diff --git a/lib/primitives/merkleblock.js b/lib/primitives/merkleblock.js
index 0d7b094e..5ff6b7d9 100644
--- a/lib/primitives/merkleblock.js
+++ b/lib/primitives/merkleblock.js
@@ -522,7 +522,6 @@ MerkleBlock.fromBlock = function fromBlock(block, filter) {
 
 MerkleBlock.fromHashes = function fromHashes(block, hashes) {
   const filter = new Set();
-  const matches = [];
 
   for (let hash of hashes) {
     if (Buffer.isBuffer(hash))
@@ -530,6 +529,8 @@ MerkleBlock.fromHashes = function fromHashes(block, hashes) {
     filter.add(hash);
   }
 
+  const matches = [];
+
   for (const tx of block.txs) {
     const hash = tx.hash('hex');
     matches.push(filter.has(hash) ? 1 : 0);