diff --git a/pkg/crypto/protocol/proof_path.go b/pkg/crypto/protocol/proof_path.go
index 61f7e23ce..1a48b40ee 100644
--- a/pkg/crypto/protocol/proof_path.go
+++ b/pkg/crypto/protocol/proof_path.go
@@ -6,20 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pokt-network/smt"
 )
 
-// SMT specification used for the proof verification.
-var (
-	newHasher = sha256.New
-	SmtSpec   smt.TrieSpec
-)
-
-func init() {
-	// Use a spec that does not prehash values in the smst. This returns a nil value
-	// hasher for the proof verification in order to avoid hashing the value twice.
-	SmtSpec = smt.NewTrieSpec(
-		newHasher(), true,
-		smt.WithValueHasher(nil),
-	)
-}
+// newHasher is the hash function used by the SMT specification.
+var newHasher = sha256.New
 
 // GetPathForProof computes the path to be used for proof validation by hashing
 // the block hash and session id.
@@ -31,3 +19,15 @@ func GetPathForProof(blockHash []byte, sessionId string) []byte {
 
 	return hasher.Sum(nil)
 }
+
+// NewSMTSpec returns the SMT specification used for the proof verification.
+// It uses a new hasher at every call to avoid concurrency issues that could be
+// caused by a shared hasher.
+func NewSMTSpec() *smt.TrieSpec {
+	trieSpec := smt.NewTrieSpec(
+		newHasher(), true,
+		smt.WithValueHasher(nil),
+	)
+
+	return &trieSpec
+}
diff --git a/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation.go b/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation.go
index e4d53be2e..bf55d2e3c 100644
--- a/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation.go
+++ b/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation.go
@@ -106,14 +106,14 @@ func (k Keeper) EnsureWellFormedProof(ctx context.Context, proof *types.Proof) e
 	}
 
 	// SparseCompactMerkeClosestProof does not implement GetValueHash, so we need to decompact it.
-	sparseMerkleClosestProof, err := smt.DecompactClosestProof(sparseCompactMerkleClosestProof, &protocol.SmtSpec)
+	sparseMerkleClosestProof, err := smt.DecompactClosestProof(sparseCompactMerkleClosestProof, protocol.NewSMTSpec())
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Error(fmt.Sprintf("failed to decompact sparse merkle closest proof due to error: %v", err))
 		return types.ErrProofInvalidProof.Wrapf("failed to decompact sparse erkle closest proof: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	// Get the relay request and response from the proof.GetClosestMerkleProof.
-	relayBz := sparseMerkleClosestProof.GetValueHash(&protocol.SmtSpec)
+	relayBz := sparseMerkleClosestProof.GetValueHash(protocol.NewSMTSpec())
 	relay := &servicetypes.Relay{}
 	if err = k.cdc.Unmarshal(relayBz, relay); err != nil {
 		logger.Error(fmt.Sprintf("failed to unmarshal relay due to error: %v", err))
@@ -231,14 +231,14 @@ func (k Keeper) EnsureValidProofSignaturesAndClosestPath(
 
 	// SparseCompactMerkeClosestProof was intentionally compacted to reduce its onchain state size
 	// so it must be decompacted rather than just retrieving the value via GetValueHash (not implemented).
-	sparseMerkleClosestProof, err := smt.DecompactClosestProof(sparseCompactMerkleClosestProof, &protocol.SmtSpec)
+	sparseMerkleClosestProof, err := smt.DecompactClosestProof(sparseCompactMerkleClosestProof, protocol.NewSMTSpec())
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Error(fmt.Sprintf("failed to decompact sparse merkle closest proof due to error: %v", err))
 		return types.ErrProofInvalidProof.Wrapf("failed to decompact sparse merkle closest proof: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	// Get the relay request and response from the proof.GetClosestMerkleProof.
-	relayBz := sparseMerkleClosestProof.GetValueHash(&protocol.SmtSpec)
+	relayBz := sparseMerkleClosestProof.GetValueHash(protocol.NewSMTSpec())
 	relay := &servicetypes.Relay{}
 	if err = k.cdc.Unmarshal(relayBz, relay); err != nil {
 		logger.Error(fmt.Sprintf("failed to unmarshal relay due to error: %v", err))
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ func verifyClosestProof(
 	proof *smt.SparseMerkleClosestProof,
 	claimRootHash []byte,
 ) error {
-	valid, err := smt.VerifyClosestProof(proof, claimRootHash, &protocol.SmtSpec)
+	valid, err := smt.VerifyClosestProof(proof, claimRootHash, protocol.NewSMTSpec())
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation_test.go b/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation_test.go
index 349dcd59c..f2701db84 100644
--- a/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation_test.go
+++ b/x/proof/keeper/proof_validation_test.go
@@ -611,10 +611,10 @@ func TestEnsureValidProof_Error(t *testing.T) {
 				err = sparseCompactMerkleClosestProof.Unmarshal(proof.ClosestMerkleProof)
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 				var sparseMerkleClosestProof *smt.SparseMerkleClosestProof
-				sparseMerkleClosestProof, err = smt.DecompactClosestProof(sparseCompactMerkleClosestProof, &protocol.SmtSpec)
+				sparseMerkleClosestProof, err = smt.DecompactClosestProof(sparseCompactMerkleClosestProof, protocol.NewSMTSpec())
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 
-				relayBz := sparseMerkleClosestProof.GetValueHash(&protocol.SmtSpec)
+				relayBz := sparseMerkleClosestProof.GetValueHash(protocol.NewSMTSpec())
 				relayHashArr := protocol.GetRelayHashFromBytes(relayBz)
 				relayHash := relayHashArr[:]