diff --git a/subscriptionstore.cpp b/subscriptionstore.cpp
index 2457d15..42644fb 100644
--- a/subscriptionstore.cpp
+++ b/subscriptionstore.cpp
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ void SubscriptionStore::publishNonRecursively(const MqttPacket &packet, const st
     }
 }
 
-void SubscriptionStore::publishRecursively(std::list<std::string>::const_iterator cur_subtopic_it, std::list<std::string>::const_iterator end,
+void SubscriptionStore::publishRecursively(std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator cur_subtopic_it, std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator end,
                                            std::unique_ptr<SubscriptionNode> &this_node, const MqttPacket &packet) const
 {
     if (cur_subtopic_it == end) // This is the end of the topic path, so look for subscribers here.
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ void SubscriptionStore::queuePacketAtSubscribers(const std::string &topic, const
 {
     // TODO: keep a cache of topics vs clients
 
-    const std::list<std::string> subtopics = split(topic, '/');
+    const std::vector<std::string> subtopics = splitToVector(topic, '/');
 
     RWLockGuard lock_guard(&subscriptionsRwlock);
     lock_guard.rdlock();
diff --git a/subscriptionstore.h b/subscriptionstore.h
index 9f5fc61..6f13f71 100644
--- a/subscriptionstore.h
+++ b/subscriptionstore.h
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class SubscriptionStore
     std::unordered_set<RetainedMessage> retainedMessages;
 
     void publishNonRecursively(const MqttPacket &packet, const std::forward_list<std::string> &subscribers) const;
-    void publishRecursively(std::list<std::string>::const_iterator cur_subtopic_it, std::list<std::string>::const_iterator end,
+    void publishRecursively(std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator cur_subtopic_it, std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator end,
                             std::unique_ptr<SubscriptionNode> &next, const MqttPacket &packet) const;
 public:
     SubscriptionStore();
diff --git a/utils.cpp b/utils.cpp
index dec6f8a..898d713 100644
--- a/utils.cpp
+++ b/utils.cpp
@@ -125,3 +125,21 @@ bool isValidPublishPath(const std::string &s)
 
     return true;
 }
+
+std::vector<std::string> splitToVector(const std::string &input, const char sep, size_t max, bool keep_empty_parts)
+{
+    std::vector<std::string> list;
+    list.reserve(16); // This is somewhat arbitratry, knowing some typical MQTT topic use cases
+    size_t start = 0;
+    size_t end;
+
+    while (list.size() < max && (end = input.find(sep, start)) != std::string::npos)
+    {
+        if (start != end || keep_empty_parts)
+            list.push_back(input.substr(start, end - start));
+        start = end + 1; // increase by length of seperator.
+    }
+    if (start != input.size() || keep_empty_parts)
+        list.push_back(input.substr(start, std::string::npos));
+    return list;
+}
diff --git a/utils.h b/utils.h
index 4a5a8c5..af0f0c2 100644
--- a/utils.h
+++ b/utils.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <list>
 #include <limits>
+#include <vector>
 
 template<typename T> int check(int rc)
 {
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ template<typename T> int check(int rc)
 }
 
 std::list<std::string> split(const std::string &input, const char sep, size_t max = std::numeric_limits<int>::max(), bool keep_empty_parts = true);
+std::vector<std::string> splitToVector(const std::string &input, const char sep, size_t max = std::numeric_limits<int>::max(), bool keep_empty_parts = true);
 
 bool topicsMatch(const std::string &subscribeTopic, const std::string &publishTopic);