diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/inmemory_layer.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/inmemory_layer.rs
index 38ee410720..cc28e77278 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/inmemory_layer.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/inmemory_layer.rs
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ pub struct InMemoryLayerInner {
     /// The values are stored in a serialized format in this file.
     /// Each serialized Value is preceded by a 'u32' length field.
     /// PerSeg::page_versions map stores offsets into this file.
-    file: Arc<tokio::sync::RwLock<EphemeralFile>>,
+    file: EphemeralFile,
 
     resource_units: GlobalResourceUnits,
 }
@@ -381,11 +381,7 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn try_len(&self) -> Option<u64> {
-        self.inner
-            .try_read()
-            .map(|i| i.file.try_read().map(|i| i.len()).ok())
-            .ok()
-            .flatten()
+        self.inner.try_read().map(|i| i.file.len()).ok()
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn assert_writable(&self) {
@@ -417,7 +413,7 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
     // Look up the keys in the provided keyspace and update
     // the reconstruct state with whatever is found.
     pub(crate) async fn get_values_reconstruct_data(
-        &self,
+        self: &Arc<InMemoryLayer>,
         keyspace: KeySpace,
         end_lsn: Lsn,
         reconstruct_state: &mut ValuesReconstructState,
@@ -475,13 +471,13 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
             }
         }
 
-        let read_from = inner.file.clone();
+        let read_from = Arc::clone(self);
         let read_ctx = ctx.attached_child();
         reconstruct_state
             .spawn_io(async move {
-                let locked = read_from.read().await;
+                let inner = read_from.inner.read().await;
                 let f = vectored_dio_read::execute(
-                    &*locked,
+                    &inner.file,
                     reads
                         .iter()
                         .flat_map(|(_, value_reads)| value_reads.iter().map(|v| &v.read)),
@@ -511,6 +507,13 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
                 }
 
                 assert!(senders.is_empty());
+
+                // Keep layer existent until this IO is done;
+                // This is kinda forced for InMemoryLayer because we need to inner.read() anyway,
+                // but it's less obvious for DeltaLayer and ImageLayer. So, keep this explicit
+                // drop for consistency among all three layer types.
+                drop(inner);
+                drop(read_from);
             })
             .await;
 
@@ -543,8 +546,7 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
     /// Get layer size.
     pub async fn size(&self) -> Result<u64> {
         let inner = self.inner.read().await;
-        let locked = inner.file.try_read().expect("no contention");
-        Ok(locked.len())
+        Ok(inner.file.len())
     }
 
     pub fn estimated_in_mem_size(&self) -> u64 {
@@ -562,10 +564,8 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
     ) -> Result<InMemoryLayer> {
         trace!("initializing new empty InMemoryLayer for writing on timeline {timeline_id} at {start_lsn}");
 
-        let file = Arc::new(tokio::sync::RwLock::new(
-            EphemeralFile::create(conf, tenant_shard_id, timeline_id, gate, ctx).await?,
-        ));
-        let key = InMemoryLayerFileId(file.read().await.page_cache_file_id());
+        let file = EphemeralFile::create(conf, tenant_shard_id, timeline_id, gate, ctx).await?;
+        let key = InMemoryLayerFileId(file.page_cache_file_id());
 
         Ok(InMemoryLayer {
             file_id: key,
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
         let mut inner = self.inner.write().await;
         self.assert_writable();
 
-        let base_offset = inner.file.read().await.len();
+        let base_offset = inner.file.len();
 
         let SerializedValueBatch {
             raw,
@@ -608,12 +608,8 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
         } = serialized_batch;
 
         // Write the batch to the file
-        // FIXME: can't borrow arc
-        let new_size = {
-            let mut locked = inner.file.write().await;
-            locked.write_raw(&raw, ctx).await?;
-            locked.len()
-        };
+        inner.file.write_raw(&raw, ctx).await?;
+        let new_size = inner.file.len();
 
         let expected_new_len = base_offset
             .checked_add(raw.len().into_u64())
@@ -676,7 +672,7 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
 
     pub(crate) async fn tick(&self) -> Option<u64> {
         let mut inner = self.inner.write().await;
-        let size = inner.file.read().await.len();
+        let size = inner.file.len();
         inner.resource_units.publish_size(size)
     }
 
@@ -772,7 +768,7 @@ impl InMemoryLayer {
 
         match l0_flush_global_state {
             l0_flush::Inner::Direct { .. } => {
-                let file_contents = inner.file.read().await.load_to_io_buf(ctx).await?;
+                let file_contents = inner.file.load_to_io_buf(ctx).await?;
                 let file_contents = file_contents.freeze();
 
                 for (key, vec_map) in inner.index.iter() {