diff --git a/plugin/kubernetes/autopath.go b/plugin/kubernetes/autopath.go
index f20f03c7c..af6502c7f 100644
--- a/plugin/kubernetes/autopath.go
+++ b/plugin/kubernetes/autopath.go
@@ -33,16 +33,21 @@ func (k *Kubernetes) AutoPath(state request.Request) []string {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	totalSize := 3 + len(k.autoPathSearch) + 1 // +1 for sentinel
-	search := make([]string, 0, totalSize)
+	totalSize := 4 + len(k.autoPathSearch)
+	search := make([]string, totalSize)
 	if zone == "." {
-		search = append(search, pod.Namespace+".svc.", "svc.", ".")
+		search[0] = pod.Namespace + ".svc."
+		search[1] = "svc."
+		search[2] = "."
 	} else {
-		search = append(search, pod.Namespace+".svc."+zone, "svc."+zone, zone)
+		svcZone := "svc." + zone
+		search[0] = pod.Namespace + "." + svcZone
+		search[1] = svcZone
+		search[2] = zone
 	}
 
-	search = append(search, k.autoPathSearch...)
-	search = append(search, "") // sentinel
+	copy(search[3:], k.autoPathSearch)
+	search[totalSize-1] = "" // sentinel
 	return search
 }