diff --git a/iterator.go b/iterator.go
index aa32f14..9f4f2ba 100644
--- a/iterator.go
+++ b/iterator.go
@@ -151,8 +151,6 @@ func (i *Iterator[T]) SeekPrefixWatch(prefixKey []byte) (watch <-chan struct{})
 	i.stack = []Node[T]{node}
 	i.node = node
 
-	parent := node
-
 	for {
 		// Check if the node matches the prefix
 
@@ -196,8 +194,7 @@ func (i *Iterator[T]) SeekPrefixWatch(prefixKey []byte) (watch <-chan struct{})
 		i.node = node
 
 		// Move to the next level in the tree
-		parent = node
-		watch = parent.getMutateCh()
+		watch = node.getMutateCh()
 		node = child
 		depth++
 	}
diff --git a/tree_test.go b/tree_test.go
index 9453718..821cafa 100644
--- a/tree_test.go
+++ b/tree_test.go
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ func TestARTree_InsertAndSearchWords(t *testing.T) {
 	// optionally, resize scanner's capacity for lines over 64K, see next example
 	lineNumber := 1
 	for scanner.Scan() {
-		art, _, _ = art.Insert(scanner.Bytes(), lineNumber)
+		line := scanner.Text()
+		art, _, _ = art.Insert([]byte(line), lineNumber)
 		lineNumber += 1
 		lines = append(lines, scanner.Text())
 	}
diff --git a/txn.go b/txn.go
index d532514..5c28c53 100644
--- a/txn.go
+++ b/txn.go
@@ -117,11 +117,14 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveInsert(node Node[T], key []byte, value T, depth int, o
 
 	node.processLazyRef()
 
+	oldRef := node
+
 	if node.isLeaf() {
 		// This means node is nil
 		if node.getKeyLen() == 0 {
 			nl := t.makeLeaf(key, value)
 			nl.processLazyRef()
+			node.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
 			t.trackChannel(node)
 			return nl, zero
 		}
@@ -146,7 +149,14 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveInsert(node Node[T], key []byte, value T, depth int, o
 		doClone := node.getRefCount() > 1
 
 		if doClone {
+			oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
 			node = t.writeNode(node)
+		} else {
+			defer func() {
+				oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
+				oldRef.processLazyRef()
+			}()
+			node.incrementLazyRefCount(1)
 		}
 
 		// Determine longest prefix
@@ -169,13 +179,19 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveInsert(node Node[T], key []byte, value T, depth int, o
 		return newNode, zero
 	}
 
-	oldRef := node
 	oldRef.processLazyRef()
 	// Check if given node has a prefix
 	if node.getPartialLen() > 0 {
 		doClone := node.getRefCount() > 1
 		if doClone {
+			oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
 			node = t.writeNode(node)
+		} else {
+			defer func() {
+				oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
+				oldRef.processLazyRef()
+			}()
+			node.incrementLazyRefCount(1)
 		}
 		// Determine if the prefixes differ, since we need to split
 		prefixDiff := prefixMismatch[T](node, key, len(key), depth)
@@ -243,7 +259,14 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveInsert(node Node[T], key []byte, value T, depth int, o
 
 	doClone := node.getRefCount() > 1
 	if doClone {
+		oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
 		node = t.writeNode(node)
+	} else {
+		defer func() {
+			oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
+			oldRef.processLazyRef()
+		}()
+		node.incrementLazyRefCount(1)
 	}
 
 	if depth < len(key) {
@@ -306,8 +329,6 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveDelete(node Node[T], key []byte, depth int) (Node[T],
 		return nil, nil
 	}
 
-	doClone := node.getRefCount() > 1
-
 	node.processLazyRef()
 
 	// Handle hitting a leaf node
@@ -319,7 +340,7 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveDelete(node Node[T], key []byte, depth int) (Node[T],
 		return node, nil
 	}
 
-	node.incrementLazyRefCount(1)
+	oldRef := node
 
 	// Bail if the prefix does not match
 	if node.getPartialLen() > 0 {
@@ -333,19 +354,23 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveDelete(node Node[T], key []byte, depth int) (Node[T],
 	// Find child node
 	child, idx := t.findChild(node, key[depth])
 	if child == nil {
-		node.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
 		return nil, nil
 	}
 
-	oldRef := node
-
 	// Recurse
 	newChild, val := t.recursiveDelete(child, key, depth+1)
 
 	if newChild != child {
+		doClone := node.getRefCount() > 1
+
 		if doClone {
+			oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
 			node = t.writeNode(node)
 		} else {
+			defer func() {
+				oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
+			}()
+			node.incrementLazyRefCount(1)
 			t.trackChannel(oldRef)
 		}
 		node.setChild(idx, newChild)
@@ -353,20 +378,10 @@ func (t *Txn[T]) recursiveDelete(node Node[T], key []byte, depth int) (Node[T],
 
 	if newChild == nil {
 		t.trackChannel(child)
-
-		if doClone {
-			node = t.writeNode(node)
-		} else {
-			t.trackChannel(oldRef)
-		}
-		if doClone {
-			oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
-		}
 		node = t.removeChild(node, key[depth])
 	}
 
 	oldRef.processLazyRef()
-	oldRef.incrementLazyRefCount(-1)
 	return node, val
 }