diff --git a/scripts/docker-integration-tests/query_fanout/restrict.go b/scripts/docker-integration-tests/query_fanout/restrict.go
index 8f2bb7f8ee..906a89f38c 100644
--- a/scripts/docker-integration-tests/query_fanout/restrict.go
+++ b/scripts/docker-integration-tests/query_fanout/restrict.go
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ type values []value
 type value []interface{}
 
 func (r *result) genID() result {
-	tags := make(sort.StringSlice, len(r.Metric))
+	tags := make(sort.StringSlice, 0, len(r.Metric))
 	for k, v := range r.Metric {
 		tags = append(tags, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s,", k, v))
 	}
diff --git a/src/aggregator/client/writer_mgr_test.go b/src/aggregator/client/writer_mgr_test.go
index c5a46fd55f..07d2fb6b5e 100644
--- a/src/aggregator/client/writer_mgr_test.go
+++ b/src/aggregator/client/writer_mgr_test.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func TestWriterManagerRemoveInstancesSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 	nonexistent := placement.NewInstance().
 		SetID("nonexistent").
 		SetEndpoint("nonexistentAddress")
-	toRemove := append([]placement.Instance{nonexistent, testPlacementInstance})
+	toRemove := []placement.Instance{nonexistent, testPlacementInstance}
 	require.NoError(t, mgr.RemoveInstances(toRemove))
 	require.Equal(t, 0, len(mgr.writers))
 	require.True(t, clock.WaitUntil(func() bool {
diff --git a/src/cmd/services/m3comparator/main/parser/parser.go b/src/cmd/services/m3comparator/main/parser/parser.go
index 1c5902b30d..a40110e00d 100644
--- a/src/cmd/services/m3comparator/main/parser/parser.go
+++ b/src/cmd/services/m3comparator/main/parser/parser.go
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ func (v *Value) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 // IDOrGenID gets the ID for this result.
 func (r *Series) IDOrGenID() string {
 	if len(r.id) == 0 {
-		tags := make(sort.StringSlice, len(r.Tags))
+		tags := make(sort.StringSlice, 0, len(r.Tags))
 		for _, v := range r.Tags {
 			tags = append(tags, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s,", v[0], v[1]))
 		}
diff --git a/src/dbnode/integration/integration_data_verify.go b/src/dbnode/integration/integration_data_verify.go
index 89bbb64c6d..b9b1d70f3a 100644
--- a/src/dbnode/integration/integration_data_verify.go
+++ b/src/dbnode/integration/integration_data_verify.go
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ func writeVerifyDebugOutput(
 
 	list := make(readableSeriesList, 0, len(series))
 	for i := range series {
-		tags := make([]readableSeriesTag, len(series[i].Tags.Values()))
+		tags := make([]readableSeriesTag, 0, len(series[i].Tags.Values()))
 		for _, tag := range series[i].Tags.Values() {
 			tags = append(tags, readableSeriesTag{
 				Name:  tag.Name.String(),
diff --git a/src/query/api/v1/handler/prometheus/response.go b/src/query/api/v1/handler/prometheus/response.go
index 302f9a42f8..badffdd50e 100644
--- a/src/query/api/v1/handler/prometheus/response.go
+++ b/src/query/api/v1/handler/prometheus/response.go
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ type Values []Value
 type Value []interface{}
 
 func (t *Tags) genID() string {
-	tags := make(sort.StringSlice, len(*t))
+	tags := make(sort.StringSlice, 0, len(*t))
 	for k, v := range *t {
 		tags = append(tags, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s,", k, v))
 	}