diff --git a/crates/circuit/src/imports.rs b/crates/circuit/src/imports.rs
index b26e8f0b586a..9182530f4a74 100644
--- a/crates/circuit/src/imports.rs
+++ b/crates/circuit/src/imports.rs
@@ -100,19 +100,28 @@ static STDGATE_IMPORT_PATHS: [[&str; 2]; STANDARD_GATE_SIZE] = [
 static mut STDGATE_PYTHON_GATES: GILOnceCell<[Option<PyObject>; STANDARD_GATE_SIZE]> =
     GILOnceCell::new();
 
+// A fixed size array is initialized like this because using the `[T; 5]` syntax
+// requires T to be `Copy`. But `PyObject` isn't Copy so therefore Option<PyObject>
+// as T isn't Copy.
+fn _array_of_option_pyobject() -> [Option<PyObject>; STANDARD_GATE_SIZE] {
+    use std::mem::{self, MaybeUninit};
+    let array = unsafe {
+        let mut data: [MaybeUninit<Option<PyObject>>; STANDARD_GATE_SIZE] = MaybeUninit::uninit().assume_init();
+        for elem in &mut data[..] {
+            *elem = MaybeUninit::new(None);
+        }
+        mem::transmute::<_, [Option<PyObject>; STANDARD_GATE_SIZE]>(data)
+    };
+    array
+}
+
 #[inline]
 pub fn populate_std_gate_map(py: Python, rs_gate: StandardGate, py_gate: PyObject) {
     let gate_map = unsafe {
         match STDGATE_PYTHON_GATES.get_mut() {
             Some(gate_map) => gate_map,
             None => {
-                // A fixed size array is initialized like this because using the `[T; 5]` syntax
-                // requires T to be `Copy`. But `PyObject` isn't Copy so therefore Option<PyObject>
-                // as T isn't Copy. To avoid that we just list out None STANDARD_GATE_SIZE times
-                let array: [Option<PyObject>; STANDARD_GATE_SIZE] = [
-                    None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None,
-                    None, None, None, None, None, None,
-                ];
+                let array = _array_of_option_pyobject();
                 STDGATE_PYTHON_GATES.set(py, array).unwrap();
                 STDGATE_PYTHON_GATES.get_mut().unwrap()
             }
@@ -127,16 +136,7 @@ pub fn populate_std_gate_map(py: Python, rs_gate: StandardGate, py_gate: PyObjec
 #[inline]
 pub fn get_std_gate_class(py: Python, rs_gate: StandardGate) -> PyResult<PyObject> {
     let gate_map = unsafe {
-        STDGATE_PYTHON_GATES.get_or_init(py, || {
-            // A fixed size array is initialized like this because using the `[T; 5]` syntax
-            // requires T to be `Copy`. But `PyObject` isn't Copy so therefore Option<PyObject>
-            // as T isn't Copy. To avoid that we just list out None STANDARD_GATE_SIZE times
-            let array: [Option<PyObject>; STANDARD_GATE_SIZE] = [
-                None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None,
-                None, None, None, None, None,
-            ];
-            array
-        })
+        STDGATE_PYTHON_GATES.get_or_init(py, _array_of_option_pyobject)
     };
     let gate = &gate_map[rs_gate as usize];
     let populate = gate.is_none();