diff --git a/lib/dalli/client.rb b/lib/dalli/client.rb
index 136ae808..4ae83441 100644
--- a/lib/dalli/client.rb
+++ b/lib/dalli/client.rb
@@ -73,86 +73,47 @@ def get_multi(*keys)
           end
         end
 
-        values = {}
+        return {} if servers_in_use.empty?
 
-        if servers_in_use.any?
-          servers_in_use.each do |server|
+        servers_in_use.each do |server|
+          begin
             next unless server.alive?
-            begin
-              server.send(:write_noop)
-            rescue NetworkError => e
-              servers_in_use.delete(server)
-            end
+            server.multi_response_start
+          rescue NetworkError => e
+            servers_in_use.delete(server)
           end
+        end
 
-          buffers = Hash.new{ |h,k| h[k] = '' }
-
-          while servers_in_use.any?
-            timeout = servers_in_use.first.options[:socket_timeout]
-            servers_in_use.delete_if{ |s| s.sock.nil? }
-            sockets = servers_in_use.map(&:sock)
-            readable, _ = IO.select(sockets, nil, nil, timeout)
-
-            if readable.nil?
-              # mark all pending servers as failed
-              servers_in_use.each do |server|
-                begin
-                  server.send(:failure!)
-                rescue NetworkError => e
-                end
-              end
-
-              break
+        values = {}
+        while servers_in_use.any?
+          timeout = servers_in_use.first.options[:socket_timeout]
+          servers_in_use.delete_if{ |s| s.sock.nil? }
+          sockets = servers_in_use.map(&:sock)
+          readable, _ = IO.select(sockets, nil, nil, timeout)
+
+          if readable.nil?
+            # mark all pending servers as failed
+            servers_in_use.each do |server|
+              server.multi_response_abort
+            end
+            break
 
-            else
-              readable.each do |sock|
-                server = sock.server
+          else
+            readable.each do |sock|
+              server = sock.server
 
-                begin
-                  buffers[server] << sock.read_available
-                rescue SystemCallError, Timeout::Error, EOFError
-                  begin
-                    server.send(:failure!)
-                  rescue NetworkError => e
+              begin
+                if ret = server.multi_response_nonblock
+                  ret.each do |key, value|
+                    values[key_without_namespace(key)] = value
                   end
                   servers_in_use.delete(server)
-                  buffers.delete(server)
-                  next
-                end
-
-                buf = buffers[server]
-                while buf.bytesize >= 24
-                  header = buf.slice(0, 24)
-                  (key_length, _, body_length) = header.unpack(Dalli::Server::KV_HEADER)
-
-                  if key_length == 0
-                    # all done!
-                    buffers.delete(server)
-                    servers_in_use.delete(server)
-                    break
-
-                  elsif buf.bytesize >= (24 + body_length)
-                    buf.slice!(0, 24)
-                    flags = buf.slice!(0, 4).unpack('N')[0]
-                    key = buf.slice!(0, key_length)
-                    value = buf.slice!(0, body_length - key_length - 4) if body_length - key_length - 4 > 0
-
-                    begin
-                      values[key_without_namespace(key)] = server.send(:deserialize, value, flags)
-                    rescue DalliError => e
-                      Dalli.logger.debug { e.inspect }
-                      Dalli.logger.debug { "results from this server will be missing" }
-                    end
-
-                  else
-                    # not enough data yet, keep waiting
-                    break
-                  end
                 end
+              rescue NetworkError => e
+                servers_in_use.delete(server)
               end
             end
           end
-
         end
 
         values
diff --git a/lib/dalli/server.rb b/lib/dalli/server.rb
index 944d2d72..6bab749e 100644
--- a/lib/dalli/server.rb
+++ b/lib/dalli/server.rb
@@ -107,6 +107,56 @@ def compressor
       @options[:compressor]
     end
 
+    def multi_response_start
+      write_noop
+      @multi_buffer = ''
+      @multi_values = {}
+      @inprogress = true
+    end
+
+    def multi_response_nonblock
+      @multi_buffer << @sock.read_available
+      buf = @multi_buffer
+
+      while buf.bytesize >= 24
+        header = buf.slice(0, 24)
+        (key_length, _, body_length) = header.unpack(KV_HEADER)
+
+        if key_length == 0
+          # all done!
+          values = @multi_values
+          @multi_buffer = @multi_values = nil
+          @inprogress = false
+          return values
+
+        elsif buf.bytesize >= (24 + body_length)
+          buf.slice!(0, 24)
+          flags = buf.slice!(0, 4).unpack('N')[0]
+          key = buf.slice!(0, key_length)
+          value = buf.slice!(0, body_length - key_length - 4) if body_length - key_length - 4 > 0
+
+          begin
+            @multi_values[key] = deserialize(value, flags)
+          rescue DalliError => e
+          end
+
+        else
+          # not enough data yet, keep waiting
+          return nil
+        end
+      end
+    rescue SystemCallError, Timeout::Error, EOFError
+      failure!
+    end
+
+    def multi_response_abort
+      @multi_buffer = @multi_values = nil
+      @inprogress = false
+      failure!
+    rescue NetworkError
+      true
+    end
+
     # NOTE: Additional public methods should be overridden in Dalli::Threadsafe
 
     private