diff --git a/crates/stages/stages/src/stages/merkle.rs b/crates/stages/stages/src/stages/merkle.rs
index 00e1177ed0..63b5805d38 100644
--- a/crates/stages/stages/src/stages/merkle.rs
+++ b/crates/stages/stages/src/stages/merkle.rs
@@ -196,10 +196,11 @@ where
             .ok_or_else(|| ProviderError::HeaderNotFound(to_block.into()))?;
         let target_block_root = target_block.state_root();
 
-        let mut checkpoint = self.get_execution_checkpoint(provider)?;
         let (trie_root, entities_checkpoint) = if range.is_empty() {
             (target_block_root, input.checkpoint().entities_stage_checkpoint().unwrap_or_default())
         } else if to_block - from_block > threshold || from_block == 1 {
+            let mut checkpoint = self.get_execution_checkpoint(provider)?;
+
             // if there are more blocks than threshold it is faster to rebuild the trie
             let mut entities_checkpoint = if let Some(checkpoint) =
                 checkpoint.as_ref().filter(|c| c.target_block == to_block)