diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 356c3ba..2312190 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -76,15 +76,9 @@ checksum = "14c189c53d098945499cdfa7ecc63567cf3886b3332b312a5b4585d8d3a6a610"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bytes"
-version = "0.6.0"
+version = "1.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e0dcbc35f504eb6fc275a6d20e4ebcda18cf50d40ba6fabff8c711fa16cb3b16"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "bytes"
-version = "1.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c4872d67bab6358e59559027aa3b9157c53d9358c51423c17554809a8858e0f8"
+checksum = "f0b3de4a0c5e67e16066a0715723abd91edc2f9001d09c46e1dca929351e130e"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cc"
@@ -459,7 +453,7 @@ version = "0.4.4"
 dependencies = [
  "arc-swap",
  "async-trait",
- "bytes 0.6.0",
+ "bytes",
  "cfg-if",
  "chrono",
  "env_logger 0.8.4",
@@ -924,7 +918,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c2c2416fdedca8443ae44b4527de1ea633af61d8f7169ffa6e72c5b53d24efcc"
 dependencies = [
  "autocfg",
- "bytes 1.1.0",
+ "bytes",
  "libc",
  "memchr",
  "mio",
@@ -964,7 +958,7 @@ version = "0.6.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "08d3725d3efa29485e87311c5b699de63cde14b00ed4d256b8318aa30ca452cd"
 dependencies = [
- "bytes 1.1.0",
+ "bytes",
  "futures-core",
  "futures-io",
  "futures-sink",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a2f0ab1..d8a4908 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ log = "0.4.8"
 arc-swap = "1.1"
 async-trait = "0.1.7"
 err-derive = "0.2.3"
-bytes = "0.6.0"
+bytes = "1.2"
 lru = { version = "0.6", optional = true }
 cfg-if = "1.0"
 
diff --git a/src/message.rs b/src/message.rs
index dbcc857..6d50254 100644
--- a/src/message.rs
+++ b/src/message.rs
@@ -192,8 +192,8 @@ impl Framing {
 		// required because otherwise the borrow-checker complains
 		let Framing { direct, stream } = self;
 
-		let res = stream::once(async move { Ok(u32::to_be_bytes(len).to_vec()) })
-			.chain(stream::once(async move { Ok(direct) }));
+		let res = stream::once(async move { Ok(u32::to_be_bytes(len).to_vec().into()) })
+			.chain(stream::once(async move { Ok(direct.into()) }));
 
 		if let Some(stream) = stream {
 			Box::pin(res.chain(stream))
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ impl Framing {
 		let mut len = [0; 4];
 		len.copy_from_slice(&packet[..4]);
 		let len = u32::from_be_bytes(len);
-		packet.drain(..4);
+		packet = packet.slice(4..);
 
 		let mut buffer = Vec::new();
 		let len = len as usize;
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ impl Framing {
 
 			buffer.extend_from_slice(&packet[..max_cp]);
 			if buffer.len() == len {
-				packet.drain(..max_cp);
+				packet = packet.slice(max_cp..);
 				break;
 			}
 			packet = stream
diff --git a/src/recv.rs b/src/recv.rs
index f5221e6..abe7b9a 100644
--- a/src/recv.rs
+++ b/src/recv.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use async_trait::async_trait;
+use bytes::Bytes;
 use log::trace;
 
 use futures::channel::mpsc::{unbounded, UnboundedReceiver, UnboundedSender};
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ pub(crate) trait RecvLoop: Sync + 'static {
 				let mut next_slice = vec![0; size as usize];
 				read.read_exact(&mut next_slice[..]).await?;
 				trace!("recv_loop: read {} bytes", next_slice.len());
-				Ok(next_slice)
+				Ok(Bytes::from(next_slice))
 			};
 
 			let mut sender = if let Some(send) = streams.remove(&(id)) {
diff --git a/src/send.rs b/src/send.rs
index 0179eb2..660e85c 100644
--- a/src/send.rs
+++ b/src/send.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use std::pin::Pin;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::task::{Context, Poll};
 
+use bytes::Bytes;
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use log::trace;
 
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ impl From<ByteStream> for DataReader {
 	fn from(data: ByteStream) -> DataReader {
 		DataReader {
 			reader: data,
-			packet: Ok(Vec::new()),
+			packet: Ok(Bytes::new()),
 			pos: 0,
 			buf: Vec::with_capacity(MAX_CHUNK_LENGTH as usize),
 			eos: false,
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ impl Stream for DataReader {
 				Ok(v) => v,
 				Err(e) => {
 					let e = *e;
-					*this.packet = Ok(Vec::new());
+					*this.packet = Ok(Bytes::new());
 					*this.eos = true;
 					return Poll::Ready(Some(DataFrame::Error(e)));
 				}
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index 6fbafe6..e81a89c 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use std::pin::Pin;
 
 use log::info;
 use serde::Serialize;
+use bytes::Bytes;
 
 use futures::Stream;
 use tokio::sync::watch;
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ pub type NetworkKey = sodiumoxide::crypto::auth::Key;
 /// meaning, it's up to your application to define their semantic.
 pub type ByteStream = Pin<Box<dyn Stream<Item = Packet> + Send>>;
 
-pub type Packet = Result<Vec<u8>, u8>;
+pub type Packet = Result<Bytes, u8>;
 
 /// Utility function: encodes any serializable value in MessagePack binary format
 /// using the RMP library.