diff --git a/server/lease/lessor.go b/server/lease/lessor.go
index 7236515f2b3..666fa746020 100644
--- a/server/lease/lessor.go
+++ b/server/lease/lessor.go
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ func (le *lessor) Revoke(id LeaseID) error {
 	// lease deletion needs to be in the same backend transaction with the
 	// kv deletion. Or we might end up with not executing the revoke or not
 	// deleting the keys if etcdserver fails in between.
-	le.b.BatchTx().UnsafeDelete(buckets.Lease, int64ToBytes(int64(l.ID)))
+	buckets.UnsafeDeleteLease(le.b.BatchTx(), &leasepb.Lease{ID: int64(l.ID)})
 
 	txn.End()
 
@@ -768,18 +768,12 @@ func (le *lessor) findDueScheduledCheckpoints(checkpointLimit int) []*pb.LeaseCh
 
 func (le *lessor) initAndRecover() {
 	tx := le.b.BatchTx()
-	tx.Lock()
 
-	tx.UnsafeCreateBucket(buckets.Lease)
-	_, vs := tx.UnsafeRange(buckets.Lease, int64ToBytes(0), int64ToBytes(math.MaxInt64), 0)
-	// TODO: copy vs and do decoding outside tx lock if lock contention becomes an issue.
-	for i := range vs {
-		var lpb leasepb.Lease
-		err := lpb.Unmarshal(vs[i])
-		if err != nil {
-			tx.Unlock()
-			panic("failed to unmarshal lease proto item")
-		}
+	tx.Lock()
+	buckets.UnsafeCreateLeaseBucket(tx)
+	lpbs := buckets.MustUnsafeGetAllLeases(tx)
+	tx.Unlock()
+	for _, lpb := range lpbs {
 		ID := LeaseID(lpb.ID)
 		if lpb.TTL < le.minLeaseTTL {
 			lpb.TTL = le.minLeaseTTL
@@ -796,7 +790,6 @@ func (le *lessor) initAndRecover() {
 	}
 	le.leaseExpiredNotifier.Init()
 	heap.Init(&le.leaseCheckpointHeap)
-	tx.Unlock()
 
 	le.b.ForceCommit()
 }
@@ -821,17 +814,11 @@ func (l *Lease) expired() bool {
 }
 
 func (l *Lease) persistTo(b backend.Backend) {
-	key := int64ToBytes(int64(l.ID))
-
 	lpb := leasepb.Lease{ID: int64(l.ID), TTL: l.ttl, RemainingTTL: l.remainingTTL}
-	val, err := lpb.Marshal()
-	if err != nil {
-		panic("failed to marshal lease proto item")
-	}
-
-	b.BatchTx().Lock()
-	b.BatchTx().UnsafePut(buckets.Lease, key, val)
-	b.BatchTx().Unlock()
+	tx := b.BatchTx()
+	tx.Lock()
+	defer tx.Unlock()
+	buckets.MustUnsafePutLease(tx, &lpb)
 }
 
 // TTL returns the TTL of the Lease.
diff --git a/server/lease/lessor_test.go b/server/lease/lessor_test.go
index 58a4ad29086..ef421aa395c 100644
--- a/server/lease/lessor_test.go
+++ b/server/lease/lessor_test.go
@@ -92,12 +92,13 @@ func TestLessorGrant(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	be.BatchTx().Lock()
-	_, vs := be.BatchTx().UnsafeRange(buckets.Lease, int64ToBytes(int64(l.ID)), nil, 0)
-	if len(vs) != 1 {
-		t.Errorf("len(vs) = %d, want 1", len(vs))
+	tx := be.BatchTx()
+	tx.Lock()
+	defer tx.Unlock()
+	lpb := buckets.MustUnsafeGetLease(tx, int64(l.ID))
+	if lpb == nil {
+		t.Errorf("lpb = %d, want not nil", lpb)
 	}
-	be.BatchTx().Unlock()
 }
 
 // TestLeaseConcurrentKeys ensures Lease.Keys method calls are guarded
@@ -195,12 +196,13 @@ func TestLessorRevoke(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("deleted= %v, want %v", fd.deleted, wdeleted)
 	}
 
-	be.BatchTx().Lock()
-	_, vs := be.BatchTx().UnsafeRange(buckets.Lease, int64ToBytes(int64(l.ID)), nil, 0)
-	if len(vs) != 0 {
-		t.Errorf("len(vs) = %d, want 0", len(vs))
+	tx := be.BatchTx()
+	tx.Lock()
+	defer tx.Unlock()
+	lpb := buckets.MustUnsafeGetLease(tx, int64(l.ID))
+	if lpb != nil {
+		t.Errorf("lpb = %d, want nil", lpb)
 	}
-	be.BatchTx().Unlock()
 }
 
 // TestLessorRenew ensures Lessor can renew an existing lease.
diff --git a/server/mvcc/buckets/lease.go b/server/mvcc/buckets/lease.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6aa40fc73ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/mvcc/buckets/lease.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The etcd Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package buckets
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"math"
+
+	"go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3/lease/leasepb"
+	"go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3/mvcc/backend"
+)
+
+func UnsafeCreateLeaseBucket(tx backend.BatchTx) {
+	tx.UnsafeCreateBucket(Lease)
+}
+
+func MustUnsafeGetAllLeases(tx backend.ReadTx) []*leasepb.Lease {
+	_, vs := tx.UnsafeRange(Lease, leaseIdToBytes(0), leaseIdToBytes(math.MaxInt64), 0)
+	ls := make([]*leasepb.Lease, 0, len(vs))
+	for i := range vs {
+		var lpb leasepb.Lease
+		err := lpb.Unmarshal(vs[i])
+		if err != nil {
+			panic("failed to unmarshal lease proto item")
+		}
+		ls = append(ls, &lpb)
+	}
+	return ls
+}
+
+func MustUnsafePutLease(tx backend.BatchTx, lpb *leasepb.Lease) {
+	key := leaseIdToBytes(lpb.ID)
+
+	val, err := lpb.Marshal()
+	if err != nil {
+		panic("failed to marshal lease proto item")
+	}
+	tx.UnsafePut(Lease, key, val)
+}
+
+func UnsafeDeleteLease(tx backend.BatchTx, lpb *leasepb.Lease) {
+	tx.UnsafeDelete(Lease, leaseIdToBytes(lpb.ID))
+}
+
+func MustUnsafeGetLease(tx backend.BatchTx, leaseID int64) *leasepb.Lease {
+	_, vs := tx.UnsafeRange(Lease, leaseIdToBytes(leaseID), nil, 0)
+	if len(vs) != 1 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	var lpb leasepb.Lease
+	err := lpb.Unmarshal(vs[0])
+	if err != nil {
+		panic("failed to unmarshal lease proto item")
+	}
+	return &lpb
+}
+
+func leaseIdToBytes(n int64) []byte {
+	bytes := make([]byte, 8)
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(bytes, uint64(n))
+	return bytes
+}