diff --git a/rpc_util.go b/rpc_util.go
index 0fe501f05a05..c2c42f0152a2 100644
--- a/rpc_util.go
+++ b/rpc_util.go
@@ -266,6 +266,11 @@ type parser struct {
 	// The header of a gRPC message. Find more detail
 	// at https://grpc.io/docs/guides/wire.html.
 	header [5]byte
+
+	reuseBuf bool
+
+	// buf holds the memory large enough to read a message, so we don't need to allocate memory each time.
+	buf []byte
 }
 
 // recvMsg reads a complete gRPC message from the stream.
@@ -298,9 +303,13 @@ func (p *parser) recvMsg(maxReceiveMessageSize int) (pf payloadFormat, msg []byt
 	if int(length) > maxReceiveMessageSize {
 		return 0, nil, status.Errorf(codes.ResourceExhausted, "grpc: received message larger than max (%d vs. %d)", length, maxReceiveMessageSize)
 	}
-	// TODO(bradfitz,zhaoq): garbage. reuse buffer after proto decoding instead
-	// of making it for each message:
-	msg = make([]byte, int(length))
+	if p.reuseBuf {
+		p.reallocBuf(int(length))
+		msg = p.buf[:length]
+	} else {
+		msg = make([]byte, int(length))
+	}
+
 	if _, err := p.r.Read(msg); err != nil {
 		if err == io.EOF {
 			err = io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
@@ -310,6 +319,19 @@ func (p *parser) recvMsg(maxReceiveMessageSize int) (pf payloadFormat, msg []byt
 	return pf, msg, nil
 }
 
+func (p *parser) reallocBuf(length int) {
+	if cap(p.buf) >= length {
+		return
+	}
+	allocLen := 8
+	for allocLen < length {
+		// This may allocate more memory than needed, but avoids allocating memory every time in the case when
+		// each message is slightly larger than the previous one.
+		allocLen *= 2
+	}
+	p.buf = make([]byte, allocLen)
+}
+
 // encode serializes msg and returns a buffer of message header and a buffer of msg.
 // If msg is nil, it generates the message header and an empty msg buffer.
 // TODO(ddyihai): eliminate extra Compressor parameter.
diff --git a/rpc_util_test.go b/rpc_util_test.go
index 23c471e2e407..ec3f15e2076a 100644
--- a/rpc_util_test.go
+++ b/rpc_util_test.go
@@ -161,6 +161,31 @@ func TestToRPCErr(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestBufferReuse(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		reuse   bool
+		sameBuf bool
+	}{
+		{true, true},
+		{false, false},
+	} {
+		data := []byte{0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 'a', 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 'a'}
+		p := &parser{r: bytes.NewReader(data), reuseBuf: test.reuse}
+		_, msg, err := p.recvMsg(1)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parser{%v}.recvMsg(_) = _, _, %v", p, err)
+		}
+		_, msg2, err := p.recvMsg(1)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parser{%v}.recvMsg(_) = _, _, %v", p, err)
+		}
+		sameBuffer := &msg[0] == &msg2[0]
+		if sameBuffer != test.sameBuf {
+			t.Fatalf("bufferReuse sameBuf = %v, want %v", sameBuffer, test.sameBuf)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // bmEncode benchmarks encoding a Protocol Buffer message containing mSize
 // bytes.
 func bmEncode(b *testing.B, mSize int) {
diff --git a/stream.go b/stream.go
index f91381995102..93177d7f793a 100644
--- a/stream.go
+++ b/stream.go
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ func newClientStream(ctx context.Context, desc *StreamDesc, cc *ClientConn, meth
 		done: done,
 		t:    t,
 		s:    s,
-		p:    &parser{r: s},
+		p:    &parser{r: s, reuseBuf: true},
 
 		tracing: EnableTracing,
 		trInfo:  trInfo,