diff --git a/pageserver/src/relish_storage.rs b/pageserver/src/relish_storage.rs
index 70d75c34bf..885ca9581f 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/relish_storage.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/relish_storage.rs
@@ -55,15 +55,21 @@ pub trait RelishStorage: Send + Sync {
 
     async fn list_relishes(&self) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<Self::RelishStoragePath>>;
 
-    async fn download_relish(
+    async fn download_relish<W: 'static + std::io::Write + Send>(
         &self,
         from: &Self::RelishStoragePath,
-        to: &Path,
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<()>;
+        // rust_s3 `get_object_stream` method requires `std::io::BufWriter` for some reason, not the async counterpart
+        // that forces us to consume and return the writer to satisfy the blocking operation async wrapper requirements
+        to: std::io::BufWriter<W>,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<std::io::BufWriter<W>>;
 
     async fn delete_relish(&self, path: &Self::RelishStoragePath) -> anyhow::Result<()>;
 
-    async fn upload_relish(&self, from: &Path, to: &Self::RelishStoragePath) -> anyhow::Result<()>;
+    async fn upload_relish<R: tokio::io::AsyncRead + std::marker::Unpin + Send>(
+        &self,
+        from: &mut tokio::io::BufReader<R>,
+        to: &Self::RelishStoragePath,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<()>;
 }
 
 fn strip_workspace_prefix<'a>(
diff --git a/pageserver/src/relish_storage/local_fs.rs b/pageserver/src/relish_storage/local_fs.rs
index 78ee858a5b..49d656d5a6 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/relish_storage/local_fs.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/relish_storage/local_fs.rs
@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@
 
 use std::{
     future::Future,
+    io::Write,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
     pin::Pin,
 };
 
 use anyhow::{bail, Context};
+use tokio::{fs, io};
 
 use super::{strip_workspace_prefix, RelishStorage};
 
@@ -64,16 +66,33 @@ impl RelishStorage for LocalFs {
         Ok(get_all_files(&self.root).await?.into_iter().collect())
     }
 
-    async fn download_relish(
+    async fn download_relish<W: 'static + std::io::Write + Send>(
         &self,
         from: &Self::RelishStoragePath,
-        to: &Path,
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        mut to: std::io::BufWriter<W>,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<std::io::BufWriter<W>> {
         let file_path = self.resolve_in_storage(from)?;
         if file_path.exists() && file_path.is_file() {
-            create_target_directory(to).await?;
-            tokio::fs::copy(file_path, to).await?;
-            Ok(())
+            let updated_buffer = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+                let mut source = std::io::BufReader::new(
+                    std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
+                        .read(true)
+                        .open(&file_path)
+                        .with_context(|| {
+                            format!(
+                                "Failed to open source file '{}' to use in the download",
+                                file_path.display()
+                            )
+                        })?,
+                );
+                std::io::copy(&mut source, &mut to)
+                    .context("Failed to download the relish file")?;
+                to.flush().context("Failed to flush the download buffer")?;
+                Ok::<_, anyhow::Error>(to)
+            })
+            .await
+            .context("Failed to spawn a blocking task")??;
+            Ok(updated_buffer)
         } else {
             bail!(
                 "File '{}' either does not exist or is not a file",
@@ -94,18 +113,30 @@ impl RelishStorage for LocalFs {
         }
     }
 
-    async fn upload_relish(&self, from: &Path, to: &Self::RelishStoragePath) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    async fn upload_relish<R: io::AsyncRead + std::marker::Unpin + Send>(
+        &self,
+        from: &mut io::BufReader<R>,
+        to: &Self::RelishStoragePath,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         let target_file_path = self.resolve_in_storage(to)?;
         create_target_directory(&target_file_path).await?;
+        let mut destination = io::BufWriter::new(
+            fs::OpenOptions::new()
+                .write(true)
+                .create(true)
+                .open(&target_file_path)
+                .await
+                .with_context(|| {
+                    format!(
+                        "Failed to open target fs destination at '{}'",
+                        target_file_path.display()
+                    )
+                })?,
+        );
 
-        tokio::fs::copy(&from, &target_file_path)
+        io::copy_buf(from, &mut destination)
             .await
-            .with_context(|| {
-                format!(
-                    "Failed to upload relish '{}' to local storage",
-                    from.display(),
-                )
-            })?;
+            .context("Failed to upload relish to local storage")?;
         Ok(())
     }
 }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/relish_storage/rust_s3.rs b/pageserver/src/relish_storage/rust_s3.rs
index dc29752e99..d32d357b27 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/relish_storage/rust_s3.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/relish_storage/rust_s3.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 //! A wrapper around AWS S3 client library `rust_s3` to be used a relish storage.
 
+use std::io::Write;
 use std::path::Path;
 
 use anyhow::Context;
@@ -83,18 +84,14 @@ impl RelishStorage for RustS3 {
             .collect())
     }
 
-    async fn download_relish(
+    async fn download_relish<W: 'static + std::io::Write + Send>(
         &self,
         from: &Self::RelishStoragePath,
-        to: &Path,
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-        let mut target_file = std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
-            .write(true)
-            .open(to)
-            .with_context(|| format!("Failed to open target s3 destination at {}", to.display()))?;
+        mut to: std::io::BufWriter<W>,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<std::io::BufWriter<W>> {
         let code = self
             .bucket
-            .get_object_stream(from.key(), &mut target_file)
+            .get_object_stream(from.key(), &mut to)
             .await
             .with_context(|| format!("Failed to download s3 object with key {}", from.key()))?;
         if code != 200 {
@@ -103,7 +100,12 @@ impl RelishStorage for RustS3 {
                 code
             ))
         } else {
-            Ok(())
+            tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+                to.flush().context("Failed to fluch the downoad buffer")?;
+                Ok::<_, anyhow::Error>(to)
+            })
+            .await
+            .context("Failed to joim the download buffer flush task")?
         }
     }
 
@@ -124,12 +126,14 @@ impl RelishStorage for RustS3 {
         }
     }
 
-    async fn upload_relish(&self, from: &Path, to: &Self::RelishStoragePath) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-        let mut local_file = tokio::fs::OpenOptions::new().read(true).open(from).await?;
-
+    async fn upload_relish<R: tokio::io::AsyncRead + std::marker::Unpin + Send>(
+        &self,
+        from: &mut tokio::io::BufReader<R>,
+        to: &Self::RelishStoragePath,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         let code = self
             .bucket
-            .put_object_stream(&mut local_file, to.key())
+            .put_object_stream(from, to.key())
             .await
             .with_context(|| format!("Failed to create s3 object with key {}", to.key()))?;
         if code != 200 {