diff --git a/topic.go b/topic.go
index 7b1b61e..2361343 100644
--- a/topic.go
+++ b/topic.go
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ func (t *Topic[T]) Publish(value ...T) uint64 {
 // If there is no new data, Receive() blocks until there is new data or the
 // given channel is done. The same happens with id 0, when there is no data at
 // all in the topic.
+//
+// For performance reasons, this function returns the internal slice of the
+// topic. It is not allowed to manipulate the values.
 func (t *Topic[T]) Receive(ctx context.Context, id uint64) (uint64, []T, error) {
 	t.mu.RLock()
 
@@ -130,17 +133,13 @@ func (t *Topic[T]) Prune(until time.Time) {
 	}
 
 	if n >= len(t.data) {
-		t.data = t.data[:0]
-		t.insertTime = t.insertTime[:0]
+		t.data = nil
+		t.insertTime = nil
 		t.offset += uint64(n)
 		return
 	}
 
-	copy(t.data, t.data[n:])
-	copy(t.insertTime, t.insertTime[n:])
-
-	t.data = t.data[:len(t.data)-n]
-	t.insertTime = t.insertTime[:len(t.insertTime)-n]
-
+	t.data = slices.Clone(t.data[n:])
+	t.insertTime = slices.Clone(t.insertTime[n:])
 	t.offset += uint64(n)
 }
diff --git a/topic_test.go b/topic_test.go
index 5d21194..2f1a96a 100644
--- a/topic_test.go
+++ b/topic_test.go
@@ -116,10 +116,10 @@ func TestPrune(t *testing.T) {
 
 			top.Prune(pruneTime)
 
-			_, got, err := top.Receive(t.Context(), 0)
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatalf("Receive(): %v", err)
-			}
+			ctxCanceled, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
+			cancel()
+
+			_, got, _ := top.Receive(ctxCanceled, 0)
 
 			if !cmpSlice(got, tt.expect) {
 				t.Errorf("Got %v, want %v", got, tt.expect)
@@ -144,6 +144,24 @@ func TestPruneEmptyTopic(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestPruneUsedValue(t *testing.T) {
+	top := topic.New[string]()
+	top.Publish("val1")
+	top.Publish("val2")
+	top.Publish("val3")
+	ti := time.Now()
+	_, data, err := top.Receive(t.Context(), 0)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Receive(): %v", err)
+	}
+	top.Publish("val4")
+	top.Prune(ti)
+
+	if data[0] != "val1" {
+		t.Errorf("Received value changed to %s, expected `val1`", data[0])
+	}
+}
+
 func TestErrUnknownID(t *testing.T) {
 	top := topic.New[string]()
 	top.Publish("v1")