diff --git a/src/renderer/link.zig b/src/renderer/link.zig
index c5de61574..11ecc87ae 100644
--- a/src/renderer/link.zig
+++ b/src/renderer/link.zig
@@ -21,6 +21,20 @@ pub const Link = struct {
     pub fn deinit(self: *Link) void {
         self.regex.deinit();
     }
+
+    /// Returns true if this link's highlight condition matches the given mouse state.
+    fn active(
+        self: *const Link,
+        mouse_viewport: ?point.Coordinate,
+        mouse_mods: inputpkg.Mods,
+    ) bool {
+        return switch (self.highlight) {
+            .always => true,
+            .always_mods => |v| mouse_mods.equal(v),
+            .hover => mouse_viewport != null,
+            .hover_mods => |v| mouse_viewport != null and mouse_mods.equal(v),
+        };
+    }
 };
 
 /// A set of links. This provides a higher level API for renderers
@@ -66,6 +80,14 @@ pub const Set = struct {
         // Fast path, not very likely since we have default links.
         if (self.links.len == 0) return;
 
+        // Determine if any links are active before building the string and
+        // byte-to-cell map. Those buffers scale with viewport size and this
+        // function runs during frame updates, so avoid allocating them when
+        // the current mouse/modifier state can't highlight any regex links.
+        for (self.links) |*link| {
+            if (link.active(mouse_viewport, mouse_mods)) break;
+        } else return;
+
         // Convert our render state to a string + byte map.
         var builder: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(alloc);
         defer builder.deinit();
@@ -80,20 +102,7 @@ pub const Set = struct {
 
         // Go through each link and see if we have any matches.
         for (self.links) |*link| {
-            // Determine if our highlight conditions are met. We use a
-            // switch here instead of an if so that we can get a compile
-            // error if any other conditions are added.
-            switch (link.highlight) {
-                .always => {},
-                .always_mods => |v| if (!mouse_mods.equal(v)) continue,
-
-                // We check the hover points later.
-                .hover => if (mouse_viewport == null) continue,
-                .hover_mods => |v| {
-                    if (mouse_viewport == null) continue;
-                    if (!mouse_mods.equal(v)) continue;
-                },
-            }
+            if (!link.active(mouse_viewport, mouse_mods)) continue;
 
             var offset: usize = 0;
             while (offset < str.len) {
@@ -266,6 +275,65 @@ test "renderCellMap hover links" {
     }
 }
 
+test "renderCellMap inactive links don't allocate" {
+    const testing = std.testing;
+    const alloc = testing.allocator;
+
+    var t: terminal.Terminal = try .init(alloc, .{
+        .cols = 5,
+        .rows = 3,
+    });
+    defer t.deinit(alloc);
+
+    var s = t.vtStream();
+    defer s.deinit();
+    const str = "1ABCD2EFGH\r\n3IJKL";
+    s.nextSlice(str);
+
+    var state: terminal.RenderState = .empty;
+    defer state.deinit(alloc);
+    try state.update(alloc, &t);
+
+    var set = try Set.fromConfig(alloc, &.{
+        .{
+            .regex = "AB",
+            .action = .{ .open = {} },
+            .highlight = .{ .hover = {} },
+        },
+
+        .{
+            .regex = "EF",
+            .action = .{ .open = {} },
+            .highlight = .{ .always_mods = .{ .ctrl = true } },
+        },
+
+        .{
+            .regex = "IJ",
+            .action = .{ .open = {} },
+            .highlight = .{ .hover_mods = .{ .shift = true } },
+        },
+    });
+    defer set.deinit(alloc);
+
+    var failing = std.testing.FailingAllocator.init(
+        alloc,
+        .{ .fail_index = 0 },
+    );
+    const failing_alloc = failing.allocator();
+
+    var result: terminal.RenderState.CellSet = .empty;
+    defer result.deinit(failing_alloc);
+    try set.renderCellMap(
+        failing_alloc,
+        &result,
+        &state,
+        null,
+        .{},
+    );
+
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 0), result.count());
+}
+
 test "renderCellMap mods no match" {
     const testing = std.testing;
     const alloc = testing.allocator;