diff --git a/include/iscsi-private.h b/include/iscsi-private.h
index c983a25..25dbb7b 100644
--- a/include/iscsi-private.h
+++ b/include/iscsi-private.h
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ struct scsi_task;
 void iscsi_pdu_set_cdb(struct iscsi_pdu *pdu, struct scsi_task *task);
 
 int iscsi_get_pdu_data_size(const unsigned char *hdr);
+int iscsi_get_pdu_padding_size(const unsigned char *hdr);
 int iscsi_process_pdu(struct iscsi_context *iscsi, struct iscsi_in_pdu *in);
 
 int iscsi_process_login_reply(struct iscsi_context *iscsi,
diff --git a/lib/pdu.c b/lib/pdu.c
index e682abd..08ec994 100644
--- a/lib/pdu.c
+++ b/lib/pdu.c
@@ -230,11 +230,22 @@ iscsi_get_pdu_data_size(const unsigned char *hdr)
 	int size;
 
 	size = scsi_get_uint32(&hdr[4]) & 0x00ffffff;
-	size = (size+3) & 0xfffffffc;
 
 	return size;
 }
 
+
+int
+iscsi_get_pdu_padding_size(const unsigned char *hdr)
+{
+	int data_size, padded_size;
+
+	data_size = scsi_get_uint32(&hdr[4]) & 0x00ffffff;
+	padded_size = (data_size+3) & 0xfffffffc;
+
+	return padded_size - data_size;
+}
+
 enum iscsi_reject_reason {
 	ISCSI_REJECT_RESERVED                 = 0x01,
 	ISCSI_REJECT_DATA_DIGEST_ERROR        = 0x02,
diff --git a/lib/socket.c b/lib/socket.c
index 3026944..6fbac80 100644
--- a/lib/socket.c
+++ b/lib/socket.c
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ static int
 iscsi_read_from_socket(struct iscsi_context *iscsi)
 {
 	struct iscsi_in_pdu *in;
-	ssize_t data_size, count;
+	ssize_t data_size, count, padding_size;
 
 	if (iscsi->incoming == NULL) {
 		iscsi->incoming = iscsi_szmalloc(iscsi, sizeof(struct iscsi_in_pdu));
@@ -519,31 +519,36 @@ iscsi_read_from_socket(struct iscsi_context *iscsi)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	data_size = iscsi_get_pdu_data_size(&in->hdr[0]);
+	padding_size = iscsi_get_pdu_padding_size(&in->hdr[0]);
+	data_size = iscsi_get_pdu_data_size(&in->hdr[0]) + padding_size;
+
 	if (data_size < 0 || data_size > (ssize_t)iscsi->initiator_max_recv_data_segment_length) {
 		iscsi_set_error(iscsi, "Invalid data size received from target (%d)", (int)data_size);
 		return -1;
 	}
 	if (data_size != 0) {
-		unsigned char *buf = NULL;
+		unsigned char padding_buf[3];
+		unsigned char *buf = padding_buf;
 		struct scsi_iovector * iovector_in;
 
 		count = data_size - in->data_pos;
 
 		/* first try to see if we already have a user buffer */
 		iovector_in = iscsi_get_scsi_task_iovector_in(iscsi, in);
-		if (iovector_in != NULL) {
+		if (iovector_in != NULL && count > padding_size) {
 			uint32_t offset = scsi_get_uint32(&in->hdr[40]);
-			count = iscsi_iovector_readv_writev(iscsi, iovector_in, in->data_pos + offset, count, 0);
+			count = iscsi_iovector_readv_writev(iscsi, iovector_in, in->data_pos + offset, count - padding_size, 0);
 		} else {
-			if (in->data == NULL) {
-				in->data = iscsi_malloc(iscsi, data_size);
+			if (iovector_in == NULL) {
 				if (in->data == NULL) {
-					iscsi_set_error(iscsi, "Out-of-memory: failed to malloc iscsi_in_pdu->data(%d)", (int)data_size);
-					return -1;
+					in->data = iscsi_malloc(iscsi, data_size);
+					if (in->data == NULL) {
+						iscsi_set_error(iscsi, "Out-of-memory: failed to malloc iscsi_in_pdu->data(%d)", (int)data_size);
+						return -1;
+					}
 				}
+				buf = &in->data[in->data_pos];
 			}
-			buf = &in->data[in->data_pos];
 			count = recv(iscsi->fd, buf, count, 0);
 		}
 		
@@ -588,7 +593,9 @@ static int
 iscsi_write_to_socket(struct iscsi_context *iscsi)
 {
 	ssize_t count;
+	size_t total;
 	struct iscsi_pdu *pdu;
+	static char padding_buf[3];
 
 	if (iscsi->fd == -1) {
 		iscsi_set_error(iscsi, "trying to write but not connected");
@@ -664,6 +671,27 @@ iscsi_write_to_socket(struct iscsi_context *iscsi)
 			pdu->payload_written += count;
 		}
 
+		total = pdu->payload_len;
+		total = (total + 3) & 0xfffffffc;
+
+		/* Write padding */
+		if (pdu->payload_written < total) {
+			count = send(iscsi->fd, padding_buf, total - pdu->payload_written, 0);
+			if (count == -1) {
+				if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EWOULDBLOCK) {
+					return 0;
+				}
+				iscsi_set_error(iscsi, "Error when writing to "
+						"socket :%d", errno);
+				return -1;
+			}
+			pdu->payload_written += count;
+		}
+		/* if we havent written the full padding yet. */
+		if (pdu->payload_written != total) {
+			return 0;
+		}
+
 		if (pdu->flags & ISCSI_PDU_DELETE_WHEN_SENT) {
 			iscsi_free_pdu(iscsi, pdu);
 		}