diff --git a/crates/proto/src/udp/mod.rs b/crates/proto/src/udp/mod.rs
index f3d06f57ee..958d8337ce 100644
--- a/crates/proto/src/udp/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/proto/src/udp/mod.rs
@@ -21,3 +21,7 @@ mod udp_stream;
 
 pub use self::udp_client_stream::{UdpClientConnect, UdpClientStream};
 pub use self::udp_stream::{DnsUdpSocket, QuicLocalAddr, UdpSocket, UdpStream};
+
+/// Max size for the UDP receive buffer as recommended by
+/// [RFC6891](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6891#section-6.2.5).
+const MAX_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 4096;
diff --git a/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_client_stream.rs b/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_client_stream.rs
index 7ce469fb1d..99efb742fb 100644
--- a/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_client_stream.rs
+++ b/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_client_stream.rs
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ use std::task::{Context, Poll};
 use std::time::{Duration, SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH};
 
 use futures_util::{future::Future, stream::Stream};
-use tracing::{debug, warn};
+use tracing::{debug, trace, warn};
 
 use crate::error::ProtoError;
 use crate::op::message::NoopMessageFinalizer;
 use crate::op::{Message, MessageFinalizer, MessageVerifier};
 use crate::udp::udp_stream::{NextRandomUdpSocket, UdpCreator, UdpSocket};
-use crate::udp::DnsUdpSocket;
+use crate::udp::{DnsUdpSocket, MAX_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE};
 use crate::xfer::{DnsRequest, DnsRequestSender, DnsResponse, DnsResponseStream, SerialMessage};
 use crate::Time;
 
@@ -212,6 +212,9 @@ impl<S: DnsUdpSocket + Send + 'static, MF: MessageFinalizer> DnsRequestSender
             }
         }
 
+        // Get an appropriate read buffer size.
+        let recv_buf_size = MAX_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE.min(message.max_payload() as usize);
+
         let bytes = match message.to_vec() {
             Ok(bytes) => bytes,
             Err(err) => {
@@ -235,7 +238,8 @@ impl<S: DnsUdpSocket + Send + 'static, MF: MessageFinalizer> DnsRequestSender
             self.timeout,
             Box::pin(async move {
                 let socket: S = NextRandomUdpSocket::new_with_closure(&addr, creator).await?;
-                send_serial_message_inner(message, message_id, verifier, socket).await
+                send_serial_message_inner(message, message_id, verifier, socket, recv_buf_size)
+                    .await
             }),
         )
         .into()
@@ -298,6 +302,7 @@ async fn send_serial_message_inner<S: DnsUdpSocket + Send>(
     msg_id: u16,
     verifier: Option<MessageVerifier>,
     socket: S,
+    recv_buf_size: usize,
 ) -> Result<DnsResponse, ProtoError> {
     let bytes = msg.bytes();
     let addr = msg.addr();
@@ -311,13 +316,16 @@ async fn send_serial_message_inner<S: DnsUdpSocket + Send>(
         )));
     }
 
+    // Create the receive buffer.
+    trace!("creating UDP receive buffer with size {recv_buf_size}");
+    let mut recv_buf = vec![0; recv_buf_size];
+
     // TODO: limit the max number of attempted messages? this relies on a timeout to die...
     loop {
-        // TODO: consider making this heap based? need to verify it matches EDNS settings
-        let mut recv_buf = [0u8; 2048];
-
         let (len, src) = socket.recv_from(&mut recv_buf).await?;
-        let buffer: Vec<_> = recv_buf.iter().take(len).cloned().collect();
+
+        // Copy the slice of read bytes.
+        let buffer: Vec<_> = Vec::from(&recv_buf[0..len]);
 
         // compare expected src to received packet
         let request_target = msg.addr();
diff --git a/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_stream.rs b/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_stream.rs
index 6ecced3a23..d30d48037c 100644
--- a/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_stream.rs
+++ b/crates/proto/src/udp/udp_stream.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ use rand;
 use rand::distributions::{uniform::Uniform, Distribution};
 use tracing::{debug, warn};
 
+use crate::udp::MAX_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE;
 use crate::xfer::{BufDnsStreamHandle, SerialMessage, StreamReceiver};
 use crate::Time;
 
@@ -220,7 +221,7 @@ impl<S: DnsUdpSocket + Send + 'static> Stream for UdpStream<S> {
         // receive all inbound messages
 
         // TODO: this should match edns settings
-        let mut buf = [0u8; 4096];
+        let mut buf = [0u8; MAX_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE];
         let (len, src) = ready!(socket.poll_recv_from(cx, &mut buf))?;
 
         let serial_message = SerialMessage::new(buf.iter().take(len).cloned().collect(), src);