diff --git a/include/ircd/net/socket.h b/include/ircd/net/socket.h
index 46037342c..ec7627b63 100644
--- a/include/ircd/net/socket.h
+++ b/include/ircd/net/socket.h
@@ -208,7 +208,6 @@ catch(const boost::system::system_error &e)
 template<class iov>
 size_t
 ircd::net::socket::read_any(iov&& bufs)
-try
 {
 	assert(!blocking(*this));
 	static const auto completion
@@ -216,39 +215,49 @@ try
 		asio::transfer_all()
 	};
 
+	boost::system::error_code ec;
 	const size_t ret
 	{
-		asio::read(ssl, std::forward<iov>(bufs), completion)
+		asio::read(ssl, std::forward<iov>(bufs), completion, ec)
 	};
 
 	in.bytes += ret;
 	++in.calls;
-	return ret;
-}
-catch(const boost::system::system_error &e)
-{
-	throw_system_error(e);
+
+	if(likely(!ec))
+		return ret;
+
+	if(ec == boost::system::errc::resource_unavailable_try_again)
+		return ret;
+
+	throw_system_error(ec);
+	__builtin_unreachable();
 }
 
 /// Non-blocking; One system call only; never throws eof;
 template<class iov>
 size_t
 ircd::net::socket::read_one(iov&& bufs)
-try
 {
 	assert(!blocking(*this));
+
+	boost::system::error_code ec;
 	const size_t ret
 	{
-		ssl.read_some(std::forward<iov>(bufs))
+		ssl.read_some(std::forward<iov>(bufs), ec)
 	};
 
 	in.bytes += ret;
 	++in.calls;
-	return ret;
-}
-catch(const boost::system::system_error &e)
-{
-	throw_system_error(e);
+
+	if(likely(!ec))
+		return ret;
+
+	if(ec == boost::system::errc::resource_unavailable_try_again)
+		return ret;
+
+	throw_system_error(ec);
+	__builtin_unreachable();
 }
 
 /// Yields ircd::ctx until all buffers are sent.
diff --git a/ircd/net.cc b/ircd/net.cc
index eceb78d17..d80b4aadf 100644
--- a/ircd/net.cc
+++ b/ircd/net.cc
@@ -355,7 +355,6 @@ ircd::net::discard_all(socket &socket,
 			buffer, std::min(remain, sizeof(buffer))
 		};
 
-		__builtin_prefetch(data(mb), 1, 0);    // 1 = write, 0 = no cache
 		remain -= read_all(socket, mb);
 	}
 
@@ -373,23 +372,18 @@ ircd::net::discard_any(socket &socket,
 {
 	static char buffer[512] alignas(16);
 
-	size_t remain{len}; while(remain) try
+	size_t remain{len}; while(remain)
 	{
 		const mutable_buffer mb
 		{
 			buffer, std::min(remain, sizeof(buffer))
 		};
 
-		__builtin_prefetch(data(mb), 1, 0);    // 1 = write, 0 = no cache
-		remain -= read_one(socket, mb);
-	}
-	catch(const std::system_error &e)
-	{
-		if(e.code() == std::errc::resource_unavailable_try_again)
-			if(remain <= len)
-				break;
+		size_t read;
+		if(!(read = read_one(socket, mb)))
+			break;
 
-		throw;
+		remain -= read;
 	}
 
 	return len - remain;
diff --git a/ircd/server.cc b/ircd/server.cc
index d86d2539e..f9d21cf68 100644
--- a/ircd/server.cc
+++ b/ircd/server.cc
@@ -1922,7 +1922,14 @@ try
 	{
 		overrun = process_read_next(overrun, tag, done);
 	}
-	while(!done);
+	while(!done && !empty(overrun));
+
+	if(!done)
+	{
+		// This branch represents a read of -EAGAIN.
+		assert(empty(overrun));
+		return false;
+	}
 
 	assert(peer);
 	peer->handle_tag_done(*this, tag);
@@ -1935,25 +1942,6 @@ catch(const buffer_overrun &e)
 	queue.pop_front();
 	throw;
 }
-catch(const std::system_error &e)
-{
-	using std::errc;
-
-	if(system_category(e.code())) switch(e.code().value())
-	{
-		case 0:
-			assert(0);
-			return true;
-
-		case int(errc::resource_unavailable_try_again):
-			return false;
-
-		default:
-			break;
-	}
-
-	throw;
-}
 
 /// Process one read operation for one tag
 ircd::const_buffer
@@ -2009,7 +1997,6 @@ ircd::server::link::read(const mutable_buffer &buf)
 	assert(peer);
 	peer->read_bytes += received;
 
-	assert(received);
 	return const_buffer
 	{
 		data(buf), received
@@ -2566,6 +2553,9 @@ ircd::server::tag::read_buffer(const const_buffer &buffer,
 {
 	assert(request);
 
+	if(empty(buffer))
+		return buffer;
+
 	if(state.status == (http::code)0)
 		return read_head(buffer, done, link);