d6f48 100644
--- a/src/hamt.rs
+++ b/src/hamt.rs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ impl<K, V, IS, H> NodeRef<K, V, IS, H>
 
     fn borrow_mut<'a>(&'a mut self) -> &'a mut UnsafeNode<K, V, IS, H> {
         unsafe {
-            debug_assert!((*self.ptr).ref_count.load(Ordering::Acquire) == 1);
+            debug_assert!((*self.ptr).ref_count.load(Ordering::SeqCst) == 1);
             mem::transmute(self.ptr)
         }
     }
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ impl<K, V, IS, H> NodeRef<K, V, IS, H>
     // in-place modifications instead of unnecessarily copying data.
     fn try_borrow_owned<'a>(&'a mut self) -> BorrowedNodeRef<'a, K, V, IS, H> {
         unsafe {
-            if (*self.ptr).ref_count.load(Ordering::Acquire) == 1 {
+            if (*self.ptr).ref_count.load(Ordering::SeqCst) == 1 {
                 BorrowedNodeRef::Exclusive(mem::transmute(self.ptr))
             } else {
                 BorrowedNodeRef::Shared(mem::transmute(self.ptr))
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ impl<K, V, IS, H> Drop for NodeRef<K, V, IS, H> {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
         unsafe {
             let node: &mut UnsafeNode<K, V, IS, H> = mem::transmute(self.ptr);
-            let old_count = node.ref_count.fetch_sub(1, Ordering::Acquire);
+            let old_count = node.ref_count.fetch_sub(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
             debug_assert!(old_count >= 1);
             if old_count == 1 {
                 node.destroy();
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ impl<K, V, IS, H> Clone for NodeRef<K, V, IS, H> {
     fn clone(&self) -> NodeRef<K, V, IS, H> {
         unsafe {
             let node: &mut UnsafeNode<K, V, IS, H> = mem::transmute(self.ptr);
-            let old_count = node.ref_count.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Release);
+            let old_count = node.ref_count.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
             debug_assert!(old_count >= 1);
         }
 
@@ -1165,9 +1165,29 @@ impl<K, V, IS, H> HamtMap<K, V, IS, H>
           H: Hasher+Default
 {
     pub fn new() -> HamtMap<K, V, IS, H> {
-        HamtMap {
-            root: UnsafeNode::alloc(0, 0),
-            element_count: 0
+
+        static mut EMPTY: UnsafeNode<u128,
+                                     u128,
+                                     ::item_store::CopyStore<u128, u128>,
+                                     StdHasher> = UnsafeNode {
+            ref_count: AtomicUsize::new(0xFF),
+            entry_types: 0,
+            mask: 0,
+            capacity: 0,
+            __entries: [],
+        };
+
+        unsafe {
+            // Yes, that's right, we are directly modifying the ref-count of
+            // the static mut UnsafeNode. Because we can.
+            EMPTY.ref_count.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
+
+            HamtMap {
+                root: NodeRef {
+                    ptr: mem::transmute(&EMPTY)
+                },
+                element_count: 0
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -1541,6 +1561,7 @@ Iterator for HamtMapIterator<'a, K, V, IS, H>
         }
     }
 
+    #[inline]
     fn size_hint(&self) -> (usize, Option<usize>) {
         (self.len, Some(self.len))
     }
@@ -1549,6 +1570,7 @@ Iterator for HamtMapIterator<'a, K, V, IS, H>
 //=-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Utility functions
 //=------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+#[inline]
 fn get_index(mask: u32, index: usize) -> usize {
     debug_assert!((mask & (1 << index)) != 0);