diff --git a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyClientModule.java b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyClientModule.java
index 820362858..bc901b9f8 100644
--- a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyClientModule.java
+++ b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyClientModule.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import io.airlift.drift.transport.client.DriftClientConfig;
 import io.airlift.drift.transport.client.MethodInvokerFactory;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufAllocator;
+import io.netty.buffer.PooledByteBufAllocator;
 import jakarta.annotation.PreDestroy;
 
 import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ public class DriftNettyClientModule
 
     public DriftNettyClientModule()
     {
-        this(ByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
+        this(PooledByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
     }
 
     @VisibleForTesting
diff --git a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory.java b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory.java
index e64329c98..87fbe7be9 100644
--- a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory.java
+++ b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/client/DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory.java
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@
 import io.airlift.drift.transport.netty.ssl.SslContextFactory;
 import io.airlift.drift.transport.netty.ssl.SslContextFactory.SslContextParameters;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufAllocator;
+import io.netty.buffer.PooledByteBufAllocator;
 import io.netty.channel.EventLoopGroup;
-import io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.MultiThreadIoEventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.nio.NioIoHandler;
 import jakarta.annotation.PreDestroy;
 
 import java.io.Closeable;
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ public class DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory<I>
 
     public static DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory<?> createStaticDriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory(DriftNettyClientConfig clientConfig)
     {
-        return createStaticDriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory(clientConfig, ByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
+        return createStaticDriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory(clientConfig, PooledByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
     }
 
     @VisibleForTesting
@@ -63,7 +65,7 @@ public DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory(
             DriftNettyConnectionFactoryConfig factoryConfig,
             Function<I, DriftNettyClientConfig> clientConfigurationProvider)
     {
-        this(factoryConfig, clientConfigurationProvider, ByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
+        this(factoryConfig, clientConfigurationProvider, PooledByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
     }
 
     @VisibleForTesting
@@ -74,7 +76,7 @@ public DriftNettyMethodInvokerFactory(
     {
         requireNonNull(factoryConfig, "factoryConfig is null");
 
-        group = new NioEventLoopGroup(factoryConfig.getThreadCount(), daemonThreadsNamed("drift-client-%s"));
+        group = new MultiThreadIoEventLoopGroup(factoryConfig.getThreadCount(), daemonThreadsNamed("drift-client-%s"), NioIoHandler.newFactory());
 
         this.clientConfigurationProvider = requireNonNull(clientConfigurationProvider, "clientConfigurationProvider is null");
         this.sslContextFactory = createSslContextFactory(true, factoryConfig.getSslContextRefreshTime(), group);
diff --git a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransport.java b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransport.java
index ad74636c8..db871c29f 100644
--- a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransport.java
+++ b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransport.java
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@
 import io.airlift.drift.transport.server.ServerTransport;
 import io.netty.bootstrap.ServerBootstrap;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufAllocator;
+import io.netty.buffer.PooledByteBufAllocator;
 import io.netty.channel.Channel;
 import io.netty.channel.EventLoopGroup;
-import io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.MultiThreadIoEventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.nio.NioIoHandler;
 import io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioServerSocketChannel;
 import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContext;
 import io.netty.util.concurrent.Future;
@@ -56,7 +58,7 @@ public class DriftNettyServerTransport
 
     public DriftNettyServerTransport(ServerMethodInvoker methodInvoker, DriftNettyServerConfig config)
     {
-        this(methodInvoker, config, ByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
+        this(methodInvoker, config, PooledByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
     }
 
     @VisibleForTesting
@@ -66,9 +68,9 @@ public DriftNettyServerTransport(ServerMethodInvoker methodInvoker, DriftNettySe
         requireNonNull(config, "config is null");
         this.port = config.getPort();
 
-        ioGroup = new NioEventLoopGroup(config.getIoThreadCount(), threadsNamed("drift-server-io-%s"));
+        ioGroup = new MultiThreadIoEventLoopGroup(config.getIoThreadCount(), threadsNamed("drift-server-io-%s"), NioIoHandler.newFactory());
 
-        workerGroup = new NioEventLoopGroup(config.getWorkerThreadCount(), threadsNamed("drift-server-worker-%s"));
+        workerGroup = new MultiThreadIoEventLoopGroup(config.getWorkerThreadCount(), threadsNamed("drift-server-worker-%s"), NioIoHandler.newFactory());
 
         Optional<Supplier<SslContext>> sslContext = Optional.empty();
         if (config.isSslEnabled()) {
@@ -101,6 +103,7 @@ public DriftNettyServerTransport(ServerMethodInvoker methodInvoker, DriftNettySe
                 .childHandler(serverInitializer)
                 .option(SO_BACKLOG, config.getAcceptBacklog())
                 .option(ALLOCATOR, allocator)
+                .childOption(ALLOCATOR, allocator)
                 .childOption(SO_KEEPALIVE, true)
                 .validate();
     }
diff --git a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransportFactory.java b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransportFactory.java
index f79e3d569..fb26c8f20 100644
--- a/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransportFactory.java
+++ b/drift-transport-netty/src/main/java/io/airlift/drift/transport/netty/server/DriftNettyServerTransportFactory.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import io.airlift.drift.transport.server.ServerTransport;
 import io.airlift.drift.transport.server.ServerTransportFactory;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufAllocator;
+import io.netty.buffer.PooledByteBufAllocator;
 
 import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
 
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ public class DriftNettyServerTransportFactory
 
     public DriftNettyServerTransportFactory(DriftNettyServerConfig config)
     {
-        this(config, ByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
+        this(config, PooledByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
     }
 
     @Inject