diff --git a/storage/local/storage.go b/storage/local/storage.go
index 734b97ad3..740dede3c 100644
--- a/storage/local/storage.go
+++ b/storage/local/storage.go
@@ -500,9 +500,11 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) MetricsForLabelMatchers(
 
 	result := map[model.Fingerprint]metric.Metric{}
 	for fp := range resFPs {
-		if metric, ok := s.metricForFingerprint(fp, from, through); ok {
-			result[fp] = metric
+		s.fpLocker.Lock(fp)
+		if met, _, ok := s.metricForRange(fp, from, through); ok {
+			result[fp] = metric.Metric{Metric: met}
 		}
+		s.fpLocker.Unlock(fp)
 	}
 	for _, matcher := range filters {
 		for fp, met := range result {
@@ -514,50 +516,46 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) MetricsForLabelMatchers(
 	return result
 }
 
-// metricForFingerprint returns the metric for the given fingerprint if the
-// corresponding time series has samples between 'from' and 'through'.
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) metricForFingerprint(
+// metricForRange returns the metric for the given fingerprint if the
+// corresponding time series has samples between 'from' and 'through', together
+// with a pointer to the series if it is in memory already. For a series that
+// does not have samples between 'from' and 'through', the returned bool is
+// false. For an archived series that does contain samples between 'from' and
+// 'through', it returns (metric, nil, true).
+//
+// The caller must have locked the fp.
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) metricForRange(
 	fp model.Fingerprint,
 	from, through model.Time,
-) (metric.Metric, bool) {
-	s.fpLocker.Lock(fp)
-	defer s.fpLocker.Unlock(fp)
-
+) (model.Metric, *memorySeries, bool) {
 	series, ok := s.fpToSeries.get(fp)
 	if ok {
 		if series.lastTime.Before(from) || series.firstTime().After(through) {
-			return metric.Metric{}, false
+			return nil, nil, false
 		}
-		// Wrap the returned metric in a copy-on-write (COW) metric here because
-		// the caller might mutate it.
-		return metric.Metric{
-			Metric: series.metric,
-		}, true
+		return series.metric, series, true
 	}
 	// From here on, we are only concerned with archived metrics.
 	// If the high watermark of archived series is before 'from', we are done.
 	watermark := model.Time(atomic.LoadInt64((*int64)(&s.archiveHighWatermark)))
 	if watermark < from {
-		return metric.Metric{}, false
+		return nil, nil, false
 	}
 	if from.After(model.Earliest) || through.Before(model.Latest) {
 		// The range lookup is relatively cheap, so let's do it first if
 		// we have a chance the archived metric is not in the range.
 		has, first, last := s.persistence.hasArchivedMetric(fp)
 		if !has || first.After(through) || last.Before(from) {
-			return metric.Metric{}, false
+			return nil, nil, false
 		}
 	}
 
-	met, _ := s.persistence.archivedMetric(fp) // Ignoring error, there is nothing we can do.
-	if met == nil {
-		return metric.Metric{}, false
+	metric, err := s.persistence.archivedMetric(fp)
+	if err != nil {
+		// archivedMetric has already flagged the storage as dirty in this case.
+		return nil, nil, false
 	}
-
-	return metric.Metric{
-		Metric: met,
-		Copied: false,
-	}, true
+	return metric, nil, true
 }
 
 // LabelValuesForLabelName implements Storage.
@@ -723,43 +721,20 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) getOrCreateSeries(fp model.Fingerprint, m model.Me
 	return series, nil
 }
 
-// getSeriesForRange is a helper method for preloadChunksForRange and preloadChunksForInstant.
+// seriesForRange is a helper method for preloadChunksForRange and preloadChunksForInstant.
 //
 // The caller must have locked the fp.
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) getSeriesForRange(
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) seriesForRange(
 	fp model.Fingerprint,
 	from model.Time, through model.Time,
 ) *memorySeries {
-	series, ok := s.fpToSeries.get(fp)
-	if ok {
-		if series.lastTime.Before(from) || series.firstTime().After(through) {
-			return nil
-		}
-		return series
-	}
-
-	watermark := model.Time(atomic.LoadInt64((*int64)(&s.archiveHighWatermark)))
-	if watermark < from {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	has, first, last := s.persistence.hasArchivedMetric(fp)
-	if !has {
-		s.invalidPreloadRequestsCount.Inc()
-		return nil
-	}
-	if last.Before(from) || first.After(through) {
-		return nil
-	}
-	metric, err := s.persistence.archivedMetric(fp)
-	if err != nil {
-		// Error already logged, storage declared dirty by archivedMetric.
+	metric, series, ok := s.metricForRange(fp, from, through)
+	if !ok {
 		return nil
 	}
-	series, err = s.getOrCreateSeries(fp, metric)
-	if err != nil {
-		// getOrCreateSeries took care of quarantining already.
-		return nil
+	if series == nil {
+		series, _ = s.getOrCreateSeries(fp, metric)
+		// getOrCreateSeries took care of quarantining already, so ignore the error.
 	}
 	return series
 }
@@ -771,7 +746,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) preloadChunksForRange(
 	s.fpLocker.Lock(fp)
 	defer s.fpLocker.Unlock(fp)
 
-	series := s.getSeriesForRange(fp, from, through)
+	series := s.seriesForRange(fp, from, through)
 	if series == nil {
 		return nil, nopIter
 	}
@@ -790,7 +765,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) preloadChunksForInstant(
 	s.fpLocker.Lock(fp)
 	defer s.fpLocker.Unlock(fp)
 
-	series := s.getSeriesForRange(fp, from, through)
+	series := s.seriesForRange(fp, from, through)
 	if series == nil {
 		return nil, nopIter
 	}
diff --git a/storage/local/test_helpers.go b/storage/local/test_helpers.go
index 4e914b724..1dedf518e 100644
--- a/storage/local/test_helpers.go
+++ b/storage/local/test_helpers.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package local
 import (
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/common/model"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/util/testutil"
 )
 
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ func NewTestStorage(t testutil.T, encoding chunkEncoding) (*memorySeriesStorage,
 		SyncStrategy:               Adaptive,
 	}
 	storage := NewMemorySeriesStorage(o)
+	storage.(*memorySeriesStorage).archiveHighWatermark = model.Latest
 	if err := storage.Start(); err != nil {
 		directory.Close()
 		t.Fatalf("Error creating storage: %s", err)