diff --git a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/CopyingMetaBytesInterop.java b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/CopyingMetaBytesInterop.java
index 0c82d0f72..d778a5c2b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/CopyingMetaBytesInterop.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/CopyingMetaBytesInterop.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import java.io.Serializable;
 public abstract class CopyingMetaBytesInterop<E, W> extends BasicCopyingMetaBytesInterop<E, W> {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-    private static final long MAX_REASONABLE_SERIALIZED_SIZE = MemoryUnit.MEGABYTES.toBytes(512L);
+    private static final long MAX_REASONABLE_SERIALIZED_SIZE = MemoryUnit.MEGABYTES.toBytes(16L);
 
     public static void checkMaxSizeStillReasonable(long maxSize, Exception ex) {
         if (maxSize > MAX_REASONABLE_SERIALIZED_SIZE) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DataValueMetaBytesInterop.java b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DataValueMetaBytesInterop.java
index 6e1c4d4c6..2a1084453 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DataValueMetaBytesInterop.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DataValueMetaBytesInterop.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public abstract class DataValueMetaBytesInterop<E>
     }
 
     void init(BytesWriter<E> writer, E e, long size) {
-        Bytes buffer = this.buffer.obtain(size, false);
+        Bytes buffer = this.buffer.obtain(size, true);
         writer.write(buffer, e);
         buffer.flip();
         assert buffer.remaining() == size;
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DirectBytesBuffer.java b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DirectBytesBuffer.java
index c01ceb59d..8965b5c3c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DirectBytesBuffer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/hash/serialization/internal/DirectBytesBuffer.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package net.openhft.chronicle.hash.serialization.internal;
 
 import net.openhft.chronicle.hash.serialization.BytesWriter;
-import net.openhft.lang.io.BoundsCheckingNativeBytes;
 import net.openhft.lang.io.Bytes;
 import net.openhft.lang.io.DirectBytes;
 import net.openhft.lang.io.DirectStore;
@@ -34,7 +33,6 @@ class DirectBytesBuffer
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 0L;
     private final Serializable identity;
     transient DirectBytes buffer;
-    transient BoundsCheckingNativeBytes checkingBuffer;
 
     transient ForBytesMarshaller forBytesMarshaller;
     transient ForBytesWriter forBytesWriter;
@@ -60,29 +58,16 @@ class DirectBytesBuffer
         DirectBytes buf;
         if ((buf = buffer) != null) {
             if (maxSize <= buf.capacity()) {
-                if (!boundsChecking)
-                    return buf.clear();
-                Bytes checkingBuf;
-                if ((checkingBuf = checkingBuffer) != null) {
-                    return checkingBuf.clear();
-                } else {
-                    return (checkingBuffer = new BoundsCheckingNativeBytes(buf)).clear();
-                }
+                return buf.clear();
             } else {
                 DirectStore store = (DirectStore) buf.store();
-                store.resize(maxSize, true);
-                buf = buffer = store.bytes();
-                if (!boundsChecking)
-                    return buf;
-                return (checkingBuffer = new BoundsCheckingNativeBytes(buf));
+                store.resize(maxSize, false);
+                return buffer = store.bytes();
             }
         } else {
-            buf = buffer = new DirectStore(JDKObjectSerializer.INSTANCE,
-                    // don't allocate 0 bytes
-                    Math.max(1, maxSize), true).bytes();
-            if (!boundsChecking)
-                return buf;
-            return (checkingBuffer = new BoundsCheckingNativeBytes(buf));
+            buffer = new DirectStore(JDKObjectSerializer.INSTANCE, Math.max(1, maxSize), true)
+                    .bytes();
+            return buffer;
         }
     }
 
@@ -140,7 +125,7 @@ class DirectBytesBuffer
                 this.writer = writer;
                 cur = e;
                 long size = writer.size(e);
-                Bytes buffer = this.buffer.obtain(size, false);
+                Bytes buffer = this.buffer.obtain(size, true);
                 writer.write(buffer, e);
                 buffer.flip();
                 this.size = size;