diff --git a/hscontrol/policy/v2/canaccess_equiv_test.go b/hscontrol/policy/v2/canaccess_equiv_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..198ec41a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hscontrol/policy/v2/canaccess_equiv_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package v2
+
+import (
+	"net/netip"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/juanfont/headscale/hscontrol/policy/matcher"
+	"github.com/juanfont/headscale/hscontrol/types"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
+)
+
+// TestCanAccessWithRoutesMatchesCanAccess guards the peer-map optimization:
+// CanAccessWithRoutes, fed the same route data CanAccess computes internally,
+// must produce identical results. BuildPeerMap relies on this to precompute
+// each node's routes once instead of per pair.
+func TestCanAccessWithRoutesMatchesCanAccess(t *testing.T) {
+	user := types.User{Name: "u"}
+
+	subnetRouter := node("subnet", "100.64.0.1", "fd7a:115c:a1e0::1", user)
+	subnetRouter.Hostinfo = &tailcfg.Hostinfo{RoutableIPs: []netip.Prefix{netip.MustParsePrefix("10.0.0.0/24")}}
+	subnetRouter.ApprovedRoutes = []netip.Prefix{netip.MustParsePrefix("10.0.0.0/24")}
+
+	exitNode := node("exit", "100.64.0.2", "fd7a:115c:a1e0::2", user)
+	exitNode.Hostinfo = &tailcfg.Hostinfo{RoutableIPs: []netip.Prefix{netip.MustParsePrefix("0.0.0.0/0")}}
+	exitNode.ApprovedRoutes = []netip.Prefix{netip.MustParsePrefix("0.0.0.0/0")}
+
+	plain := node("plain", "100.64.0.3", "fd7a:115c:a1e0::3", user)
+
+	matchers := matcher.MatchesFromFilterRules([]tailcfg.FilterRule{
+		{
+			SrcIPs:   []string{"*"},
+			DstPorts: []tailcfg.NetPortRange{{IP: "*", Ports: tailcfg.PortRangeAny}},
+		},
+	})
+
+	views := []types.NodeView{subnetRouter.View(), exitNode.View(), plain.View()}
+
+	for _, a := range views {
+		for _, b := range views {
+			if a.ID() == b.ID() {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			want := a.CanAccess(matchers, b)
+			got := a.CanAccessWithRoutes(matchers, b, a.SubnetRoutes(), b.SubnetRoutes(), b.IsExitNode())
+			assert.Equalf(t, want, got, "%s -> %s", a.Hostname(), b.Hostname())
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/hscontrol/policy/v2/policy.go b/hscontrol/policy/v2/policy.go
index d1c570ad..19a295c4 100644
--- a/hscontrol/policy/v2/policy.go
+++ b/hscontrol/policy/v2/policy.go
@@ -600,6 +600,18 @@ func (pm *PolicyManager) BuildPeerMap(nodes views.Slice[types.NodeView]) map[typ
 	pm.mu.Lock()
 	defer pm.mu.Unlock()
 
+	// Precompute each node's subnet routes and exit-node status once; the
+	// O(n^2) pair scans below would otherwise recompute them for every pair.
+	type nodeRoutes struct {
+		subnet []netip.Prefix
+		isExit bool
+	}
+
+	routeInfo := make(map[types.NodeID]nodeRoutes, nodes.Len())
+	for _, n := range nodes.All() {
+		routeInfo[n.ID()] = nodeRoutes{subnet: n.SubnetRoutes(), isExit: n.IsExitNode()}
+	}
+
 	// If we have a global filter, use it for all nodes (normal case).
 	// Via grants require the per-node path because the global filter
 	// skips via grants (compileFilterRules: if len(grant.Via) > 0 { continue }).
@@ -613,7 +625,9 @@ func (pm *PolicyManager) BuildPeerMap(nodes views.Slice[types.NodeView]) map[typ
 					continue
 				}
 
-				if nodes.At(i).CanAccess(pm.matchers, nodes.At(j)) || nodes.At(j).CanAccess(pm.matchers, nodes.At(i)) {
+				ri, rj := routeInfo[nodes.At(i).ID()], routeInfo[nodes.At(j).ID()]
+				if nodes.At(i).CanAccessWithRoutes(pm.matchers, nodes.At(j), ri.subnet, rj.subnet, rj.isExit) ||
+					nodes.At(j).CanAccessWithRoutes(pm.matchers, nodes.At(i), rj.subnet, ri.subnet, ri.isExit) {
 					ret[nodes.At(i).ID()] = append(ret[nodes.At(i).ID()], nodes.At(j))
 					ret[nodes.At(j).ID()] = append(ret[nodes.At(j).ID()], nodes.At(i))
 				}
@@ -645,10 +659,12 @@ func (pm *PolicyManager) BuildPeerMap(nodes views.Slice[types.NodeView]) map[typ
 	for i := range nodes.Len() {
 		nodeI := nodes.At(i)
 		matchersI, hasFilterI := nodeMatchers[nodeI.ID()]
+		riI := routeInfo[nodeI.ID()]
 
 		for j := i + 1; j < nodes.Len(); j++ {
 			nodeJ := nodes.At(j)
 			matchersJ, hasFilterJ := nodeMatchers[nodeJ.ID()]
+			riJ := routeInfo[nodeJ.ID()]
 
