We give an asymptotic upper bound for the kth twisted eigenvalue of the linearized Allen–Cahn operator in terms of the kth eigenvalue of the Jacobi operator, taken with respect to the minimal surface arising as the asymptotic limit of the zero sets of the Allen–Cahn critical points. We use an argument based on the notion of second inner variation developed in Le (On the second inner variations of Allen–Cahn type energies and applications to local minimizers. J. Math. Pures Appl. (9) 103 ( 2015 ) 1317–1345).