diff --git a/pageserver/Cargo.toml b/pageserver/Cargo.toml
index 1668228a81..943e724c70 100644
--- a/pageserver/Cargo.toml
+++ b/pageserver/Cargo.toml
@@ -58,7 +58,8 @@ rusoto_core = "0.47"
 rusoto_s3 = "0.47"
 async-trait = "0.1"
 
-zstd = "0.11.1"
+# 'experimental' is needed for the `zstd::bulk::Decompressor::upper_bound` function.
+zstd = { version = "0.11.1", features = ["experimental"] }
 
 postgres_ffi = { path = "../libs/postgres_ffi" }
 metrics = { path = "../libs/metrics" }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/config.rs b/pageserver/src/config.rs
index 52892e70c6..4ed2cd3842 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/config.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/config.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ pub const ZSTD_MAX_SAMPLES: usize = 1024;
 pub const ZSTD_MIN_SAMPLES: usize = 8; // magic requirement of zstd
 pub const ZSTD_MAX_DICTIONARY_SIZE: usize = 8 * 1024;
 pub const ZSTD_COMPRESSION_LEVEL: i32 = 0; // default compression level
-pub const ZSTD_DECOMPRESS_BUFFER_LIMIT: usize = 64 * 1024; // TODO: handle larger WAL records?
 
 pub mod defaults {
     use crate::tenant_config::defaults::*;
diff --git a/pageserver/src/layered_repository/block_io.rs b/pageserver/src/layered_repository/block_io.rs
index 0706c4b2f9..d027b2f0e7 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/layered_repository/block_io.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/layered_repository/block_io.rs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ pub struct BlockCursor<R>
 where
     R: BlockReader,
 {
-    pub reader: R,
+    reader: R,
     /// last accessed page
     cache: Option<(u32, R::BlockLease)>,
 }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/layered_repository/delta_layer.rs b/pageserver/src/layered_repository/delta_layer.rs
index cfa79e9a22..b7c4873ce3 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/layered_repository/delta_layer.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/layered_repository/delta_layer.rs
@@ -37,9 +37,8 @@ use crate::repository::{Key, Value, KEY_SIZE};
 use crate::virtual_file::VirtualFile;
 use crate::walrecord;
 use crate::{DELTA_FILE_MAGIC, STORAGE_FORMAT_VERSION};
-use anyhow::{bail, ensure, Context, Result};
+use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, ensure, Context, Result};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-use tracing::*;
 use std::fs;
 use std::io::{BufWriter, Write};
 use std::io::{Seek, SeekFrom};
@@ -47,6 +46,7 @@ use std::ops::Range;
 use std::os::unix::fs::FileExt;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::sync::{RwLock, RwLockReadGuard, RwLockWriteGuard};
+use tracing::*;
 
 use utils::{
     bin_ser::BeSer,
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ impl Layer for DeltaLayer {
                 )?),
                 None => None,
             };
+            let mut decompress_buf = Vec::new();
 
             // Scan the page versions backwards, starting from `lsn`.
             let file = inner.file.as_ref().unwrap();
@@ -275,9 +276,12 @@ impl Layer for DeltaLayer {
                     )
                 })?;
                 let val = if let Some(decompressor) = &mut decompressor {
-                    let decompressed =
-                        decompressor.decompress(&buf, config::ZSTD_DECOMPRESS_BUFFER_LIMIT)?;
-                    Value::des(&decompressed)
+                    let decompressed_max_len = zstd::bulk::Decompressor::upper_bound(&buf)
+                        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("could not get decompressed length"))?;
+                    decompress_buf.clear();
+                    decompress_buf.reserve(decompressed_max_len);
+                    let _ = decompressor.decompress_to_buffer(&buf, &mut decompress_buf)?;
+                    Value::des(&decompress_buf)
                 } else {
                     Value::des(&buf)
                 }
@@ -380,14 +384,18 @@ impl Layer for DeltaLayer {
             )?),
             None => None,
         };
+        let mut decompress_buf = Vec::new();
 
         // A subroutine to dump a single blob
         let mut dump_blob = |blob_ref: BlobRef| -> anyhow::Result<String> {
             let buf = cursor.read_blob(blob_ref.pos())?;
             let val = if let Some(decompressor) = &mut decompressor {
-                let decompressed = decompressor
-                    .decompress(&buf, config::ZSTD_DECOMPRESS_BUFFER_LIMIT)?;
-                Value::des(&decompressed)
+                let decompressed_max_len = zstd::bulk::Decompressor::upper_bound(&buf)
+                    .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("could not get decompressed length"))?;
+                decompress_buf.clear();
+                decompress_buf.reserve(decompressed_max_len);
+                let _ = decompressor.decompress_to_buffer(&buf, &mut decompress_buf);
+                Value::des(&decompress_buf)
             } else {
                 Value::des(&buf)
             }?;
@@ -794,6 +802,8 @@ struct DeltaValueIter<'a> {
     next_idx: usize,
     reader: BlockCursor<Adapter<'a>>,
     decompressor: Option<zstd::bulk::Decompressor<'a>>,
+
+    decompress_buf: Vec<u8>,
 }
 
 struct Adapter<'a>(RwLockReadGuard<'a, DeltaLayerInner>);
@@ -844,6 +854,7 @@ impl<'a> DeltaValueIter<'a> {
             next_idx: 0,
             reader: BlockCursor::new(Adapter(inner)),
             decompressor,
+            decompress_buf: Vec::new(),
         };
 
         Ok(iter)
@@ -858,9 +869,12 @@ impl<'a> DeltaValueIter<'a> {
 
             let buf = self.reader.read_blob(blob_ref.pos())?;
             let val = if let Some(decompressor) = &mut self.decompressor {
-                let decompressed =
-                    decompressor.decompress(&buf, config::ZSTD_DECOMPRESS_BUFFER_LIMIT)?;
-                Value::des(&decompressed)
+                let decompressed_max_len = zstd::bulk::Decompressor::upper_bound(&buf)
+                    .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("could not get decompressed length"))?;
+                self.decompress_buf.clear();
+                self.decompress_buf.reserve(decompressed_max_len);
+                let _ = decompressor.decompress_to_buffer(&buf, &mut self.decompress_buf)?;
+                Value::des(&self.decompress_buf)
             } else {
                 Value::des(&buf)
             }?;