diff --git a/src/hb-bit-set.hh b/src/hb-bit-set.hh
index 00eda5aec..475b07b81 100644
--- a/src/hb-bit-set.hh
+++ b/src/hb-bit-set.hh
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ struct hb_bit_set_t
   bool resize (unsigned int count, bool clear = true, bool exact_size = false)
   {
     if (unlikely (!successful)) return false;
+
+    if (pages.length == 0 && count == 1)
+      exact_size = true; // Most sets are small and local
+
     if (unlikely (!pages.resize (count, clear, exact_size) || !page_map.resize (count, clear, exact_size)))
     {
       pages.resize (page_map.length, clear, exact_size);