diff --git a/HellionChat/Plugin.cs b/HellionChat/Plugin.cs
index e90b135..3d49324 100755
--- a/HellionChat/Plugin.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Plugin.cs
@@ -637,18 +637,20 @@ public sealed class Plugin : IAsyncDalamudPlugin
 
     internal void SaveConfig()
     {
-        // Strip session-only Auto-Tell-Tabs before serialization; restore after.
-        var snapshot = Config.Tabs.ToList();
+        // Session-only Auto-Tell-Tabs aren't persisted, so they move aside
+        // before serialization and re-attach after. Cloning only the temp
+        // subset keeps the allocation proportional to AutoTellTabsLimit
+        // (<=15) instead of the full tab list.
+        var tempTabs = Config.Tabs.Where(t => t.IsTempTab).ToList();
         Config.Tabs.RemoveAll(t => t.IsTempTab);
 
         Interface.SavePluginConfig(Config);
 
-        Config.Tabs.Clear();
-        Config.Tabs.AddRange(snapshot);
+        Config.Tabs.AddRange(tempTabs);
 
-        // F2.1: snapshot-restore preserves IsTempTab tabs but the mid-step
-        // RemoveAll bypasses AutoTellTabsService, so re-peg the counter.
-        // Null-conditional because SaveConfig can fire before Phase-2 init.
+        // F2.1: the mid-step RemoveAll bypasses AutoTellTabsService, so
+        // re-peg the counter. Null-conditional because SaveConfig can fire
+        // before Phase-2 init.
         AutoTellTabsService?.ResyncTempTabCounter();
     }