diff --git a/bench/benchmarks/buffer.js b/bench/benchmarks/buffer.js
index e204c8c6415..7a62b38ac0a 100644
--- a/bench/benchmarks/buffer.js
+++ b/bench/benchmarks/buffer.js
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ function runSample(stylesheet, getGlyphs, getIcons, getTile, callback) {
 
         getTile(url, function(err, response) {
             if (err) throw err;
-            var data = new VT.VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(response)));
+            var data = new VT.VectorTile(new Protobuf(response));
             workerTile.parse(data, layerFamilies, actor, function(err) {
                 if (err) return callback(err);
                 eachCallback();
diff --git a/bin/point-in-polygon.js b/bin/point-in-polygon.js
index 4728e576eef..4995a340979 100755
--- a/bin/point-in-polygon.js
+++ b/bin/point-in-polygon.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ var data = fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2]);
 zlib.inflate(data, function(err, data) {
 if (err) throw err;
 
-var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(data)));
+var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(data));
 
 
 var tree = rbush(9, ['.x1', '.y1', '.x2', '.y2']);
diff --git a/bin/show.js b/bin/show.js
index aff95b9cf79..120b516d693 100755
--- a/bin/show.js
+++ b/bin/show.js
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ var data = fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2]);
 zlib.inflate(data, function(err, data) {
     if (err) throw err;
 
-    var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(data)));
+    var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(data));
 
     for (var layer_name in tile.layers) {
         var layer = tile.layers[layer_name];
diff --git a/bin/stats-type.js b/bin/stats-type.js
index 4afb082d4a7..d02c539be0b 100755
--- a/bin/stats-type.js
+++ b/bin/stats-type.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ var data = fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2]);
 zlib.inflate(data, function(err, data) {
     if (err) throw err;
 
-    var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(data)));
+    var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(data));
 
     var stats = {};
     for (var layer_name in tile.layers) {
diff --git a/bin/stats.js b/bin/stats.js
index e84444c8bc2..8a18f31d554 100755
--- a/bin/stats.js
+++ b/bin/stats.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ var data = fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2]);
 zlib.inflate(data, function(err, data) {
     if (err) throw err;
 
-    var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(data)));
+    var tile = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(data));
 
     var omit = ['osm_id', 'name', 'name_en', 'name_de', 'name_es', 'name_fr', 'maki', 'website', 'address', 'reflen', 'len', 'area'];
 
diff --git a/js/data/feature_index.js b/js/data/feature_index.js
index 13ead2160fa..63d6c0a4d36 100644
--- a/js/data/feature_index.js
+++ b/js/data/feature_index.js
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ function translateDistance(translate) {
 // Finds features in this tile at a particular position.
 FeatureIndex.prototype.query = function(args, styleLayers) {
     if (!this.vtLayers) {
-        this.vtLayers = new vt.VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(this.rawTileData))).layers;
+        this.vtLayers = new vt.VectorTile(new Protobuf(this.rawTileData)).layers;
         this.sourceLayerCoder = new DictionaryCoder(this.vtLayers ? Object.keys(this.vtLayers).sort() : ['_geojsonTileLayer']);
     }
 
diff --git a/js/source/tile.js b/js/source/tile.js
index 67722d5be2c..66d32ea5927 100644
--- a/js/source/tile.js
+++ b/js/source/tile.js
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ Tile.prototype = {
         if (!this.rawTileData) return;
 
         if (!this.vtLayers) {
-            this.vtLayers = new vt.VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(this.rawTileData))).layers;
+            this.vtLayers = new vt.VectorTile(new Protobuf(this.rawTileData)).layers;
         }
 
         var layer = this.vtLayers._geojsonTileLayer || this.vtLayers[params.sourceLayer];
diff --git a/js/source/vector_tile_worker_source.js b/js/source/vector_tile_worker_source.js
index 49e4424fb1c..9d735d9f859 100644
--- a/js/source/vector_tile_worker_source.js
+++ b/js/source/vector_tile_worker_source.js
@@ -61,9 +61,11 @@ VectorTileWorkerSource.prototype = {
             tile.data = data.tile;
             tile.parse(tile.data, this.styleLayers.getLayerFamilies(), this.actor, function (err, result, transferrables) {
                 if (err) return callback(err);
+
+                // Not transferring rawTileData because the worker needs to retain its copy.
                 callback(null,
                     util.extend({rawTileData: data.rawTileData}, result),
-                    transferrables.concat(data.rawTileData));
+                    transferrables);
             });
 
