diff --git a/replica/database.hh b/replica/database.hh
index 7c46a8ac31..88751ffc25 100644
--- a/replica/database.hh
+++ b/replica/database.hh
@@ -322,6 +322,7 @@ using column_family_stats = table_stats;
 
 class database_sstable_write_monitor;
 class compaction_group;
+using compaction_group_vector = utils::chunked_vector<std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>>;
 
 using enable_backlog_tracker = bool_class<class enable_backlog_tracker_tag>;
 
@@ -424,7 +425,7 @@ private:
 
     compaction_manager& _compaction_manager;
     sstables::compaction_strategy _compaction_strategy;
-    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>> _compaction_groups;
+    compaction_group_vector _compaction_groups;
     // Compound SSTable set for all the compaction groups, which is useful for operations spanning all of them.
     lw_shared_ptr<sstables::sstable_set> _sstables;
     // Control background fibers waiting for sstables to be deleted
@@ -543,7 +544,7 @@ public:
 
 private:
     using compaction_group_ptr = std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>;
-    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>> make_compaction_groups();
+    compaction_group_vector make_compaction_groups();
     // Return compaction group if table owns a single one. Otherwise, null is returned.
     compaction_group* single_compaction_group_if_available() const noexcept;
     // Select a compaction group from a given token.
@@ -553,7 +554,7 @@ private:
     // Select a compaction group from a given sstable based on its token range.
     compaction_group& compaction_group_for_sstable(const sstables::shared_sstable& sst) const noexcept;
     // Returns a list of all compaction groups.
-    const std::vector<std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>>& compaction_groups() const noexcept;
+    const compaction_group_vector& compaction_groups() const noexcept;
     // Safely iterate through compaction groups, while performing async operations on them.
     future<> parallel_foreach_compaction_group(std::function<future<>(compaction_group&)> action);
 
diff --git a/replica/table.cc b/replica/table.cc
index ae1f901a91..8b6df81bb6 100644
--- a/replica/table.cc
+++ b/replica/table.cc
@@ -542,8 +542,8 @@ void table::enable_off_strategy_trigger() {
     do_update_off_strategy_trigger();
 }
 
-std::vector<std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>> table::make_compaction_groups() {
-    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>> ret;
+compaction_group_vector table::make_compaction_groups() {
+    compaction_group_vector ret;
     auto&& ranges = dht::split_token_range_msb(_x_log2_compaction_groups);
     ret.reserve(ranges.size());
     tlogger.debug("Created {} compaction groups for {}.{}", ranges.size(), _schema->ks_name(), _schema->cf_name());
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ compaction_group& table::compaction_group_for_sstable(const sstables::shared_sst
     return compaction_group_for_token(sst->get_first_decorated_key().token());
 }
 
-const std::vector<std::unique_ptr<compaction_group>>& table::compaction_groups() const noexcept {
+const compaction_group_vector& table::compaction_groups() const noexcept {
     return _compaction_groups;
 }
 
diff --git a/scylla-gdb.py b/scylla-gdb.py
index 45c227f286..0852a8521e 100755
--- a/scylla-gdb.py
+++ b/scylla-gdb.py
@@ -4410,13 +4410,17 @@ class scylla_memtables(gdb.Command):
         for table in all_tables(db):
             gdb.write('table %s:\n' % schema_ptr(table['_schema']).table_name())
             try:
-                for cg_ptr in std_vector(table["_compaction_groups"]):
+                for cg_ptr in chunked_vector(table["_compaction_groups"]):
                     scylla_memtables.dump_compaction_group_memtables(std_unique_ptr(cg_ptr).get())
             except gdb.error:
                 try:
-                    scylla_memtables.dump_compaction_group_memtables(std_unique_ptr(table["_compaction_group"]).get())
+                    for cg_ptr in std_vector(table["_compaction_groups"]):
+                        scylla_memtables.dump_compaction_group_memtables(std_unique_ptr(cg_ptr).get())
                 except gdb.error:
-                    scylla_memtables.dump_memtable_list(seastar_lw_shared_ptr(table['_memtables']).get()) # Scylla 5.1 compatibility
+                    try:
+                        scylla_memtables.dump_compaction_group_memtables(std_unique_ptr(table["_compaction_group"]).get())
+                    except gdb.error:
+                        scylla_memtables.dump_memtable_list(seastar_lw_shared_ptr(table['_memtables']).get()) # Scylla 5.1 compatibility
 
 def escape_html(s):
     return s.replace('&', '&amp;').replace('<', '&lt;').replace('>', '&gt;')