diff --git a/changes/bug24914 b/changes/bug24914
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea441fd38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug24914
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+  o Minor features (performance):
+    - Avoid a needless call to malloc() when processing an incoming
+      relay cell.  Closes ticket 24914.
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4c751d1eb..1f43650b0 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -855,6 +855,10 @@ AC_CHECK_MEMBERS([SSL.state], , ,
 [#include <openssl/ssl.h>
 ])
 
+AC_CHECK_SIZEOF(SHA_CTX, , [AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT()
+#include <openssl/sha.h>
+])
+
 dnl Define the set of checks for KIST scheduler support.
 AC_DEFUN([CHECK_KIST_SUPPORT],[
   dnl KIST needs struct tcp_info and for certain members to exist.
diff --git a/src/common/crypto.c b/src/common/crypto.c
index d85aca400..69faa0f63 100644
--- a/src/common/crypto.c
+++ b/src/common/crypto.c
@@ -970,6 +970,7 @@ crypto_digest_alloc_bytes(digest_algorithm_t alg)
   /* Gives the length of crypto_digest_t through the end of the field 'd' */
 #define END_OF_FIELD(f) (offsetof(crypto_digest_t, f) + \
                          STRUCT_FIELD_SIZE(crypto_digest_t, f))
+
   switch (alg) {
     case DIGEST_SHA1:
       return END_OF_FIELD(d.sha1);
@@ -1155,6 +1156,33 @@ crypto_digest_dup(const crypto_digest_t *digest)
   return tor_memdup(digest, alloc_bytes);
 }
 
+/** Temporarily save the state of <b>digest</b> in <b>checkpoint</b>.
+ * Asserts that <b>digest</b> is a SHA1 digest object.
+ */
+void
+crypto_digest_checkpoint(crypto_digest_checkpoint_t *checkpoint,
+                         const crypto_digest_t *digest)
+{
+  tor_assert(digest->algorithm == DIGEST_SHA1);
+  /* The optimizer should turn this into a constant... */
+  const size_t bytes = crypto_digest_alloc_bytes(DIGEST_SHA1);
+  /* ... and remove this assertion entirely. */
+  tor_assert(bytes <= sizeof(checkpoint->mem));
+  memcpy(checkpoint->mem, digest, bytes);
+}
+
+/** Restore the state of  <b>digest</b> from <b>checkpoint</b>.
+ * Asserts that <b>digest</b> is a SHA1 digest object. Requires that the
+ * state was previously stored with crypto_digest_checkpoint() */
+void
+crypto_digest_restore(crypto_digest_t *digest,
+                      const crypto_digest_checkpoint_t *checkpoint)
+{
+  tor_assert(digest->algorithm == DIGEST_SHA1);
+  const size_t bytes = crypto_digest_alloc_bytes(DIGEST_SHA1);
+  memcpy(digest, checkpoint->mem, bytes);
+}
+
 /** Replace the state of the digest object <b>into</b> with the state
  * of the digest object <b>from</b>.  Requires that 'into' and 'from'
  * have the same digest type.
diff --git a/src/common/crypto.h b/src/common/crypto.h
index a9c8837b9..f8a392dff 100644
--- a/src/common/crypto.h
+++ b/src/common/crypto.h
@@ -90,6 +90,13 @@ typedef struct crypto_digest_t crypto_digest_t;
 typedef struct crypto_xof_t crypto_xof_t;
 typedef struct crypto_dh_t crypto_dh_t;
 
+#define DIGEST_CHECKPOINT_BYTES (SIZEOF_VOID_P + SIZEOF_SHA_CTX)
+/** Structure used to temporarily save the a digest object. Only implemented
+ * for SHA1 digest for now. */
+typedef struct crypto_digest_checkpoint_t {
+  uint8_t mem[DIGEST_CHECKPOINT_BYTES];
+} crypto_digest_checkpoint_t;
+
 /* global state */
 int crypto_early_init(void) ATTR_WUR;
 int crypto_global_init(int hardwareAccel,
@@ -178,6 +185,10 @@ void crypto_digest_add_bytes(crypto_digest_t *digest, const char *data,
 void crypto_digest_get_digest(crypto_digest_t *digest,
                               char *out, size_t out_len);
 crypto_digest_t *crypto_digest_dup(const crypto_digest_t *digest);
+void crypto_digest_checkpoint(crypto_digest_checkpoint_t *checkpoint,
+                              const crypto_digest_t *digest);
+void crypto_digest_restore(crypto_digest_t *digest,
+                           const crypto_digest_checkpoint_t *checkpoint);
 void crypto_digest_assign(crypto_digest_t *into,
                           const crypto_digest_t *from);
 void crypto_hmac_sha256(char *hmac_out,
diff --git a/src/or/relay.c b/src/or/relay.c
index a59b82ac6..7c21839a8 100644
--- a/src/or/relay.c
+++ b/src/or/relay.c
@@ -151,9 +151,9 @@ relay_digest_matches(crypto_digest_t *digest, cell_t *cell)
 {
   uint32_t received_integrity, calculated_integrity;
   relay_header_t rh;
-  crypto_digest_t *backup_digest=NULL;
+  crypto_digest_checkpoint_t backup_digest;
 
-  backup_digest = crypto_digest_dup(digest);
+  crypto_digest_checkpoint(&backup_digest, digest);
 
   relay_header_unpack(&rh, cell->payload);
   memcpy(&received_integrity, rh.integrity, 4);
@@ -167,19 +167,21 @@ relay_digest_matches(crypto_digest_t *digest, cell_t *cell)
   crypto_digest_add_bytes(digest, (char*) cell->payload, CELL_PAYLOAD_SIZE);
   crypto_digest_get_digest(digest, (char*) &calculated_integrity, 4);
 
+  int rv = 1;
+
   if (calculated_integrity != received_integrity) {
 //    log_fn(LOG_INFO,"Recognized=0 but bad digest. Not recognizing.");
 // (%d vs %d).", received_integrity, calculated_integrity);
     /* restore digest to its old form */
-    crypto_digest_assign(digest, backup_digest);
+    crypto_digest_restore(digest, &backup_digest);
     /* restore the relay header */
     memcpy(rh.integrity, &received_integrity, 4);
     relay_header_pack(cell->payload, &rh);
-    crypto_digest_free(backup_digest);
-    return 0;
+    rv = 0;
   }
-  crypto_digest_free(backup_digest);
-  return 1;
+
+  memwipe(&backup_digest, 0, sizeof(backup_digest));
+  return rv;
 }
 
 /** Apply <b>cipher</b> to CELL_PAYLOAD_SIZE bytes of <b>in</b>