diff --git a/.changeset/perfect-hounds-joke.md b/.changeset/perfect-hounds-joke.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b987e728
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/perfect-hounds-joke.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'preact-render-to-string': patch
+---
+
+Perf: Remove unnecessary closure when rendering child nodes
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 903216c1..4c652a68 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -441,8 +441,9 @@ function _renderToString(
 			rendered.props.tpl == null;
 		rendered = isTopLevelFragment ? rendered.props.children : rendered;
 
-		const renderChildren = () =>
-			_renderToString(
+		try {
+			// Recurse into children before invoking the after-diff hook
+			const str = _renderToString(
 				rendered,
 				context,
 				isSvgMode,
@@ -451,10 +452,6 @@ function _renderToString(
 				asyncMode
 			);
 
-		try {
-			// Recurse into children before invoking the after-diff hook
-			const str = renderChildren();
-
 			if (afterDiff) afterDiff(vnode);
 			vnode[PARENT] = null;
 
@@ -468,12 +465,27 @@ function _renderToString(
 
 			const renderNestedChildren = () => {
 				try {
-					return renderChildren();
+					return _renderToString(
+						rendered,
+						context,
+						isSvgMode,
+						selectValue,
+						vnode,
+						asyncMode
+					);
 				} catch (e) {
 					if (!e || typeof e.then !== 'function') throw e;
 
 					return e.then(
-						() => renderChildren(),
+						() =>
+							_renderToString(
+								rendered,
+								context,
+								isSvgMode,
+								selectValue,
+								vnode,
+								asyncMode
+							),
 						() => renderNestedChildren()
 					);
 				}