diff --git a/src/iterators/bfs.jl b/src/iterators/bfs.jl
index 57779243..d45f7793 100644
--- a/src/iterators/bfs.jl
+++ b/src/iterators/bfs.jl
@@ -35,15 +35,16 @@ end
     BFSVertexIteratorState
 
 `BFSVertexIteratorState` is a struct to hold the current state of iteration
-in BFS which is needed for the `Base.iterate()` function. A queue is used to
-keep track of the vertices which will be visited during BFS. Since the queue
-can contains repetitions of already visited nodes, we also keep track of that
-in a `BitVector` so that to skip those nodes.
+in BFS which is needed for the `Base.iterate()` function. We use two vectors,
+one for the current level nodes and one from the next level nodes to visit 
+the graph. Since new levels can contains repetitions of already visited nodes, 
+we also keep track of that in a `BitVector` so as to skip those nodes.
 """
 mutable struct BFSVertexIteratorState
     visited::BitVector
-    queue::Vector{Int}
-    neighbor_idx::Int
+    curr_level::Vector{Int}
+    next_level::Vector{Int}
+    node_idx::Int
     n_visited::Int
 end
 
@@ -58,14 +59,17 @@ First iteration to visit vertices in a graph using breadth-first search.
 function Base.iterate(t::BFSIterator{<:Integer})
     visited = falses(nv(t.graph))
     visited[t.source] = true
-    return (t.source, BFSVertexIteratorState(visited, [t.source], 1, 1))
+    state = BFSVertexIteratorState(visited, [t.source], Int[], 0, 0)
+    return Base.iterate(t, state)
 end
 
 function Base.iterate(t::BFSIterator{<:AbstractArray})
     visited = falses(nv(t.graph))
-    visited[first(t.source)] = true
-    state = BFSVertexIteratorState(visited, copy(t.source), 1, 1)
-    return (first(t.source), state)
+    curr_level = unique(s for s in t.source)
+    sort!(curr_level)
+    visited[curr_level] .= true
+    state = BFSVertexIteratorState(visited, curr_level, Int[], 0, 0)
+    return Base.iterate(t, state)
 end
 
 """
@@ -74,36 +78,25 @@ end
 Iterator to visit vertices in a graph using breadth-first search.
 """
 function Base.iterate(t::BFSIterator, state::BFSVertexIteratorState)
-    graph, visited, queue = t.graph, state.visited, state.queue
-    while !isempty(queue)
-        if state.n_visited == nv(graph)
-            return nothing
-        end
-        # we visit the first node in the queue
-        node_start = first(queue)
-        if !visited[node_start]
-            visited[node_start] = true
-            state.n_visited += 1
-            return (node_start, state)
-        end
-        # which means we arrive here when the first node was visited.
-        neigh = outneighbors(graph, node_start)
-        if state.neighbor_idx <= length(neigh)
-            node = neigh[state.neighbor_idx]
-            # we update the idx of the neighbor we will visit,
-            # if it is already visited, we repeat
-            state.neighbor_idx += 1
-            if !visited[node]
-                push!(queue, node)
-                state.visited[node] = true
-                state.n_visited += 1
-                return (node, state)
+    # we fill nodes in this level
+    if state.node_idx == length(state.curr_level)
+        state.n_visited += length(state.curr_level)
+        state.n_visited == nv(t.graph) && return nothing
+        @inbounds for node in state.curr_level
+            for adj_node in outneighbors(t.graph, node)
+                if !state.visited[adj_node]
+                    push!(state.next_level, adj_node)
+                    state.visited[adj_node] = true
+                end
             end
-        else
-            # when the first node and its neighbors are visited
-            # we remove the first node of the queue
-            popfirst!(queue)
-            state.neighbor_idx = 1
         end
+        length(state.next_level) == 0 && return nothing
+        state.curr_level, state.next_level = state.next_level, empty!(state.curr_level)
+        sort!(state.curr_level)
+        state.node_idx = 0
     end
+    # we visit all nodes in this level
+    state.node_idx += 1
+    @inbounds node = state.curr_level[state.node_idx]
+    return (node, state)
 end
diff --git a/test/iterators/bfs.jl b/test/iterators/bfs.jl
index c70bdf36..f459eafa 100644
--- a/test/iterators/bfs.jl
+++ b/test/iterators/bfs.jl
@@ -35,7 +35,14 @@
         end
     end
     nodes_visited = collect(BFSIterator(g2, [1, 6]))
-    @test nodes_visited == [1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 7, 4]
+    levels = ([1, 6], [2, 3, 5, 7], [4])
+    @test sort(nodes_visited[1:2]) == sort(levels[1])
+    @test sort(nodes_visited[3:6]) == sort(levels[2])
+    @test sort(nodes_visited[7:end]) == sort(levels[3])
+
     nodes_visited = collect(BFSIterator(g2, [8, 1, 6]))
-    @test nodes_visited == [8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 7, 4]
+    levels = ([8, 1, 6], [2, 3, 5, 7, 9], [4])
+    @test sort(nodes_visited[1:3]) == sort(levels[1])
+    @test sort(nodes_visited[4:8]) == sort(levels[2])
+    @test sort(nodes_visited[9:end]) == sort(levels[3])
 end