diff --git a/cmd/server/coverage_test.go b/cmd/server/coverage_test.go
index 530c62e..40460a3 100644
--- a/cmd/server/coverage_test.go
+++ b/cmd/server/coverage_test.go
@@ -813,6 +813,56 @@ func TestPrefixMapResolve(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestPrefixMapCap(t *testing.T) {
+	// 16-char pubkey — longer than maxPrefixLen
+	nodes := []nodeInfo{
+		{PublicKey: "aabbccdd11223344", Name: "LongKey"},
+		{PublicKey: "eeff0011", Name: "ShortKey"}, // exactly 8 chars
+	}
+	pm := buildPrefixMap(nodes)
+
+	t.Run("short prefixes still work", func(t *testing.T) {
+		n := pm.resolve("aabb")
+		if n == nil || n.Name != "LongKey" {
+			t.Errorf("expected LongKey for short prefix, got %v", n)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("full pubkey exact match works", func(t *testing.T) {
+		n := pm.resolve("aabbccdd11223344")
+		if n == nil || n.Name != "LongKey" {
+			t.Errorf("expected LongKey for full key, got %v", n)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("intermediate prefix beyond cap returns nil", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// 10-char prefix — beyond maxPrefixLen but not full key
+		n := pm.resolve("aabbccdd11")
+		if n != nil {
+			t.Errorf("expected nil for intermediate prefix beyond cap, got %v", n.Name)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("short key within cap has all prefixes", func(t *testing.T) {
+		for l := 2; l <= 8; l++ {
+			pfx := "eeff0011"[:l]
+			n := pm.resolve(pfx)
+			if n == nil || n.Name != "ShortKey" {
+				t.Errorf("prefix %q: expected ShortKey, got %v", pfx, n)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("map size is capped", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// LongKey: 7 prefix entries (2..8) + 1 full key = 8
+		// ShortKey: 7 prefix entries (2..8), no full key entry (len == maxPrefixLen) = 7
+		// No overlapping prefixes between the two nodes → 8 + 7 = 15 unique map keys
+		if len(pm.m) != 15 {
+			t.Errorf("expected 15 map entries (8 for LongKey + 7 for ShortKey), got %d", len(pm.m))
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 // --- pathLen ---
 
 func TestPathLen(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/cmd/server/store.go b/cmd/server/store.go
index 08b95cc..c16e2fb 100644
--- a/cmd/server/store.go
+++ b/cmd/server/store.go
@@ -3543,14 +3543,27 @@ type prefixMap struct {
 	m map[string][]nodeInfo
 }
 
+// maxPrefixLen caps prefix map entries. MeshCore path hops use 2–6 char
+// prefixes; 8 gives comfortable headroom while cutting map size from ~31×N
+// entries to ~7×N (+ 1 full-key entry per node for exact-match lookups).
+const maxPrefixLen = 8
+
 func buildPrefixMap(nodes []nodeInfo) *prefixMap {
-	pm := &prefixMap{m: make(map[string][]nodeInfo, len(nodes)*10)}
+	pm := &prefixMap{m: make(map[string][]nodeInfo, len(nodes)*(maxPrefixLen+1))}
 	for _, n := range nodes {
 		pk := strings.ToLower(n.PublicKey)
-		for l := 2; l <= len(pk); l++ {
+		maxLen := maxPrefixLen
+		if maxLen > len(pk) {
+			maxLen = len(pk)
+		}
+		for l := 2; l <= maxLen; l++ {
 			pfx := pk[:l]
 			pm.m[pfx] = append(pm.m[pfx], n)
 		}
+		// Always add full pubkey so exact-match lookups work.
+		if len(pk) > maxPrefixLen {
+			pm.m[pk] = append(pm.m[pk], n)
+		}
 	}
 	return pm
 }