diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3565214..4b74d5c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -88,27 +88,6 @@ FetchContent_MakeAvailable(llhttp)
 
 include_directories(src)
 
-# Check for VLA (Variable Length Array) support
-include(CheckCXXSourceCompiles)
-check_cxx_source_compiles(
-  "
-int main() {
-  int n = 10;
-  char arr[n];
-  return 0;
-}
-"
-  HAVE_VLA_SUPPORT)
-
-if(NOT HAVE_VLA_SUPPORT)
-  message(
-    FATAL_ERROR
-      "Compiler must support Variable Length Arrays (VLA). Please use GCC or Clang."
-  )
-endif()
-
-message(STATUS "Compiler supports Variable Length Arrays")
-
 find_package(weaseljson REQUIRED)
 
 # Generate JSON token hash table using gperf
diff --git a/src/connection.cpp b/src/connection.cpp
index 2b96f33..e1568f0 100644
--- a/src/connection.cpp
+++ b/src/connection.cpp
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 #include "connection.hpp"
 #include "server.hpp" // Need this for releaseBackToServer implementation
+#include <climits>
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 
+// Static thread-local storage for iovec buffer
+static thread_local std::vector<struct iovec> g_iovec_buffer{IOV_MAX};
+
 Connection::Connection(struct sockaddr_storage addr, int fd, int64_t id,
                        size_t epoll_index, ConnectionHandler *handler,
                        Server &server)
@@ -62,8 +66,9 @@ int Connection::readBytes(char *buf, size_t buffer_size) {
 
 bool Connection::writeBytes() {
   while (!messages_.empty()) {
-    // Build iovec array up to IOV_MAX limit
-    struct iovec iov[IOV_MAX];
+    // Build iovec array up to IOV_MAX limit using thread-local vector
+    assert(g_iovec_buffer.size() == IOV_MAX);
+    struct iovec *iov = g_iovec_buffer.data();
     int iov_count = 0;
 
     for (auto it = messages_.begin();
diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index 6ae6637..5c6e0c7 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <vector>
 
+// Static thread-local storage for read buffer (used across different functions)
+static thread_local std::vector<char> g_read_buffer;
+
 std::shared_ptr<Server> Server::create(const weaseldb::Config &config,
                                        ConnectionHandler &handler,
                                        const std::vector<int> &listen_fds) {
@@ -285,15 +288,16 @@ void Server::start_io_threads(std::vector<std::thread> &threads) {
       // Each thread uses its assigned epoll instance (round-robin)
       int epollfd = get_epoll_for_thread(thread_id);
 
-      struct epoll_event events[config_.server.event_batch_size];
-      std::unique_ptr<Connection> batch[config_.server.event_batch_size];
-      int batch_events[config_.server.event_batch_size];
+      std::vector<epoll_event> events(config_.server.event_batch_size);
+      std::vector<std::unique_ptr<Connection>> batch(
+          config_.server.event_batch_size);
+      std::vector<int> batch_events(config_.server.event_batch_size);
       std::vector<int>
           ready_listen_fds; // Reused across iterations to avoid allocation
 
       for (;;) {
-        int event_count =
-            epoll_wait(epollfd, events, config_.server.event_batch_size, -1);
+        int event_count = epoll_wait(epollfd, events.data(),
+                                     config_.server.event_batch_size, -1);
         if (event_count == -1) {
           if (errno == EINTR) {
             continue;
@@ -336,8 +340,9 @@ void Server::start_io_threads(std::vector<std::thread> &threads) {
 
         // Process existing connections in batch
         if (batch_count > 0) {
-          process_connection_batch(epollfd, {batch, (size_t)batch_count},
-                                   {batch_events, (size_t)batch_count});
+          process_connection_batch(
+              epollfd, std::span(batch).subspan(0, batch_count),
+              std::span(batch_events).subspan(0, batch_count));
         }
 
         // Only accept on listen sockets that epoll indicates are ready
@@ -393,8 +398,9 @@ void Server::start_io_threads(std::vector<std::thread> &threads) {
 
             // Process batch if full
             if (batch_count == config_.server.event_batch_size) {
-              process_connection_batch(epollfd, {batch, (size_t)batch_count},
-                                       {batch_events, (size_t)batch_count});
+              process_connection_batch(
+                  epollfd, {batch.data(), (size_t)batch_count},
+                  {batch_events.data(), (size_t)batch_count});
               batch_count = 0;
             }
           } // End inner accept loop
@@ -402,8 +408,9 @@ void Server::start_io_threads(std::vector<std::thread> &threads) {
 
         // Process remaining accepted connections
         if (batch_count > 0) {
-          process_connection_batch(epollfd, {batch, (size_t)batch_count},
-                                   {batch_events, (size_t)batch_count});
+          process_connection_batch(
+              epollfd, std::span(batch).subspan(0, batch_count),
+              std::span(batch_events).subspan(0, batch_count));
           batch_count = 0;
         }
       }
@@ -417,7 +424,8 @@ void Server::process_connection_reads(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn,
   // Handle EPOLLIN - read data and process it
   if (events & EPOLLIN) {
     auto buf_size = config_.server.read_buffer_size;
-    char buf[buf_size];
+    g_read_buffer.resize(buf_size);
+    char *buf = g_read_buffer.data();
     int r = conn->readBytes(buf, buf_size);
 
     if (r < 0) {