diff --git a/src/db.c b/src/db.c
index ddfb04ebb..31c8f69bd 100644
--- a/src/db.c
+++ b/src/db.c
@@ -774,17 +774,16 @@ void keysCommand(client *c) {
 
     di = dictGetSafeIterator(c->db->dict);
     allkeys = (pattern[0] == '*' && plen == 1);
+    robj keyobj;
     while((de = dictNext(di)) != NULL) {
         sds key = dictGetKey(de);
-        robj *keyobj;
 
         if (allkeys || stringmatchlen(pattern,plen,key,sdslen(key),0)) {
-            keyobj = createStringObject(key,sdslen(key));
-            if (!keyIsExpired(c->db,keyobj)) {
-                addReplyBulk(c,keyobj);
+            initStaticStringObject(keyobj, key);
+            if (!keyIsExpired(c->db, &keyobj)) {
+                addReplyBulkCBuffer(c, key, sdslen(key));
                 numkeys++;
             }
-            decrRefCount(keyobj);
         }
         if (c->flags & CLIENT_CLOSE_ASAP)
             break;