diff --git a/src/pkg/retention/job.go b/src/pkg/retention/job.go
index 3a424f849..2c1193a39 100644
--- a/src/pkg/retention/job.go
+++ b/src/pkg/retention/job.go
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ func logResults(logger logger.Interface, all []*selector.Candidate, results []*s
 
 	var buf bytes.Buffer
 
-	data := make([][]string, len(all))
+	data := make([][]string, 0, len(all))
 
 	for _, c := range all {
 		row := []string{