diff --git a/src/merkle/smt/full/mod.rs b/src/merkle/smt/full/mod.rs
index 659ef1f..360ae02 100644
--- a/src/merkle/smt/full/mod.rs
+++ b/src/merkle/smt/full/mod.rs
@@ -46,7 +46,12 @@ pub const SMT_DEPTH: u8 = 64;
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(serde::Deserialize, serde::Serialize))]
 pub struct Smt {
     root: RpoDigest,
+
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "async"))]
     leaves: BTreeMap<u64, SmtLeaf>,
+    #[cfg(feature = "async")]
+    leaves: Arc<BTreeMap<u64, SmtLeaf>>,
+
     #[cfg(not(feature = "async"))]
     inner_nodes: BTreeMap<NodeIndex, InnerNode>,
     #[cfg(feature = "async")]
@@ -70,7 +75,7 @@ impl Smt {
 
         Self {
             root,
-            leaves: BTreeMap::new(),
+            leaves: Default::default(),
             inner_nodes: Default::default(),
         }
     }
@@ -107,6 +112,11 @@ impl Smt {
         Ok(tree)
     }
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "async")]
+    pub fn get_leaves(&self) -> Arc<BTreeMap<u64, SmtLeaf>> {
+        Arc::clone(&self.leaves)
+    }
+
     // PUBLIC ACCESSORS
     // --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -177,6 +187,23 @@ impl Smt {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Gets a mutable reference to this structure's inner leaf mapping.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    /// This will panic if we have violated our own invariants and try to mutate these nodes while
+    /// Self::compute_mutations_parallel() is still running.
+    fn leaves_mut(&mut self) -> &mut BTreeMap<u64, SmtLeaf> {
+        #[cfg(feature = "async")]
+        {
+            Arc::get_mut(&mut self.leaves).unwrap()
+        }
+
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "async"))]
+        {
+            &mut self.leaves
+        }
+    }
+
     // STATE MUTATORS
     // --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -241,10 +268,12 @@ impl Smt {
 
         let leaf_index: LeafIndex<SMT_DEPTH> = Self::key_to_leaf_index(&key);
 
-        match self.leaves.get_mut(&leaf_index.value()) {
+        let leaves = self.leaves_mut();
+
+        match leaves.get_mut(&leaf_index.value()) {
             Some(leaf) => leaf.insert(key, value),
             None => {
-                self.leaves.insert(leaf_index.value(), SmtLeaf::Single((key, value)));
+                leaves.insert(leaf_index.value(), SmtLeaf::Single((key, value)));
 
                 None
             },
@@ -255,10 +284,12 @@ impl Smt {
     fn perform_remove(&mut self, key: RpoDigest) -> Option<Word> {
         let leaf_index: LeafIndex<SMT_DEPTH> = Self::key_to_leaf_index(&key);
 
-        if let Some(leaf) = self.leaves.get_mut(&leaf_index.value()) {
+        let leaves = self.leaves_mut();
+
+        if let Some(leaf) = leaves.get_mut(&leaf_index.value()) {
             let (old_value, is_empty) = leaf.remove(key);
             if is_empty {
-                self.leaves.remove(&leaf_index.value());
+                leaves.remove(&leaf_index.value());
             }
             old_value
         } else {