diff --git a/upstairs/src/lib.rs b/upstairs/src/lib.rs
index 7d60306bf..db4256402 100644
--- a/upstairs/src/lib.rs
+++ b/upstairs/src/lib.rs
@@ -1475,7 +1475,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for AckStatus {
 }
 
 /*
- * Provides a shared Buffer that Read operations will write into.
+ * Provides a strongly-owned Buffer that Read operations will write into.
  *
  * Originally BytesMut was used here, but it didn't guarantee that memory was
  * shared between cloned BytesMut objects. Additionally, we added the idea of
@@ -1496,6 +1496,11 @@ impl fmt::Display for AckStatus {
  * Because persistence is required, ownership will always come from the
  * Downstairs (or other `BlockIO` implementations that persist ownership
  * information) and be propagated "up".
+ *
+ * The `Buffer` is a block-oriented data structure: any functions which read or
+ * write to it's data must be block-aligned and block sized.  Otherwise, these
+ * functions will panic.  Any function which panics also notes those conditions
+ * in its docstring.
  */
 #[must_use]
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Default)]
@@ -1551,20 +1556,42 @@ impl Buffer {
         self.data.is_empty()
     }
 
-    pub fn write(&mut self, offset: usize, data: &[u8]) {
+    /// Writes data to the buffer, setting `owned` to `true`
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    /// - The offset must be block-aligned
+    /// - The data length must be divisible by block size
+    /// - Data cannot exceed the buffer's length
+    ///
+    /// If any of these conditions are not met, the function will panic.
+    pub(crate) fn write(&mut self, offset: usize, data: &[u8]) {
         assert!(offset + data.len() <= self.data.len());
+        assert_eq!(offset % self.block_size, 0);
+        assert_eq!(data.len() % self.block_size, 0);
 
         self.data[offset..][..data.len()].copy_from_slice(data);
         self.owned[offset..][..data.len()].fill(true);
     }
 
-    pub fn write_with_ownership(
+    /// Writes both data and ownership to the buffer
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    /// - The offset must be block-aligned
+    /// - The data length must be divisible by block size
+    /// - Data cannot exceed the buffer's length
+    /// - `data` and `owned` must be the same size
+    ///
+    /// If any of these conditions are not met, the function will panic.
+    pub(crate) fn write_with_ownership(
         &mut self,
         offset: usize,
         data: &[u8],
         owned: &[bool],
     ) {
         assert!(offset + data.len() <= self.data.len());
+        assert_eq!(data.len(), owned.len());
+        assert_eq!(data.len() % self.block_size, 0);
+        assert_eq!(offset % self.block_size, 0);
         for i in 0..data.len() {
             if owned[i] {
                 self.data[offset + i] = data[i];
@@ -1573,12 +1600,22 @@ impl Buffer {
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn write_read_response(
+    /// Writes a `ReadResponse` into the buffer, setting `owned` to true
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    /// - The offset must be block-aligned
+    /// - The response data length must be divisible by block size
+    /// - Data cannot exceed the buffer's length
+    ///
+    /// If any of these conditions are not met, the function will panic.
+    pub(crate) fn write_read_response(
         &mut self,
         offset: usize,
         response: &ReadResponse,
     ) {
         assert!(offset + response.data.len() <= self.data.len());
+        assert_eq!(offset % self.block_size, 0);
+        assert_eq!(response.data.len(), self.block_size);
         if !response.block_contexts.is_empty() {
             self.data[offset..][..response.data.len()]
                 .copy_from_slice(&response.data);
@@ -1586,8 +1623,20 @@ impl Buffer {
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn read(&self, offset: usize, data: &mut [u8]) {
+    /// Reads buffer data into the given array
+    ///
+    /// Values without `self.owned` are left unmodified
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    /// - The offset must be block-aligned
+    /// - The response data length must be divisible by block size
+    /// - Data cannot exceed the buffer's length
+    ///
+    /// If any of these conditions are not met, the function will panic.
+    pub(crate) fn read(&self, offset: usize, data: &mut [u8]) {
         assert!(offset + data.len() <= self.data.len());
+        assert_eq!(offset % self.block_size, 0);
+        assert_eq!(data.len() % self.block_size, 0);
         for (i, d) in data.iter_mut().enumerate() {
             if self.owned[offset + i] {
                 *d = self.data[offset + i];
@@ -1595,12 +1644,23 @@ impl Buffer {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Consumes the buffer and returns a `Bytes` object
+    ///
+    /// The allocation from the `Vec<u8>` is reused for efficiency
     pub fn into_bytes(self) -> Bytes {
         Bytes::from(self.data)
     }
 
     /// Consume and layer buffer contents on top of this one
-    pub fn eat(&mut self, offset: usize, buffer: &mut Buffer) {
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    /// - The offset must be block-aligned
+    /// - Both buffers must have the same block size
+    ///
+    /// If either of these conditions is not met, the function will panic
+    pub(crate) fn eat(&mut self, offset: usize, buffer: &mut Buffer) {
+        assert_eq!(offset % self.block_size, 0);
+        assert_eq!(self.block_size, buffer.block_size);
         for (i, (data, owned)) in
             std::iter::zip(&buffer.data, &buffer.owned).enumerate()
         {
@@ -1666,8 +1726,9 @@ fn test_buffer_len_over_block_size() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_buffer_writes() {
-    const READ_SIZE: usize = 512;
-    let mut data = Buffer::new(1, READ_SIZE);
+    const BLOCK_COUNT: usize = 8;
+    const BLOCK_SIZE: usize = 64;
+    let mut data = Buffer::new(BLOCK_COUNT, BLOCK_SIZE); // 512 bytes
 
     assert_eq!(&data[..], &vec![0u8; 512]);
 
