diff --git a/blktrace.c b/blktrace.c
index afa699c..fc98091 100644
--- a/blktrace.c
+++ b/blktrace.c
@@ -8,6 +8,59 @@
 #include "fio.h"
 #include "blktrace_api.h"
 
+#define TRACE_FIFO_SIZE	(sizeof(struct blk_io_trace) * 1000)
+
+/*
+ * fifo refill frontend, to avoid reading data in trace sized bites
+ */
+static int refill_fifo(struct thread_data *td, struct fifo *fifo, int fd)
+{
+	char buf[TRACE_FIFO_SIZE];
+	unsigned int total, left;
+	void *ptr;
+	int ret;
+
+	total = 0;
+	ptr = buf;
+	while (total < TRACE_FIFO_SIZE) {
+		left = TRACE_FIFO_SIZE - total;
+
+		ret = read(fd, ptr, left);
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			td_verror(td, errno, "read blktrace file");
+			return -1;
+		} else if (!ret)
+			break;
+
+		fifo_put(fifo, ptr, ret);
+		ptr += ret;
+		total += ret;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Retrieve 'len' bytes from the fifo, refilling if necessary.
+ */
+static int trace_fifo_get(struct thread_data *td, struct fifo *fifo, int fd,
+			  void *buf, unsigned int len)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	if (fifo_len(fifo) >= len)
+		return fifo_get(fifo, buf, len);
+
+	ret = refill_fifo(td, fifo, fd);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return ret;
+
+	if (fifo_len(fifo) < len)
+		return 0;
+
+	return fifo_get(fifo, buf, len);
+}
+
 /*
  * Just discard the pdu by seeking past it.
  */
@@ -120,6 +173,7 @@
 	unsigned long ios[2];
 	unsigned int cpu;
 	unsigned int rw_bs[2];
+	struct fifo *fifo;
 	int fd;
 
 	fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
@@ -128,6 +182,8 @@
 		return 1;
 	}
 
+	fifo = fifo_alloc(TRACE_FIFO_SIZE);
+
 	td->o.size = 0;
 
 	cpu = 0;
@@ -135,22 +191,15 @@
 	ios[0] = ios[1] = 0;
 	rw_bs[0] = rw_bs[1] = 0;
 	do {
-		/*
-		 * Once this is working fully, I'll add a layer between
-		 * here and read to cache trace data. Then we can avoid
-		 * doing itsy bitsy reads, but instead pull in a larger
-		 * chunk of data at the time.
-		 */
-		int ret = read(fd, &t, sizeof(t));
+		int ret = trace_fifo_get(td, fifo, fd, &t, sizeof(t));
 
-		if (ret < 0) {
-			td_verror(td, errno, "read blktrace file");
+		if (ret < 0)
 			goto err;
-		} else if (!ret) {
+		else if (!ret)
 			break;
-		} else if (ret != sizeof(t)) {
-			log_err("fio: short read on blktrace file\n");
-			goto err;
+		else if (ret < (int) sizeof(t)) {
+			log_err("fio: short fifo get\n");
+			break;
 		}
 
 		if ((t.magic & 0xffffff00) != BLK_IO_TRACE_MAGIC) {