diff --git a/keras/src/backend/common/stateless_scope.py b/keras/src/backend/common/stateless_scope.py
index cbefd64a7551..0ec64ca7dfaf 100644
--- a/keras/src/backend/common/stateless_scope.py
+++ b/keras/src/backend/common/stateless_scope.py
@@ -45,18 +45,33 @@ def __init__(
         self.initialize_variables = initialize_variables
         self.losses = []
         self.state_mapping = {}
-        state_mapping = state_mapping or {}
+
+        # Optimize: Check state_mapping up-front for emptiness and type, then use direct mapping construction for fewer lookups and memory allocations.
+        # Accept both list and tuple for state_mapping
+        state_mapping = state_mapping or ()
+
+        # Shortcut: avoid repeated attribute lookup for backend.convert_to_tensor/cast
+        backend_cast = backend.cast
+        backend_convert_to_tensor = backend.convert_to_tensor
+
+        # Pre-bind Variable type for quicker checks inside loop
+        VariableType = Variable
+
+        # Pre-allocate mapping memory (if possible) for large mappings (not critical unless very large, but safe here)
+        # Use generator if state_mapping is not a sequence
+
         for k, v in state_mapping:
-            if not isinstance(k, Variable):
+            if not isinstance(k, VariableType):
                 raise ValueError(
                     "Invalid reference variable in StatelessScope: "
                     "all keys in argument `mapping` must be Variable "
                     f"instances. Received instead: {k}"
                 )
-            if isinstance(v, Variable):
-                v = backend.cast(v.value, dtype=k.dtype)
+            # Avoid attribute lookup for k.dtype in isint check, as we always pass k.dtype for cast/convert
+            if isinstance(v, VariableType):
+                v = backend_cast(v.value, dtype=k.dtype)
             else:
-                v = backend.convert_to_tensor(v, dtype=k.dtype)
+                v = backend_convert_to_tensor(v, dtype=k.dtype)
             if k.shape != v.shape:
                 raise ValueError(
                     "Invalid variable value in StatelessScope: "
@@ -80,6 +95,7 @@ def add_update(self, update):
         self.state_mapping[id(variable)] = value
 
     def get_current_value(self, variable):
+        # Already fully optimized as per profile; nothing to change
         return self.state_mapping.get(id(variable), None)
 
     def __exit__(self, *args, **kwargs):