diff --git a/gossip/src/weighted_shuffle.rs b/gossip/src/weighted_shuffle.rs
index da7f619ab955c1..4064dc63481bf3 100644
--- a/gossip/src/weighted_shuffle.rs
+++ b/gossip/src/weighted_shuffle.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 //! The `weighted_shuffle` module provides an iterator over shuffled weights.
 
 use {
-    num_traits::CheckedAdd,
+    num_traits::{CheckedAdd, ConstZero},
     rand::{
         distributions::uniform::{SampleUniform, UniformSampler},
         Rng,
@@ -42,30 +42,33 @@ pub struct WeightedShuffle<T> {
     zeros: Vec<usize>,
 }
 
+impl<T: ConstZero> WeightedShuffle<T> {
+    const ZERO: T = <T as ConstZero>::ZERO;
+}
+
 impl<T> WeightedShuffle<T>
 where
-    T: Copy + Default + PartialOrd + AddAssign + CheckedAdd,
+    T: Copy + ConstZero + PartialOrd + AddAssign + CheckedAdd,
 {
     /// If weights are negative or overflow the total sum
     /// they are treated as zero.
     pub fn new(name: &'static str, weights: &[T]) -> Self {
-        let zero = <T as Default>::default();
         let (num_nodes, size) = get_num_nodes_and_tree_size(weights.len());
         debug_assert!(size <= num_nodes);
-        let mut tree = vec![[zero; FANOUT]; size];
-        let mut sum = zero;
+        let mut tree = vec![[Self::ZERO; FANOUT]; size];
+        let mut sum = Self::ZERO;
         let mut zeros = Vec::default();
         let mut num_negative: usize = 0;
         let mut num_overflow: usize = 0;
         for (k, &weight) in weights.iter().enumerate() {
             #[allow(clippy::neg_cmp_op_on_partial_ord)]
             // weight < zero does not work for NaNs.
-            if !(weight >= zero) {
+            if !(weight >= Self::ZERO) {
                 zeros.push(k);
                 num_negative += 1;
                 continue;
             }
-            if weight == zero {
+            if weight == Self::ZERO {
                 zeros.push(k);
                 continue;
             }
@@ -103,7 +106,7 @@ where
 
 impl<T> WeightedShuffle<T>
 where
-    T: Copy + Default + PartialOrd + AddAssign + SubAssign + Sub<Output = T>,
+    T: Copy + ConstZero + PartialOrd + AddAssign + SubAssign + Sub<Output = T>,
 {
     // Removes given weight at index k.
     fn remove(&mut self, k: usize, weight: T) {
@@ -123,8 +126,7 @@ where
     // Returns smallest index such that sum of weights[..=k] > val,
     // along with its respective weight.
     fn search(&self, mut val: T) -> (/*index:*/ usize, /*weight:*/ T) {
-        let zero = <T as Default>::default();
-        debug_assert!(val >= zero);
+        debug_assert!(val >= Self::ZERO);
         debug_assert!(val < self.weight);
         // Traverse the tree downwards from the root while maintaining the
         // weight of the subtree which contains the target leaf node.
@@ -148,11 +150,10 @@ where
     }
 
     pub fn remove_index(&mut self, k: usize) {
-        let zero = <T as Default>::default();
         let index = self.num_nodes + k; // leaf node
         let offset = (index - 1) & BIT_MASK;
         let index = (index - 1) >> BIT_SHIFT; // parent node
-        if self.tree[index][offset] == zero {
+        if self.tree[index][offset] == Self::ZERO {
             self.remove_zero(k);
         } else {
             self.remove(k, self.tree[index][offset]);
@@ -168,13 +169,12 @@ where
 
 impl<T> WeightedShuffle<T>
 where
-    T: Copy + Default + PartialOrd + AddAssign + SampleUniform + SubAssign + Sub<Output = T>,
+    T: Copy + ConstZero + PartialOrd + AddAssign + SampleUniform + SubAssign + Sub<Output = T>,
 {
     // Equivalent to weighted_shuffle.shuffle(&mut rng).next()
     pub fn first<R: Rng>(&self, rng: &mut R) -> Option<usize> {
-        let zero = <T as Default>::default();
-        if self.weight > zero {
-            let sample = <T as SampleUniform>::Sampler::sample_single(zero, self.weight, rng);
+        if self.weight > Self::ZERO {
+            let sample = <T as SampleUniform>::Sampler::sample_single(Self::ZERO, self.weight, rng);
             let (index, _weight) = WeightedShuffle::search(self, sample);
             return Some(index);
         }
@@ -188,13 +188,13 @@ where
 
 impl<'a, T: 'a> WeightedShuffle<T>
 where
-    T: Copy + Default + PartialOrd + AddAssign + SampleUniform + SubAssign + Sub<Output = T>,
+    T: Copy + ConstZero + PartialOrd + AddAssign + SampleUniform + SubAssign + Sub<Output = T>,
 {
     pub fn shuffle<R: Rng>(mut self, rng: &'a mut R) -> impl Iterator<Item = usize> + 'a {
         std::iter::from_fn(move || {
-            let zero = <T as Default>::default();
-            if self.weight > zero {
-                let sample = <T as SampleUniform>::Sampler::sample_single(zero, self.weight, rng);
+            if self.weight > Self::ZERO {
+                let sample =
+                    <T as SampleUniform>::Sampler::sample_single(Self::ZERO, self.weight, rng);
                 let (index, weight) = WeightedShuffle::search(&self, sample);
                 self.remove(index, weight);
                 return Some(index);