diff --git a/scribe/blockchain/service.py b/scribe/blockchain/service.py
index baa63ca..4cafeef 100644
--- a/scribe/blockchain/service.py
+++ b/scribe/blockchain/service.py
@@ -169,8 +169,9 @@ class BlockchainProcessorService(BlockchainService):
 
     async def refresh_mempool(self):
         def fetch_mempool(mempool_prefix):
+            lower, upper = mempool_prefix.MIN_TX_HASH, mempool_prefix.MAX_TX_HASH
             return {
-                k.tx_hash: v.raw_tx for (k, v) in mempool_prefix.iterate()
+                k.tx_hash: v.raw_tx for (k, v) in mempool_prefix.iterate(start=(lower,), stop=(upper,))
             }
 
         def update_mempool(unsafe_commit, mempool_prefix, to_put, to_delete):
diff --git a/scribe/db/prefixes.py b/scribe/db/prefixes.py
index 6543330..09ae90e 100644
--- a/scribe/db/prefixes.py
+++ b/scribe/db/prefixes.py
@@ -1513,6 +1513,9 @@ class MempoolTXPrefixRow(PrefixRow):
     prefix = DB_PREFIXES.mempool_tx.value
     key_struct = struct.Struct(b'>32s')
 
+    MAX_TX_HASH = b'\xff' * 32
+    MIN_TX_HASH = b'\x00' * 32
+
     key_part_lambdas = [
         lambda: b'',
         struct.Struct(b'>32s').pack
diff --git a/scribe/hub/mempool.py b/scribe/hub/mempool.py
index eb32224..0a0cc34 100644
--- a/scribe/hub/mempool.py
+++ b/scribe/hub/mempool.py
@@ -55,17 +55,20 @@ class MemPool:
 
     def refresh(self) -> typing.Set[bytes]:  # returns list of new touched hashXs
         prefix_db = self._db.prefix_db
+        mempool_tx_hashes = set()
         try:
-            new_mempool = {k.tx_hash: v.raw_tx for k, v in prefix_db.mempool_tx.iterate()}  # TODO: make this more efficient
+            lower, upper = prefix_db.mempool_tx.MIN_TX_HASH, prefix_db.mempool_tx.MAX_TX_HASH
+            for k, v in prefix_db.mempool_tx.iterate(start=(lower,), stop=(upper,)):
+                self.raw_mempool[k.tx_hash] = v.raw_tx
+                mempool_tx_hashes.add(k.tx_hash)
+            for removed_mempool_tx in set(self.raw_mempool.keys()).difference(mempool_tx_hashes):
+                self.raw_mempool.pop(removed_mempool_tx)
         except rocksdb.errors.RocksIOError as err:
             # FIXME: why does this happen? can it happen elsewhere?
             if err.args[0].startswith(b'IO error: No such file or directory: While open a file for random read:'):
                 self.logger.error("failed to process mempool, retrying later")
                 return set()
             raise err
-        else:
-            self.raw_mempool.clear()
-            self.raw_mempool.update(new_mempool)
 
         # hashXs = self.hashXs  # hashX: [tx_hash, ...]
         touched_hashXs = set()