diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner.go b/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner.go
index acb9878e43fc..8355587faa49 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner.go
@@ -211,6 +211,10 @@ type txnPipeliner struct {
 	// to have succeeded. They will need to be proven before the transaction
 	// can commit.
 	ifWrites inFlightWriteSet
+	// The in-flight writes chain index is used to uniquely identify calls to
+	// chainToInFlightWrites, so that each call can limit itself to adding a
+	// single QueryIntent request to the batch per overlapping in-flight write.
+	ifWritesChainIndex int64
 	// The transaction's lock footprint contains spans where locks (replicated
 	// and unreplicated) have been acquired at some point by the transaction.
 	// The span set contains spans encompassing the keys from all intent writes
@@ -504,19 +508,25 @@ func (tp *txnPipeliner) chainToInFlightWrites(ba *kvpb.BatchRequest) *kvpb.Batch
 		return ba
 	}
 
+	// We may need to add QueryIntent requests to the batch. These variables are
+	// used to implement a copy-on-write scheme.
 	forked := false
 	oldReqs := ba.Requests
-	// TODO(nvanbenschoten): go 1.11 includes an optimization to quickly clear
-	// out an entire map. That might make it cost effective to maintain a single
-	// chainedKeys map between calls to this function.
-	var chainedKeys map[string]struct{}
+
+	// We only want to add a single QueryIntent request to the BatchRequest per
+	// overlapping in-flight write. These counters allow us to accomplish this
+	// without a separate data structure.
+	tp.ifWritesChainIndex++
+	chainIndex := tp.ifWritesChainIndex
+	chainCount := 0
+
 	for i, ru := range oldReqs {
 		req := ru.GetInner()
 
 		// If we've chained onto all the in-flight writes (ifWrites.len() ==
-		// len(chainedKeys)), we don't need to pile on more QueryIntents. So, only
+		// chainCount), we don't need to pile on more QueryIntents. So, only
 		// do this work if that's not the case.
-		if tp.ifWrites.len() > len(chainedKeys) {
+		if tp.ifWrites.len() > chainCount {
 			// For each conflicting in-flight write, add a QueryIntent request
 			// to the batch to assert that it has succeeded and "chain" onto it.
 			writeIter := func(w *inFlightWrite) {
@@ -528,7 +538,7 @@ func (tp *txnPipeliner) chainToInFlightWrites(ba *kvpb.BatchRequest) *kvpb.Batch
 					forked = true
 				}
 
-				if _, ok := chainedKeys[string(w.Key)]; !ok {
+				if w.chainIndex != chainIndex {
 					// The write has not already been chained onto by an earlier
 					// request in this batch. Add a QueryIntent request to the
 					// batch (before the conflicting request) to ensure that we
@@ -544,11 +554,12 @@ func (tp *txnPipeliner) chainToInFlightWrites(ba *kvpb.BatchRequest) *kvpb.Batch
 					})
 
 					// Record that the key has been chained onto at least once
-					// in this batch so that we don't chain onto it again.
-					if chainedKeys == nil {
-						chainedKeys = make(map[string]struct{})
-					}
-					chainedKeys[string(w.Key)] = struct{}{}
+					// in this batch so that we don't chain onto it again. If
+					// we fail to prove the write exists for any reason, future
+					// requests will use a different chainIndex and will try to
+					// prove the write again.
+					w.chainIndex = chainIndex
+					chainCount++
 				}
 			}
 
@@ -892,6 +903,10 @@ func (tp *txnPipeliner) hasAcquiredLocks() bool {
 // number.
 type inFlightWrite struct {
 	roachpb.SequencedWrite
+	// chainIndex is used to avoid chaining on to the same in-flight write
+	// multiple times in the same batch. Each index uniquely identifies a
+	// call to txnPipeliner.chainToInFlightWrites.
+	chainIndex int64
 }
 
 // Less implements the btree.Item interface.
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner_test.go b/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner_test.go
index 5a84659960cd..3d54d7559e63 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord/txn_interceptor_pipeliner_test.go
@@ -1571,7 +1571,7 @@ func TestTxnPipelinerSavepoints(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 	require.Equal(t,
 		[]inFlightWrite{
-			{roachpb.SequencedWrite{Key: roachpb.Key("b"), Sequence: 11}},
+			{SequencedWrite: roachpb.SequencedWrite{Key: roachpb.Key("b"), Sequence: 11}},
 		},
 		ifWrites)