diff --git a/include/tmc/detail/ex_cpu_st.ipp b/include/tmc/detail/ex_cpu_st.ipp
index 06c982e7..56d5a408 100644
--- a/include/tmc/detail/ex_cpu_st.ipp
+++ b/include/tmc/detail/ex_cpu_st.ipp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include "tmc/current.hpp"
 #include "tmc/detail/compat.hpp"
 #include "tmc/detail/hwloc_unique_bitmap.hpp"
 #include "tmc/detail/impl.hpp" // IWYU pragma: keep
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@ void ex_cpu_st::post(work_item&& Item, size_t Priority, size_t ThreadHint) {
   clamp_priority(Priority);
   bool fromExecThread =
     tmc::detail::this_thread::executor() == &type_erased_this;
-  // A non-zero ThreadHint indicates that reschedule() was called. In that case
+  // A zero ThreadHint indicates that reschedule() was called. In that case
   // we should use the external queue to force FIFO ordering.
   if (fromExecThread && ThreadHint != 0) [[likely]] {
     private_work[Priority].push_back(static_cast<work_item&&>(Item));
diff --git a/include/tmc/detail/tiny_stack.hpp b/include/tmc/detail/tiny_stack.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a35d08b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/tmc/detail/tiny_stack.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2023-2026 Logan McDougall
+//
+// Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
+// file LICENSE or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "tmc/detail/compat.hpp"
+#include "tmc/work_item.hpp"
+
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <new>
+#include <type_traits>
+
+// A lightweight owner-only LIFO stack used for per-thread private queues.
+// Only the owning worker thread reads/writes it - no synchronization needed.
+// Assumes work_item is trivially copyable and trivially destructible, so no
+// placement new or destructor calls are needed; growth is a single allocate +
+// memcpy.
+
+// Currently not a template since it's only used for tmc::work_item.
+
+namespace tmc {
+namespace detail {
+class tiny_stack {
+  work_item* data;
+  size_t sz;
+  size_t cap;
+
+  static_assert(std::is_trivially_copyable_v<work_item>);
+  static_assert(std::is_trivially_destructible_v<work_item>);
+
+public:
+  tiny_stack() noexcept : data(new_data(64)), sz(0), cap(64) {}
+
+  ~tiny_stack() { delete_data(data); }
+
+  tiny_stack(const tiny_stack&) = delete;
+  tiny_stack& operator=(const tiny_stack&) = delete;
+  tiny_stack(tiny_stack&&) = delete;
+  tiny_stack& operator=(tiny_stack&&) = delete;
+
+  TMC_FORCE_INLINE bool empty() const noexcept { return sz == 0; }
+  TMC_FORCE_INLINE work_item& back() noexcept { return data[sz - 1]; }
+  TMC_FORCE_INLINE void pop_back() noexcept { --sz; }
+
+  TMC_FORCE_INLINE void push_back(work_item Item) {
+    if (sz == cap) [[unlikely]] {
+      grow(sz + 1);
+    }
+    data[sz++] = Item;
+  }
+
+  // Bulk append. For raw `work_item*` input, collapses to a single memcpy.
+  // For other iterator types, iterates and copies.
+  template <typename It>
+  TMC_FORCE_INLINE void push_back_bulk(It&& Items, size_t Count) {
+    if (sz + Count > cap) [[unlikely]] {
+      grow(sz + Count);
+    }
+    using ItNoRef = std::decay_t<It>;
+    if constexpr (std::is_pointer_v<ItNoRef> &&
+                  std::is_same_v<
+                    std::remove_cv_t<std::remove_pointer_t<ItNoRef>>,
+                    work_item>) {
+      std::memcpy(data + sz, Items, Count * sizeof(work_item));
+    } else {
+      auto items = Items;
+      for (size_t i = 0; i < Count; ++i) {
+        data[sz + i] = *items;
+        ++items;
+      }
+    }
+    sz += Count;
+  }
+
+private:
+  // Out-of-line slow path. Doubles capacity until Needed fits.
+  void grow(size_t Needed) {
+    size_t newCap = cap * 2;
+    while (newCap < Needed) {
+      newCap *= 2;
+    }
+    auto* newData = new_data(newCap);
+    if (sz != 0) {
+      std::memcpy(newData, data, sz * sizeof(work_item));
+    }
+    delete_data(data);
+    data = newData;
+    cap = newCap;
+  }
+
+  TMC_FORCE_INLINE work_item* new_data(size_t Capacity) {
+    if constexpr (alignof(work_item) > __STDCPP_DEFAULT_NEW_ALIGNMENT__) {
+      return static_cast<work_item*>(::operator new(
+        sizeof(work_item) * Capacity, std::align_val_t(alignof(work_item))
+      ));
+    } else {
+      return static_cast<work_item*>(
+        ::operator new(sizeof(work_item) * Capacity)
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  TMC_FORCE_INLINE void delete_data(work_item* Data) {
+    if constexpr (alignof(work_item) > __STDCPP_DEFAULT_NEW_ALIGNMENT__) {
+      ::operator delete(Data, std::align_val_t(alignof(work_item)));
+    } else {
+      ::operator delete(Data);
+    }
+  }
+};
+
+} // namespace detail
+} // namespace tmc
diff --git a/include/tmc/ex_cpu_st.hpp b/include/tmc/ex_cpu_st.hpp
index ecac52bf..b471b2a8 100644
--- a/include/tmc/ex_cpu_st.hpp
+++ b/include/tmc/ex_cpu_st.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 // file LICENSE or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
 
 #pragma once
+
 #include "tmc/detail/impl.hpp" // IWYU pragma: keep
 
 #include "tmc/aw_resume_on.hpp"
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "tmc/detail/init_params.hpp"
 #include "tmc/detail/qu_mpsc_blocking.hpp"
 #include "tmc/detail/thread_locals.hpp"
+#include "tmc/detail/tiny_stack.hpp"
 #include "tmc/detail/tiny_vec.hpp"
 #include "tmc/ex_any.hpp"
 #include "tmc/topology.hpp"
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ class ex_cpu_st {
   using task_queue_t = tmc::detail::qu_mpsc_blocking<work_item, qu_cfg>;
   tmc::detail::tiny_vec<task_queue_t> work_queues; // size() == PRIORITY_COUNT
 
-  tmc::detail::tiny_vec<std::vector<work_item>>
+  tmc::detail::tiny_vec<tmc::detail::tiny_stack>
     private_work; // size() == PRIORITY_COUNT
   // stop_source for the single worker thread
   std::stop_source thread_stopper;
@@ -222,13 +224,10 @@ class ex_cpu_st {
     bool fromExecThread =
       tmc::detail::this_thread::executor() == &type_erased_this;
     if (Count > 0) [[likely]] {
-      // A non-zero ThreadHint indicates that reschedule() was called. In that
+      // A zero ThreadHint indicates that reschedule() was called. In that
       // case we should use the external queue to force FIFO ordering.
       if (fromExecThread && ThreadHint != 0) [[likely]] {
-        for (size_t i = 0; i < Count; ++i) {
-          private_work[Priority].push_back(std::move(*Items));
-          ++Items;
-        }
+        private_work[Priority].push_back_bulk(static_cast<It&&>(Items), Count);
         request_yield(Priority);
       } else {
         bool didWake =