diff --git a/src/DotNext.Tests/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/MemoryBasedStateMachineTests.cs b/src/DotNext.Tests/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/MemoryBasedStateMachineTests.cs
index 3e24fe258..ed79a457a 100644
--- a/src/DotNext.Tests/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/MemoryBasedStateMachineTests.cs
+++ b/src/DotNext.Tests/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/MemoryBasedStateMachineTests.cs
@@ -670,7 +670,7 @@ public static async Task SequentialCompaction(bool useCaching)
             Equal(entries.Length + 41L, state.Value);
             checker = static (readResult, snapshotIndex, token) =>
             {
-                Equal(8, snapshotIndex);
+                Equal(7, snapshotIndex);
                 True(Single(readResult).IsSnapshot);
                 return default;
             };
@@ -679,7 +679,7 @@ public static async Task SequentialCompaction(bool useCaching)
             checker = static (readResult, snapshotIndex, token) =>
             {
                 NotEmpty(readResult);
-                Equal(8, snapshotIndex);
+                Equal(7, snapshotIndex);
                 True(readResult[0].IsSnapshot);
                 False(readResult[1].IsSnapshot);
                 return default;
@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ public static async Task SequentialCompaction(bool useCaching)
             checker = static (readResult, snapshotIndex, token) =>
             {
                 NotEmpty(readResult);
-                Equal(8, snapshotIndex);
+                Equal(7, snapshotIndex);
                 return default;
             };
             await state.As<IRaftLog>().ReadAsync(new LogEntryConsumer(checker), 1, CancellationToken.None);
diff --git a/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.Partition.cs b/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.Partition.cs
index f7aa29e2f..4ab08dfb8 100644
--- a/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.Partition.cs
+++ b/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.Partition.cs
@@ -394,22 +394,28 @@ private sealed class Table : Partition, IReadOnlyList<ReadOnlyMemory<byte>>
         private MemoryOwner<byte> header, footer;
         private (ReadOnlyMemory<byte>, ReadOnlyMemory<byte>) bufferTuple;
 
-        internal Table(DirectoryInfo location, int bufferSize, int recordsPerPartition, long partitionNumber, in BufferManager manager, int readersCount, WriteMode writeMode, long initialSize)
+        internal Table(DirectoryInfo location, int bufferSize, int recordsPerPartition, long partitionNumber, in BufferManager manager, int readersCount, WriteMode writeMode, long initialSize, ReadOnlySpan<byte> initialFooter)
             : base(location, HeaderSize, bufferSize, recordsPerPartition, partitionNumber, in manager, readersCount, writeMode, initialSize)
         {
             footer = manager.BufferAllocator.AllocateExactly(recordsPerPartition * LogEntryMetadata.Size);
-#if DEBUG
-            footer.Span.Clear();
-#endif
+            initialFooter.CopyTo(footer.Span);
 
             header = manager.BufferAllocator.AllocateExactly(HeaderSize);
             header.Span.Clear();
+        }
+
+        internal static MemoryOwner<byte> AllocateInitializedFooter(MemoryAllocator<byte> allocator, int recordsPerPartition)
+        {
+            var footer = allocator.AllocateExactly(recordsPerPartition * LogEntryMetadata.Size);
 
-            // init ephemeral 0 entry
-            if (PartitionNumber is 0L)
+            for (var index = 0; index < recordsPerPartition; index++)
             {
-                LogEntryMetadata.Create(LogEntry.Initial, HeaderSize + LogEntryMetadata.Size, length: 0L).Format(footer.Span);
+                var writeAddress = index * LogEntryMetadata.Size;
+                var metadata = new LogEntryMetadata(default, 0L, writeAddress + HeaderSize + LogEntryMetadata.Size, 0L);
+                metadata.Format(footer.Span.Slice(writeAddress));
             }
+
+            return footer;
         }
 
         private bool IsSealed
diff --git a/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.cs b/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.cs
index 761466d49..044978113 100644
--- a/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.cs
+++ b/src/cluster/DotNext.Net.Cluster/Net/Cluster/Consensus/Raft/PersistentState.cs
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ public abstract partial class PersistentState : Disposable, IPersistentState
     private protected readonly WriteMode writeMode;
     private readonly bool parallelIO;
     private readonly long maxLogEntrySize; // 0 - modern partition, > 0 - sparse partition, < 0 - legacy partition
+    private MemoryOwner<byte> initializedFooter;
 
     static PersistentState()
     {
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ private protected PersistentState(DirectoryInfo path, int recordsPerPartition, O
                     maxLogEntrySize);
                 break;
             case 0L:
+                initializedFooter = Table.AllocateInitializedFooter(bufferManager.BufferAllocator, recordsPerPartition);
                 CreateTables(
                     partitionTable,
                     path,
@@ -95,7 +97,8 @@ private protected PersistentState(DirectoryInfo path, int recordsPerPartition, O
                     concurrentReads,
                     writeMode,
                     initialSize,
-                    state.LastIndex);
+                    state.LastIndex,
+                    initializedFooter.Span);
                 break;
             case < 0L:
 #pragma warning disable CS0618,CS0612
@@ -133,13 +136,13 @@ private protected PersistentState(DirectoryInfo path, int recordsPerPartition, O
 
         static int ComparePartitions(Partition x, Partition y) => x.PartitionNumber.CompareTo(y.PartitionNumber);
 
-        static void CreateTables(SortedSet<Partition> partitionTable, DirectoryInfo path, int bufferSize, int recordsPerPartition, in BufferManager manager, int concurrentReads, WriteMode writeMode, long initialSize, long lastIndex)
+        static void CreateTables(SortedSet<Partition> partitionTable, DirectoryInfo path, int bufferSize, int recordsPerPartition, in BufferManager manager, int concurrentReads, WriteMode writeMode, long initialSize, long lastIndex, ReadOnlySpan<byte> initializedFooter)
         {
             foreach (var file in path.EnumerateFiles())
             {
                 if (long.TryParse(file.Name, out var partitionNumber))
                 {
-                    var partition = new Table(file.Directory!, bufferSize, recordsPerPartition, partitionNumber, in manager, concurrentReads, writeMode, initialSize);
+                    var partition = new Table(file.Directory!, bufferSize, recordsPerPartition, partitionNumber, in manager, concurrentReads, writeMode, initialSize, initializedFooter);
                     partition.Initialize(lastIndex);
                     partitionTable.Add(partition);
                 }
@@ -187,7 +190,7 @@ static void CreateLegacyPartitions(SortedSet<Partition> partitionTable, Director
     private partial Partition CreatePartition(long partitionNumber) => maxLogEntrySize switch
     {
         > 0L => new SparsePartition(Location, bufferSize, recordsPerPartition, partitionNumber, in bufferManager, concurrentReads, writeMode, initialSize, maxLogEntrySize),
-        0L => new Table(Location, bufferSize, recordsPerPartition, partitionNumber, in bufferManager, concurrentReads, writeMode, initialSize),
+        0L => new Table(Location, bufferSize, recordsPerPartition, partitionNumber, in bufferManager, concurrentReads, writeMode, initialSize, initializedFooter.Span),
 #pragma warning disable CS0618,CS0612
         < 0L => new LegacyPartition(Location, bufferSize, recordsPerPartition, partitionNumber, in bufferManager, concurrentReads, writeMode, initialSize),
 #pragma warning restore CS0618,CS0612
@@ -1031,6 +1034,7 @@ protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
             commitEvent.Dispose();
             syncRoot.Dispose();
             bufferingConsumer?.Clear();
+            initializedFooter.Dispose();
         }
 
         base.Dispose(disposing);