diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 00dcfabcc..5d591b91c 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -213,7 +213,8 @@ EXTRA_TESTS =
 ep_testsuite_la_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir) -I$(top_srcdir)/sqlite-kvstore \
                          $(AM_CPPFLAGS) ${NO_WERROR}
 ep_testsuite_la_SOURCES= ep_testsuite.cc ep_testsuite.h \
-                         atomic.cc locks.hh mutex.cc mutex.hh testlogger_libify.cc
+                         atomic.cc locks.hh mutex.cc mutex.hh \
+                         item.cc testlogger_libify.cc
 ep_testsuite_la_LDFLAGS= -module -dynamic
 
 # This is because automake can't figure out how to build the same code
diff --git a/ep_engine.cc b/ep_engine.cc
index 08ff4532d..0e44cd5be 100644
--- a/ep_engine.cc
+++ b/ep_engine.cc
@@ -1381,7 +1381,7 @@ inline tap_event_t EventuallyPersistentEngine::doWalkTapQueue(const void *cookie
             connection->encodeVBucketStateTransition(ev, es, nes, vbucket);
             break;
         case TAP_OPAQUE:
-            connection->opaqueCommandCode = ev.state;
+            connection->opaqueCommandCode = (uint32_t) ev.state;
             *vbucket = ev.vbucket;
             *es = &connection->opaqueCommandCode;
             *nes = sizeof(connection->opaqueCommandCode);
@@ -1400,8 +1400,9 @@ inline tap_event_t EventuallyPersistentEngine::doWalkTapQueue(const void *cookie
     case TAP_DELETION:
         *itm = it;
         if (ret == TAP_MUTATION || ret == TAP_DELETION) {
-            *es = (void*)it->getMetaData();
-            *nes = it->getNMetaBytes();
+            connection->itemRevSeqno = htonl(it->getSeqno());
+            *es = &connection->itemRevSeqno;
+            *nes = sizeof(connection->itemRevSeqno);
         }
         break;
     case TAP_NOOP:
@@ -1608,7 +1609,7 @@ ENGINE_ERROR_CODE EventuallyPersistentEngine::tapNotify(const void *cookie,
                                                         size_t nkey,
                                                         uint32_t flags,
                                                         uint32_t exptime,
-                                                        uint64_t, // cas
+                                                        uint64_t cas,
                                                         const void *data,
                                                         size_t ndata,
                                                         uint16_t vbucket)
@@ -1705,17 +1706,13 @@ ENGINE_ERROR_CODE EventuallyPersistentEngine::tapNotify(const void *cookie,
 
             if (tc) {
                 bool meta = false;
-                if (nengine > 0) {
-                    uint32_t s;
-                    uint64_t c;
-                    uint32_t l;
-                    uint32_t f;
-
-                    if (Item::decodeMeta((uint8_t*)engine_specific, s, c, l, f)) {
-                        itm->setCas(c);
-                        itm->setSeqno(s);
-                        meta = true;
-                    }
+                if (nengine == sizeof(uint32_t)) {
+                    uint32_t seqnum;
+                    memcpy(&seqnum, engine_specific, sizeof(seqnum));
+                    seqnum = ntohl(seqnum);
+                    itm->setCas(cas);
+                    itm->setSeqno(seqnum);
+                    meta = true;
                 }
 
                 if (tc->isBackfillPhase(vbucket)) {
diff --git a/item.cc b/item.cc
index 54cd4bf35..2bb3a6dd4 100644
--- a/item.cc
+++ b/item.cc
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #include "tools/cJSON.h"
 
 Atomic<uint64_t> Item::casCounter(1);
+// header(2 bytes) + seqno(uint32) + cas(uint64_t) + value_len(uint32_t) + flags(uint32_t)
+const uint32_t Item::metaDataSize(3 * sizeof(uint32_t) + sizeof(uint64_t) + 2);
 
 bool Item::append(const Item &i) {
     assert(value.get() != NULL);
diff --git a/item.hh b/item.hh
index 66afdc36b..21c4a7b4a 100644
--- a/item.hh
+++ b/item.hh
@@ -202,16 +202,6 @@ public:
         return static_cast<int>(key.length());
     }
 
-    uint32_t getNMetaBytes() const {
-        return sizeof(meta);
-    }
-
-    const char *getMetaData() {
-        size_t nb = sizeof(meta);
-        encodeMeta(seqno, cas, getNBytes(), flags, meta, nb);
-        return (const char*)meta;
-    }
-
     uint32_t getNBytes() const {
         return value.get() ? static_cast<uint32_t>(value->length()) : 0;
     }
@@ -366,6 +356,9 @@ public:
         return true;
     }
 
+    static uint32_t getNMetaBytes() {
+        return metaDataSize;
+    }
 
 private:
     /**
@@ -393,8 +386,6 @@ private:
     uint32_t seqno;
     uint16_t vbucketId;
 
-    uint8_t meta[22];
-
     static uint64_t nextCas(void) {
         uint64_t ret = gethrtime();
         if ((ret & 1000) == 0) {
@@ -409,6 +400,7 @@ private:
     }
 
     static Atomic<uint64_t> casCounter;
+    static const uint32_t metaDataSize;
     DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(Item);
 };
 
diff --git a/mc-kvstore/mc-engine.cc b/mc-kvstore/mc-engine.cc
index 558f5340b..7ab9d4a69 100644
--- a/mc-kvstore/mc-engine.cc
+++ b/mc-kvstore/mc-engine.cc
@@ -1066,14 +1066,14 @@ void MemcachedEngine::setmq(const Item &it, Callback<mutation_result> &cb) {
     req.message.header.request.datatype = PROTOCOL_BINARY_RAW_BYTES;
     req.message.header.request.vbucket = ntohs(it.getVBucketId());
     uint32_t bodylen = req.message.header.request.extlen + it.getNKey()
-        + it.getNBytes() + it.getNMetaBytes();
+        + it.getNBytes() + Item::getNMetaBytes();
     req.message.header.request.bodylen = ntohl(bodylen);
-    req.message.body.nmeta_bytes = ntohl(it.getNMetaBytes());
+    req.message.body.nmeta_bytes = ntohl(Item::getNMetaBytes());
     req.message.body.flags = it.getFlags();
     req.message.body.expiration = htonl((uint32_t)it.getExptime());
 
     uint8_t meta[30];
-    size_t nmeta = it.getNMetaBytes();
+    size_t nmeta = Item::getNMetaBytes();
     Item::encodeMeta(it, meta, nmeta);
 
     sendIov[0].iov_base = (char*)req.bytes;
diff --git a/tapconnection.hh b/tapconnection.hh
index 75a5ccae7..668edfe99 100644
--- a/tapconnection.hh
+++ b/tapconnection.hh
@@ -1143,6 +1143,11 @@ private:
      */
     uint32_t opaqueCommandCode;
 
+    /**
+     * Revision seq number of the item to be transmitted. This variable's value is
+     * copied to the engine_specific field in a memcached tap message.
+     */
+    uint32_t itemRevSeqno;
 
     /**
      * Is this tap connection in a suspended state (the receiver may