@@ -1687,17 +1748,19 @@ fn test_buffer_writes() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_buffer_eats() {
-    const READ_SIZE: usize = 512;
-    let mut data = Buffer::new(1, READ_SIZE);
+    // We use an artificially low BLOCK_SIZE here for ease of alignment
+    const BLOCK_COUNT: usize = 8;
+    const BLOCK_SIZE: usize = 64;
+    let mut data = Buffer::new(BLOCK_COUNT, BLOCK_SIZE); // 512 bytes
 
     assert_eq!(&data[..], &vec![0u8; 512]);
 
-    let mut buffer = Buffer::new(1, READ_SIZE);
+    let mut buffer = Buffer::new(BLOCK_COUNT, BLOCK_SIZE);
     buffer.eat(0, &mut data);
 
     assert_eq!(&buffer[..], &vec![0u8; 512]);
 
-    let mut data = Buffer::new(1, READ_SIZE);
+    let mut data = Buffer::new(BLOCK_COUNT, BLOCK_SIZE);
     data.write(64, &[1u8; 64]);
     buffer.eat(0, &mut data);
 
@@ -1705,7 +1768,7 @@ fn test_buffer_eats() {
     assert_eq!(&buffer[64..128], &vec![1u8; 64]);
     assert_eq!(&buffer[128..], &vec![0u8; 512 - 64 - 64]);
 
-    let mut data = Buffer::new(1, READ_SIZE);
+    let mut data = Buffer::new(BLOCK_COUNT, BLOCK_SIZE);
     data.write(128, &[7u8; 128]);
     buffer.eat(0, &mut data);
 
diff --git a/upstairs/src/pseudo_file.rs b/upstairs/src/pseudo_file.rs
index c98f40d2c..5327750d6 100644
--- a/upstairs/src/pseudo_file.rs
+++ b/upstairs/src/pseudo_file.rs
@@ -102,15 +102,76 @@ impl IOSpan {
     }
 
     #[instrument]
-    pub fn read_from_blocks_into_buffer(&self, data: &mut [u8]) {
+    pub fn read_from_blocks_into_buffer(&self, mut data: &mut [u8]) {
         assert_eq!(data.len(), self.sz as usize);
-        self.buffer.read(self.phase as usize, data);
+
+        if self.phase % self.block_size == 0
+            && data.len() % self.block_size as usize == 0
+        {
+            self.buffer.read(self.phase as usize, data);
+        } else {
+            let mut pos = self.phase as usize;
+            let bs = self.block_size as usize;
+            while !data.is_empty() {
+                if pos % bs == 0 && data.len() >= bs {
+                    // Read as many integral blocks as we can get
+                    let n = (data.len() / bs) * bs;
+                    let (chunk, next) = data.split_at_mut(n);
+                    self.buffer.read(pos, chunk);
+                    data = next;
+                    pos += n;
+                } else {
+                    let mut scratch = vec![0u8; bs];
+                    self.buffer.read((pos / bs) * bs, &mut scratch);
+
+                    // Patch the relevant chunk from the incoming data
+                    let n = (self.sz as usize - (pos - self.phase as usize))
+                        .min(bs - (pos % bs));
+                    let (chunk, next) = data.split_at_mut(n);
+                    chunk.copy_from_slice(&scratch[pos % bs..][..n]);
+                    data = next;
+                    pos += n;
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     #[instrument]
-    pub fn write_from_buffer_into_blocks(&mut self, data: &[u8]) {
+    pub fn write_from_buffer_into_blocks(&mut self, mut data: &[u8]) {
         assert_eq!(data.len(), self.sz as usize);
-        self.buffer.write(self.phase as usize, data);
+        if self.phase % self.block_size == 0
+            && data.len() % self.block_size as usize == 0
+        {
+            self.buffer.write(self.phase as usize, data);
+        } else {
+            let mut pos = self.phase as usize;
+            let bs = self.block_size as usize;
+            while !data.is_empty() {
+                if pos % bs == 0 && data.len() >= bs {
+                    // Write as many integral blocks as we can get
+                    let n = (data.len() / bs) * bs;
+                    let (chunk, next) = data.split_at(n);
+                    self.buffer.write(pos, chunk);
+                    data = next;
+                    pos += n;
+                } else {
+                    // Read the relevant block from the buffer
+                    let mut scratch = vec![0u8; bs];
+                    self.buffer.read((pos / bs) * bs, &mut scratch);
+
+                    // Patch the relevant chunk from the incoming data
+                    let n = (self.sz as usize - (pos - self.phase as usize))
+                        .min(bs - (pos % bs));
+                    let (chunk, next) = data.split_at(n);
+                    scratch[pos % bs..][..n].copy_from_slice(chunk);
+
+                    // Write it back to the buffer
+                    self.buffer.write((pos / bs) * bs, &scratch);
+                    data = next;
+                    pos += n;
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 }