diff --git a/src/connection.cpp b/src/connection.cpp
index 78de4d4..1039b3a 100644
--- a/src/connection.cpp
+++ b/src/connection.cpp
@@ -47,11 +47,7 @@ void Connection::appendMessage(std::string_view s, bool copyToArena) {
   }
 }
 
-std::string_view Connection::readBytes(size_t /*max_request_size*/,
-                                       size_t buffer_size) {
-  // Use Variable Length Array for optimal stack allocation
-  char buf[buffer_size];
-
+std::string_view Connection::readBytes(char *buf, size_t buffer_size) {
   int r = read(fd_, buf, buffer_size);
   if (r == -1) {
     if (errno == EINTR || errno == EAGAIN) {
@@ -63,11 +59,7 @@ std::string_view Connection::readBytes(size_t /*max_request_size*/,
   if (r == 0) {
     return {}; // EOF - let server handle connection cleanup
   }
-
-  // Copy data to arena for persistent storage
-  char *arena_data = arena_.allocate<char>(r);
-  std::memcpy(arena_data, buf, r);
-  return {arena_data, size_t(r)};
+  return {buf, size_t(r)};
 }
 
 bool Connection::writeBytes() {
diff --git a/src/connection.hpp b/src/connection.hpp
index 9daa031..a7cd794 100644
--- a/src/connection.hpp
+++ b/src/connection.hpp
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ private:
                   ConnectionHandler *handler, std::weak_ptr<Server> server);
 
   // Networking interface - only accessible by Server
-  std::string_view readBytes(size_t max_request_size, size_t buffer_size);
+  std::string_view readBytes(char *buf, size_t buffer_size);
   bool writeBytes();
   void tsan_acquire();
   void tsan_release();
diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index 65dd6ca..3eb92ca 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -318,9 +318,9 @@ void Server::start_network_threads() {
           }
 
           if (events[i].events & EPOLLIN) {
-            std::string_view data =
-                conn->readBytes(config_.server.max_request_size_bytes,
-                                config_.server.read_buffer_size);
+            auto buf_size = config_.server.read_buffer_size;
+            char buf[buf_size];
+            std::string_view data = conn->readBytes(buf, buf_size);
 
             if (data.empty()) {
               // No data, error, or EOF - connection should be closed