diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 90c6817..184a300 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ### 4.11.0
 
+* Performance: `mapiAsync` — replaced `asyncSeq`-builder + `collect` implementation with a direct optimised enumerator (`OptimizedMapiAsyncEnumerator`), eliminating `collect` overhead and bringing per-element cost in line with `mapAsync`. Benchmarks added in `AsyncSeqMapiBenchmarks`.
 * Design parity with FSharp.Control.TaskSeq (#277, batch 2):
   * Added `AsyncSeq.tryTail` — returns `None` if the sequence is empty; otherwise returns `Some` of the tail. Safe counterpart to `tail`. Mirrors `TaskSeq.tryTail`.
   * Added `AsyncSeq.where` / `AsyncSeq.whereAsync` — aliases for `filter` / `filterAsync`, mirroring the naming convention in `TaskSeq` and F# 8 collection expressions.
diff --git a/src/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq/AsyncSeq.fs b/src/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq/AsyncSeq.fs
index a1bfb1e..07d339f 100644
--- a/src/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq/AsyncSeq.fs
+++ b/src/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq/AsyncSeq.fs
@@ -933,6 +933,29 @@ module AsyncSeq =
           disposed <- true
           source.Dispose()
 
+  // Optimized mapiAsync enumerator: avoids asyncSeq builder + collect overhead by
+  // maintaining the index in a mutable field and iterating the source directly.
+  type private OptimizedMapiAsyncEnumerator<'T, 'TResult>(source: IAsyncSeqEnumerator<'T>, f: int64 -> 'T -> Async<'TResult>) =
+    let mutable disposed = false
+    let mutable index = 0L
+
+    interface IAsyncSeqEnumerator<'TResult> with
+      member _.MoveNext() = async {
+        let! moveResult = source.MoveNext()
+        match moveResult with
+        | None -> return None
+        | Some value ->
+            let i = index
+            index <- index + 1L
+            let! mapped = f i value
+            return Some mapped
+      }
+
+      member _.Dispose() =
+        if not disposed then
+          disposed <- true
+          source.Dispose()
+
   // Optimized filterAsync enumerator that avoids computation builder overhead
   type private OptimizedFilterAsyncEnumerator<'T>(source: IAsyncSeqEnumerator<'T>, f: 'T -> Async<bool>) =
     let mutable disposed = false
@@ -1039,12 +1062,8 @@ module AsyncSeq =
     | _ ->
       AsyncSeqImpl(fun () -> new OptimizedMapAsyncEnumerator<'T, 'TResult>(source.GetEnumerator(), f) :> IAsyncSeqEnumerator<'TResult>) :> AsyncSeq<'TResult>
 
-  let mapiAsync f (source : AsyncSeq<'T>) : AsyncSeq<'TResult> = asyncSeq {
-    let i = ref 0L
-    for itm in source do
-      let! v = f i.Value itm
-      i := i.Value + 1L
-      yield v }
+  let mapiAsync f (source : AsyncSeq<'T>) : AsyncSeq<'TResult> =
+    AsyncSeqImpl(fun () -> new OptimizedMapiAsyncEnumerator<'T, 'TResult>(source.GetEnumerator(), f) :> IAsyncSeqEnumerator<'TResult>) :> AsyncSeq<'TResult>
 
   #if !FABLE_COMPILER
   let mapAsyncParallel (f:'a -> Async<'b>) (s:AsyncSeq<'a>) : AsyncSeq<'b> = asyncSeq {
diff --git a/tests/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq.Benchmarks/AsyncSeqBenchmarks.fs b/tests/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq.Benchmarks/AsyncSeqBenchmarks.fs
index 0f692e6..dae0a6b 100644
--- a/tests/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq.Benchmarks/AsyncSeqBenchmarks.fs
+++ b/tests/FSharp.Control.AsyncSeq.Benchmarks/AsyncSeqBenchmarks.fs
@@ -183,10 +183,6 @@ type AsyncSeqPipelineBenchmarks() =
 [<MemoryDiagnoser>]
 [<SimpleJob(RuntimeMoniker.Net80)>]
 type AsyncSeqSliceBenchmarks() =
-
-    [<Params(1000, 10000)>]
-    member val ElementCount = 0 with get, set
-
     /// Benchmark take: stops after N elements
     [<Benchmark(Baseline = true)>]
     member this.Take() =
@@ -214,6 +210,38 @@ type AsyncSeqSliceBenchmarks() =
         |> AsyncSeq.iterAsync (fun _ -> async.Return())
         |> Async.RunSynchronously
 
+    [<Params(1000, 10000)>]
+    member val ElementCount = 0 with get, set
+
+/// Benchmarks for map and mapi variants — ensures the direct-enumerator optimisation
+/// for mapiAsync is visible and comparable against mapAsync.
+[<MemoryDiagnoser>]
+[<SimpleJob(RuntimeMoniker.Net80)>]
+type AsyncSeqMapiBenchmarks() =
+    /// Baseline: mapAsync (already uses direct enumerator)
+    [<Benchmark(Baseline = true)>]
+    member this.MapAsync() =
+        AsyncSeq.replicate this.ElementCount 1
+        |> AsyncSeq.mapAsync (fun x -> async.Return (x * 2))
+        |> AsyncSeq.iterAsync (fun _ -> async.Return())
+        |> Async.RunSynchronously
+
+    /// mapiAsync — now uses direct enumerator; should be close to mapAsync cost
+    [<Benchmark>]
+    member this.MapiAsync() =
+        AsyncSeq.replicate this.ElementCount 1
+        |> AsyncSeq.mapiAsync (fun i x -> async.Return (i, x * 2))
+        |> AsyncSeq.iterAsync (fun _ -> async.Return())
+        |> Async.RunSynchronously
+
+    /// mapi — synchronous projection variant; dispatches through mapiAsync
+    [<Benchmark>]
+    member this.Mapi() =
+        AsyncSeq.replicate this.ElementCount 1
+        |> AsyncSeq.mapi (fun i x -> (i, x * 2))
+        |> AsyncSeq.iterAsync (fun _ -> async.Return())
+        |> Async.RunSynchronously
+
 /// Entry point for running benchmarks.
 /// Delegates directly to BenchmarkSwitcher so all BenchmarkDotNet CLI options
 /// (--filter, --job short, --exporters, etc.) work out of the box.