diff --git a/torchdata/datapipes/iter/util/prefetcher.py b/torchdata/datapipes/iter/util/prefetcher.py
index 8f8f4db0f..0aeb3203e 100644
--- a/torchdata/datapipes/iter/util/prefetcher.py
+++ b/torchdata/datapipes/iter/util/prefetcher.py
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 import threading
 import time
 
-from typing import Optional
+from collections import deque
+from typing import Deque, Optional
 
 from torchdata.dataloader2 import communication
 
@@ -19,11 +20,11 @@
 
 
 class _PrefetchData:
-    def __init__(self, source_datapipe, buffer_size):
+    def __init__(self, source_datapipe, buffer_size: int):
         self.run_prefetcher = True
         # TODO: Potential optimization is changing buffer from list to dequeue
-        self.prefetch_buffer = []
-        self.buffer_size = buffer_size
+        self.prefetch_buffer: Deque = deque()
+        self.buffer_size: int = buffer_size
         self.source_datapipe = source_datapipe
 
 
@@ -92,8 +93,7 @@ def __iter__(self):
                 self.thread.start()
                 while prefetch_data.run_prefetcher:
                     if len(prefetch_data.prefetch_buffer) > 0:
-                        yield prefetch_data.prefetch_buffer[0]
-                        prefetch_data.prefetch_buffer = prefetch_data.prefetch_buffer[1:]
+                        yield prefetch_data.prefetch_buffer.popleft()
                     else:
                         # TODO: Calculate sleep interval based on previous availability speed
                         time.sleep(CONSUMER_SLEEP_INTERVAL)
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ def __getstate__(self):
                after entire state of the graph is saved).
         """
         # TODO: Update __getstate__ and __setstate__ to support snapshotting and restoration
-        return dict(source_datapipe=self.source_datapipe, buffer_size=self.buffer_size)
+        return {"source_datapipe": self.source_datapipe, "buffer_size": self.buffer_size}
 
     def __setstate__(self, state):
         self.source_datapipe = state["source_datapipe"]