diff --git a/pgxn/neon/neon_walreader.c b/pgxn/neon/neon_walreader.c
index b575712dbe..5854a7ef0f 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/neon_walreader.c
+++ b/pgxn/neon/neon_walreader.c
@@ -611,6 +611,17 @@ NeonWALReadLocal(NeonWALReader *state, char *buf, XLogRecPtr startptr, Size coun
 	recptr = startptr;
 	nbytes = count;
 
+/* Try to read directly from WAL buffers first. */
+#if PG_MAJORVERSION_NUM >= 17
+	{
+		Size	rbytes;
+		rbytes = WALReadFromBuffers(p, recptr, nbytes, tli);
+		recptr += rbytes;
+		nbytes -= rbytes;
+		p += rbytes;
+	}
+#endif
+
 	while (nbytes > 0)
 	{
 		uint32		startoff;
diff --git a/pgxn/neon/walproposer.c b/pgxn/neon/walproposer.c
index d2a6104c74..e89ffdb628 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/walproposer.c
+++ b/pgxn/neon/walproposer.c
@@ -1361,29 +1361,35 @@ SendAppendRequests(Safekeeper *sk)
 		if (sk->active_state == SS_ACTIVE_READ_WAL)
 		{
 			char	   *errmsg;
+			int			req_len;
 
 			req = &sk->appendRequest;
+			req_len = req->endLsn - req->beginLsn;
 
-			switch (wp->api.wal_read(sk,
-									 &sk->outbuf.data[sk->outbuf.len],
-									 req->beginLsn,
-									 req->endLsn - req->beginLsn,
-									 &errmsg))
+			/* We send zero sized AppenRequests as heartbeats; don't wal_read for these. */
+			if (req_len > 0)
 			{
-				case NEON_WALREAD_SUCCESS:
-					break;
-				case NEON_WALREAD_WOULDBLOCK:
-					return true;
-				case NEON_WALREAD_ERROR:
-					wp_log(WARNING, "WAL reading for node %s:%s failed: %s",
-						   sk->host, sk->port, errmsg);
-					ShutdownConnection(sk);
-					return false;
-				default:
-					Assert(false);
+				switch (wp->api.wal_read(sk,
+										&sk->outbuf.data[sk->outbuf.len],
+										req->beginLsn,
+										req_len,
+										&errmsg))
+				{
+					case NEON_WALREAD_SUCCESS:
+						break;
+					case NEON_WALREAD_WOULDBLOCK:
+						return true;
+					case NEON_WALREAD_ERROR:
+						wp_log(WARNING, "WAL reading for node %s:%s failed: %s",
+							sk->host, sk->port, errmsg);
+						ShutdownConnection(sk);
+						return false;
+					default:
+						Assert(false);
+				}
 			}
 
-			sk->outbuf.len += req->endLsn - req->beginLsn;
+			sk->outbuf.len += req_len;
 
 			writeResult = wp->api.conn_async_write(sk, sk->outbuf.data, sk->outbuf.len);
 
diff --git a/pgxn/neon/walproposer_pg.c b/pgxn/neon/walproposer_pg.c
index 706941c3f0..86444084ff 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/walproposer_pg.c
+++ b/pgxn/neon/walproposer_pg.c
@@ -1489,33 +1489,11 @@ walprop_pg_wal_read(Safekeeper *sk, char *buf, XLogRecPtr startptr, Size count,
 {
 	NeonWALReadResult res;
 
-#if PG_MAJORVERSION_NUM >= 17
-	if (!sk->wp->config->syncSafekeepers)
-	{
-		Size	rbytes;
-		rbytes = WALReadFromBuffers(buf, startptr, count,
-									walprop_pg_get_timeline_id());
-
-		startptr += rbytes;
-		count -= rbytes;
-	}
-#endif
-
-	if (count == 0)
-	{
-		res = NEON_WALREAD_SUCCESS;
-	}
-	else
-	{
-		Assert(count > 0);
-
-		/* Now read the remaining WAL from the WAL file */
-		res = NeonWALRead(sk->xlogreader,
-						  buf,
-						  startptr,
-						  count,
-						  walprop_pg_get_timeline_id());
-	}
+	res = NeonWALRead(sk->xlogreader,
+					  buf,
+					  startptr,
+					  count,
+					  walprop_pg_get_timeline_id());
 
 	if (res == NEON_WALREAD_SUCCESS)
 	{
diff --git a/test_runner/fixtures/neon_fixtures.py b/test_runner/fixtures/neon_fixtures.py
index e4d6e6da5d..e23f46d1ca 100644
--- a/test_runner/fixtures/neon_fixtures.py
+++ b/test_runner/fixtures/neon_fixtures.py
@@ -4177,9 +4177,15 @@ class Safekeeper(LogUtils):
         return self
 
     def assert_no_errors(self):
-        assert not self.log_contains("manager task finished prematurely")
-        assert not self.log_contains("error while acquiring WalResidentTimeline guard")
-        assert not self.log_contains("timeout while acquiring WalResidentTimeline guard")
+        not_allowed = [
+            "manager task finished prematurely",
+            "error while acquiring WalResidentTimeline guard",
+            "timeout while acquiring WalResidentTimeline guard",
+            "invalid xlog page header:",
+            "WAL record crc mismatch at",
+        ]
+        for na in not_allowed:
+            assert not self.log_contains(na)
 
     def append_logical_message(
         self, tenant_id: TenantId, timeline_id: TimelineId, request: dict[str, Any]