diff --git a/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint.rs b/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint.rs
index 26490b0b6..708d40e9b 100644
--- a/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint.rs
+++ b/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint.rs
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ fn init_contract(cid: ContractId, _ix: &[u8]) -> ContractResult {
     };
 
     // Set up the entries in the header table
-    match db_get(dao_info_db, &serialize(&DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE))? {
+    match db_get(dao_info_db, DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE)? {
         Some(bytes) => {
             // We found some bytes, try to deserialize into a tree.
             // For now, if this doesn't work, we bail.
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ fn init_contract(cid: ContractId, _ix: &[u8]) -> ContractResult {
             tree_data.write_u32(0)?;
             tree.encode(&mut tree_data)?;
 
-            db_set(dao_info_db, &serialize(&DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE), &tree_data)?;
+            db_set(dao_info_db, DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE, &tree_data)?;
         }
     }
 
@@ -130,11 +130,7 @@ fn init_contract(cid: ContractId, _ix: &[u8]) -> ContractResult {
     };
 
     // Update db version
-    db_set(
-        dao_info_db,
-        &serialize(&DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DB_VERSION),
-        &serialize(&env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION")),
-    )?;
+    db_set(dao_info_db, DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DB_VERSION, &serialize(&env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION")))?;
 
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/mint.rs b/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/mint.rs
index 24f37aef7..b29836280 100644
--- a/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/mint.rs
+++ b/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/mint.rs
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ pub(crate) fn dao_mint_process_update(cid: ContractId, update: DaoMintUpdate) ->
     merkle_add(
         info_db,
         roots_db,
-        &serialize(&DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_LATEST_DAO_ROOT),
-        &serialize(&DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE),
+        DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_LATEST_DAO_ROOT,
+        DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE,
         &dao,
     )?;
 
diff --git a/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/propose.rs b/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/propose.rs
index abda52afb..482946d44 100644
--- a/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/propose.rs
+++ b/src/contract/dao/src/entrypoint/propose.rs
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ pub(crate) fn dao_propose_process_instruction(
 
     // Snapshot the latest Money Mekrle tree
     let money_info_db = db_lookup(*MONEY_CONTRACT_ID, MONEY_CONTRACT_INFO_TREE)?;
-    let Some(data) = db_get(money_info_db, &serialize(&MONEY_CONTRACT_LATEST_COIN_ROOT))? else {
+    let Some(data) = db_get(money_info_db, MONEY_CONTRACT_LATEST_COIN_ROOT)? else {
         msg!("[Dao::Propose] Error: Failed to fetch latest Money Merkle root");
         return Err(ContractError::Internal)
     };
diff --git a/src/contract/dao/src/lib.rs b/src/contract/dao/src/lib.rs
index ac8d069e4..bace1a504 100644
--- a/src/contract/dao/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/contract/dao/src/lib.rs
@@ -66,9 +66,9 @@ pub const DAO_CONTRACT_DB_PROPOSAL_BULLAS: &str = "dao_proposals";
 pub const DAO_CONTRACT_DB_VOTE_NULLIFIERS: &str = "dao_vote_nullifiers";
 
 // These are keys inside the info tree
-pub const DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DB_VERSION: &str = "db_version";
-pub const DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE: &str = "dao_merkle_tree";
-pub const DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_LATEST_DAO_ROOT: &str = "dao_last_root";
+pub const DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DB_VERSION: &[u8] = b"db_version";
+pub const DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_DAO_MERKLE_TREE: &[u8] = b"dao_merkle_tree";
+pub const DAO_CONTRACT_KEY_LATEST_DAO_ROOT: &[u8] = b"dao_last_root";
 
 /// zkas dao mint circuit namespace
 pub const DAO_CONTRACT_ZKAS_DAO_MINT_NS: &str = "DaoMint";