             this.loaded[source] = this.loaded[source] || {};
@@ -127,7 +129,7 @@ VectorTileWorkerSource.prototype = {
         return function abort () { xhr.abort(); };
         function done(err, data) {
             if (err) { return callback(err); }
-            var tile =  new vt.VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(data)));
+            var tile = new vt.VectorTile(new Protobuf(data));
             callback(err, { tile: tile, rawTileData: data });
         }
     },
diff --git a/js/symbol/glyph_source.js b/js/symbol/glyph_source.js
index 1b3649d749e..15718091211 100644
--- a/js/symbol/glyph_source.js
+++ b/js/symbol/glyph_source.js
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ GlyphSource.prototype.loadRange = function(fontstack, range, callback) {
         var url = glyphUrl(fontstack, rangeName, this.url);
 
         getArrayBuffer(url, function(err, data) {
-            var glyphs = !err && new Glyphs(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(data)));
+            var glyphs = !err && new Glyphs(new Protobuf(data));
             for (var i = 0; i < loading[range].length; i++) {
                 loading[range][i](err, range, glyphs);
             }
diff --git a/test/js/data/fill_bucket.test.js b/test/js/data/fill_bucket.test.js
index d0faf097302..a5f83aef7a0 100644
--- a/test/js/data/fill_bucket.test.js
+++ b/test/js/data/fill_bucket.test.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ var path = require('path');
 var StyleLayer = require('../../../js/style/style_layer');
 
 // Load a fill feature from fixture tile.
-var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf')))));
+var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf'))));
 var feature = vt.layers.water.feature(0);
 
 function createFeature(points) {
diff --git a/test/js/data/line_bucket.test.js b/test/js/data/line_bucket.test.js
index 656496d5972..c407413ef2f 100644
--- a/test/js/data/line_bucket.test.js
+++ b/test/js/data/line_bucket.test.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ var LineBucket = require('../../../js/data/bucket/line_bucket');
 var StyleLayer = require('../../../js/style/style_layer');
 
 // Load a line feature from fixture tile.
-var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf')))));
+var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf'))));
 var feature = vt.layers.road.feature(0);
 
 test('LineBucket', function(t) {
diff --git a/test/js/data/load_geometry.test.js b/test/js/data/load_geometry.test.js
index 71a467912ae..76a87bfe371 100644
--- a/test/js/data/load_geometry.test.js
+++ b/test/js/data/load_geometry.test.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ var VectorTile = require('vector-tile').VectorTile;
 var loadGeometry = require('../../../js/data/load_geometry.js');
 
 // Load a line feature from fixture tile.
-var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf')))));
+var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf'))));
 
 test('loadGeometry', function(t) {
     var feature = vt.layers.road.feature(0);
diff --git a/test/js/data/symbol_bucket.test.js b/test/js/data/symbol_bucket.test.js
index e3d04a9240d..e42fa9b0e61 100644
--- a/test/js/data/symbol_bucket.test.js
+++ b/test/js/data/symbol_bucket.test.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ var StyleLayer = require('../../../js/style/style_layer');
 var util = require('../../../js/util/util');
 
 // Load a point feature from fixture tile.
-var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf')))));
+var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf'))));
 var feature = vt.layers.place_label.feature(10);
 var glyphs = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/fontstack-glyphs.json')));
 
diff --git a/test/js/util/classify_rings.test.js b/test/js/util/classify_rings.test.js
index d8452ebfa95..d5db5e3e13f 100644
--- a/test/js/util/classify_rings.test.js
+++ b/test/js/util/classify_rings.test.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ var VectorTile = require('vector-tile').VectorTile;
 var classifyRings = require('../../../js/util/classify_rings');
 
 // Load a fill feature from fixture tile.
-var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(new Uint8Array(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf')))));
+var vt = new VectorTile(new Protobuf(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '/../../fixtures/mbsv5-6-18-23.vector.pbf'))));
 var feature = vt.layers.water.feature(0);
 
 test('classifyRings', function(assert) {