 			// Check all access directions for symmetric peer visibility.
 			// For via grants, filter rules exist on the via-designated node
@@ -659,10 +675,10 @@ func (pm *PolicyManager) BuildPeerMap(nodes views.Slice[types.NodeView]) map[typ
 			//      using nodeI's matchers? (reverse direction: the matchers
 			//      on the via node accept traffic FROM the source)
 			// Same for matchersJ in both directions.
-			canIAccessJ := hasFilterI && nodeI.CanAccess(matchersI, nodeJ)
-			canJAccessI := hasFilterJ && nodeJ.CanAccess(matchersJ, nodeI)
-			canJReachI := hasFilterI && nodeJ.CanAccess(matchersI, nodeI)
-			canIReachJ := hasFilterJ && nodeI.CanAccess(matchersJ, nodeJ)
+			canIAccessJ := hasFilterI && nodeI.CanAccessWithRoutes(matchersI, nodeJ, riI.subnet, riJ.subnet, riJ.isExit)
+			canJAccessI := hasFilterJ && nodeJ.CanAccessWithRoutes(matchersJ, nodeI, riJ.subnet, riI.subnet, riI.isExit)
+			canJReachI := hasFilterI && nodeJ.CanAccessWithRoutes(matchersI, nodeI, riJ.subnet, riI.subnet, riI.isExit)
+			canIReachJ := hasFilterJ && nodeI.CanAccessWithRoutes(matchersJ, nodeJ, riI.subnet, riJ.subnet, riJ.isExit)
 
 			if canIAccessJ || canJAccessI || canJReachI || canIReachJ {
 				ret[nodeI.ID()] = append(ret[nodeI.ID()], nodeJ)
diff --git a/hscontrol/types/node.go b/hscontrol/types/node.go
index fe120a62..5060dde2 100644
--- a/hscontrol/types/node.go
+++ b/hscontrol/types/node.go
@@ -363,11 +363,21 @@ func (node *Node) AppendToIPSet(build *netipx.IPSetBuilder) {
 // matching node2's IPs, node2's approved subnet routes, or "the
 // internet" when node2 is an exit node — grants access.
 func (node *Node) CanAccess(matchers []matcher.Match, node2 *Node) bool {
+	return node.canAccess(matchers, node2, node.SubnetRoutes(), node2.SubnetRoutes(), node2.IsExitNode())
+}
+
+// canAccess is [Node.CanAccess] with the snapshot-stable route data supplied by
+// the caller. The peer-map build precomputes each node's SubnetRoutes and
+// exit-node status once and passes them here, so the O(n^2) pair scan does not
+// recompute them for every pair.
+func (node *Node) canAccess(
+	matchers []matcher.Match,
+	node2 *Node,
+	srcRoutes, dstRoutes []netip.Prefix,
+	dstIsExit bool,
+) bool {
 	src := node.IPs()
 	allowedIPs := node2.IPs()
-	srcRoutes := node.SubnetRoutes()
-	dstRoutes := node2.SubnetRoutes()
-	dstIsExit := node2.IsExitNode()
 
 	for _, m := range matchers {
 		srcMatchesIP := m.SrcsContainsIPs(src...)
@@ -864,6 +874,21 @@ func (nv NodeView) CanAccess(matchers []matcher.Match, node2 NodeView) bool {
 	return nv.ж.CanAccess(matchers, node2.ж)
 }
 
+// CanAccessWithRoutes is [NodeView.CanAccess] with precomputed route data, used
+// by the peer-map build to avoid recomputing each node's routes per pair.
+func (nv NodeView) CanAccessWithRoutes(
+	matchers []matcher.Match,
+	node2 NodeView,
+	srcRoutes, dstRoutes []netip.Prefix,
+	dstIsExit bool,
+) bool {
+	if !nv.Valid() || !node2.Valid() {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return nv.ж.canAccess(matchers, node2.ж, srcRoutes, dstRoutes, dstIsExit)
+}
+
 func (nv NodeView) CanAccessRoute(matchers []matcher.Match, route netip.Prefix) bool {
 	if !nv.Valid() {
 		return false