diff --git a/mesa/agent.py b/mesa/agent.py
index 109a9dcdba8..8688dc702a4 100644
--- a/mesa/agent.py
+++ b/mesa/agent.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import contextlib
+import copy
 import operator
 import warnings
 import weakref
@@ -124,9 +125,7 @@ def __init__(self, agents: Iterable[Agent], model: Model):
                 stacklevel=2,
             )
 
-        self._agents = weakref.WeakKeyDictionary()
-        for agent in agents:
-            self._agents[agent] = None
+        self._agents = weakref.WeakKeyDictionary({agent: None for agent in agents})
 
     def __len__(self) -> int:
         """Return the number of agents in the AgentSet."""
@@ -161,20 +160,21 @@ def select(
             AgentSet: A new AgentSet containing the selected agents, unless inplace is True, in which case the current AgentSet is updated.
         """
 
-        def agent_generator():
+        if filter_func is None and agent_type is None and n == 0:
+            return self if inplace else copy.copy(self)
+
+        def agent_generator(filter_func=None, agent_type=None, n=0):
             count = 0
             for agent in self:
-                if filter_func and not filter_func(agent):
-                    continue
-                if agent_type and not isinstance(agent, agent_type):
-                    continue
-                yield agent
-                count += 1
-                # default of n is zero, zo evaluates to False
-                if n and count >= n:
-                    break
-
-        agents = agent_generator()
+                if (not filter_func or filter_func(agent)) and (
+                    not agent_type or isinstance(agent, agent_type)
+                ):
+                    yield agent
+                    count += 1
+                    if 0 < n <= count:
+                        break
+
+        agents = agent_generator(filter_func, agent_type, n)
 
         return AgentSet(agents, self.model) if not inplace else self._update(agents)
 
@@ -229,11 +229,8 @@ def _update(self, agents: Iterable[Agent]):
         """Update the AgentSet with a new set of agents.
         This is a private method primarily used internally by other methods like select, shuffle, and sort.
         """
-        _agents = weakref.WeakKeyDictionary()
-        for agent in agents:
-            _agents[agent] = None
 
-        self._agents = _agents
+        self._agents = weakref.WeakKeyDictionary({agent: None for agent in agents})
         return self
 
     def do(
diff --git a/mesa/space.py b/mesa/space.py
index 969f18380cf..b730c2da796 100644
--- a/mesa/space.py
+++ b/mesa/space.py
@@ -326,8 +326,10 @@ def iter_neighbors(
             at most 9 if Moore, 5 if Von-Neumann
             (8 and 4 if not including the center).
         """
-        neighborhood = self.get_neighborhood(pos, moore, include_center, radius)
-        return self.iter_cell_list_contents(neighborhood)
+        default_val = self.default_val()
+        for x, y in self.get_neighborhood(pos, moore, include_center, radius):
+            if (cell := self._grid[x][y]) != default_val:
+                yield cell
 
     def get_neighbors(
         self,
@@ -385,11 +387,10 @@ def iter_cell_list_contents(
             An iterator of the agents contained in the cells identified in `cell_list`.
         """
         # iter_cell_list_contents returns only non-empty contents.
-        return (
-            cell
-            for x, y in cell_list
-            if (cell := self._grid[x][y]) != self.default_val()
-        )
+        default_val = self.default_val()
+        for x, y in cell_list:
+            if (cell := self._grid[x][y]) != default_val:
+                yield cell
 
     @accept_tuple_argument
     def get_cell_list_contents(self, cell_list: Iterable[Coordinate]) -> list[Agent]:
@@ -1045,6 +1046,17 @@ def remove_agent(self, agent: Agent) -> None:
             self._empty_mask[agent.pos] = False
         agent.pos = None
 
+    def iter_neighbors(
+        self,
+        pos: Coordinate,
+        moore: bool,
+        include_center: bool = False,
+        radius: int = 1,
+    ) -> Iterator[Agent]:
+        return itertools.chain.from_iterable(
+            super().iter_neighbors(pos, moore, include_center, radius)
+        )
+
     @accept_tuple_argument
     def iter_cell_list_contents(
         self, cell_list: Iterable[Coordinate]
@@ -1058,10 +1070,9 @@ def iter_cell_list_contents(
         Returns:
             An iterator of the agents contained in the cells identified in `cell_list`.
         """
+        default_val = self.default_val()
         return itertools.chain.from_iterable(
-            cell
-            for x, y in cell_list
-            if (cell := self._grid[x][y]) != self.default_val()
+            cell for x, y in cell_list if (cell := self._grid[x][y]) != default_val
         )