diff --git a/core/chains/evm/headtracker/heap.go b/core/chains/evm/headtracker/heap.go
index f377f82cd71..572ed541dfa 100644
--- a/core/chains/evm/headtracker/heap.go
+++ b/core/chains/evm/headtracker/heap.go
@@ -19,8 +19,10 @@ func (h *headsHeap) Less(i, j int) bool {
 }
 
 func (h *headsHeap) Pop() any {
-	old := h.values[len(h.values)-1]
-	h.values = h.values[:len(h.values)-1]
+	n := len(h.values) - 1
+	old := h.values[n]
+	h.values[n] = nil
+	h.values = h.values[:n]
 	return old
 }
 
diff --git a/core/chains/evm/types/models.go b/core/chains/evm/types/models.go
index fb95026eb2c..1da8754cec4 100644
--- a/core/chains/evm/types/models.go
+++ b/core/chains/evm/types/models.go
@@ -136,9 +136,6 @@ func (h *Head) HeadAtHeight(blockNum int64) (commontypes.Head[common.Hash], erro
 
 // ChainLength returns the length of the chain followed by recursively looking up parents
 func (h *Head) ChainLength() uint32 {
-	if h == nil {
-		return 0
-	}
 	l := uint32(0)
 	for cur := h; cur != nil; cur = cur.Parent.Load() {
 		l++