diff --git a/cmd/api-response.go b/cmd/api-response.go
index a82bfa6b8..0bbeeb5d6 100644
--- a/cmd/api-response.go
+++ b/cmd/api-response.go
@@ -36,11 +36,11 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	// RFC3339 a subset of the ISO8601 timestamp format. e.g 2014-04-29T18:30:38Z
-	iso8601TimeFormat = "2006-01-02T15:04:05.000Z"                     // Reply date format with nanosecond precision.
-	maxObjectList     = metacacheBlockSize - (metacacheBlockSize / 10) // Limit number of objects in a listObjectsResponse/listObjectsVersionsResponse.
-	maxDeleteList     = 10000                                          // Limit number of objects deleted in a delete call.
-	maxUploadsList    = 10000                                          // Limit number of uploads in a listUploadsResponse.
-	maxPartsList      = 10000                                          // Limit number of parts in a listPartsResponse.
+	iso8601TimeFormat = "2006-01-02T15:04:05.000Z" // Reply date format with nanosecond precision.
+	maxObjectList     = 1000                       // Limit number of objects in a listObjectsResponse/listObjectsVersionsResponse.
+	maxDeleteList     = 10000                      // Limit number of objects deleted in a delete call.
+	maxUploadsList    = 10000                      // Limit number of uploads in a listUploadsResponse.
+	maxPartsList      = 10000                      // Limit number of parts in a listPartsResponse.
 )
 
 // LocationResponse - format for location response.
diff --git a/cmd/metacache-stream.go b/cmd/metacache-stream.go
index f3b1337de..c11227354 100644
--- a/cmd/metacache-stream.go
+++ b/cmd/metacache-stream.go
@@ -56,10 +56,11 @@ const metacacheStreamVersion = 2
 
 // metacacheWriter provides a serializer of metacache objects.
 type metacacheWriter struct {
-	mw        *msgp.Writer
-	creator   func() error
-	closer    func() error
-	blockSize int
+	mw          *msgp.Writer
+	creator     func() error
+	closer      func() error
+	blockSize   int
+	reuseBlocks bool
 
 	streamErr error
 	streamWg  sync.WaitGroup
@@ -141,6 +142,9 @@ func (w *metacacheWriter) write(objs ...metaCacheEntry) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		if w.reuseBlocks && cap(o.metadata) >= metaDataReadDefault {
+			metaDataPool.Put(o.metadata)
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/cmd/metacache-walk.go b/cmd/metacache-walk.go
index 572dd0eb2..5825e3ed7 100644
--- a/cmd/metacache-walk.go
+++ b/cmd/metacache-walk.go
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ func (s *xlStorage) WalkDir(ctx context.Context, opts WalkDirOptions, wr io.Writ
 
 	// Use a small block size to start sending quickly
 	w := newMetacacheWriter(wr, 16<<10)
+	w.reuseBlocks = true // We are not sharing results, so reuse buffers.
 	defer w.Close()
 	out, err := w.stream()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go b/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go
index 0b34e4ec9..f51137da8 100644
--- a/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go
+++ b/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2"
@@ -1430,20 +1431,26 @@ func (z xlMetaV2) ToFileInfo(volume, path, versionID string) (fi FileInfo, err e
 	return FileInfo{}, errFileVersionNotFound
 }
 
+// Read at most this much on initial read.
+const metaDataReadDefault = 4 << 10
+
+// Return used metadata byte slices here.
+var metaDataPool = sync.Pool{New: func() interface{} { return make([]byte, 0, metaDataReadDefault) }}
+
 // readXLMetaNoData will load the metadata, but skip data segments.
 // This should only be used when data is never interesting.
 // If data is not xlv2, it is returned in full.
 func readXLMetaNoData(r io.Reader, size int64) ([]byte, error) {
-	// Read at most this much on initial read.
-	const readDefault = 4 << 10
 	initial := size
 	hasFull := true
-	if initial > readDefault {
-		initial = readDefault
+	if initial > metaDataReadDefault {
+		initial = metaDataReadDefault
 		hasFull = false
 	}
 
-	buf := make([]byte, initial)
+	buf := metaDataPool.Get().([]byte)
+	buf = buf[:initial]
+
 	_, err := io.ReadFull(r, buf)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("readXLMetaNoData.ReadFull: %w", err)
diff --git a/cmd/xl-storage.go b/cmd/xl-storage.go
index 2127ce7f7..0d149a959 100644
--- a/cmd/xl-storage.go
+++ b/cmd/xl-storage.go
@@ -1082,6 +1082,7 @@ func (s *xlStorage) ReadVersion(ctx context.Context, volume, path, versionID str
 			err = osErrToFileErr(err)
 		}
 	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		if err == errFileNotFound {
 			if err = s.renameLegacyMetadata(volumeDir, path); err != nil {
@@ -1120,6 +1121,13 @@ func (s *xlStorage) ReadVersion(ctx context.Context, volume, path, versionID str
 		return fi, err
 	}
 
+	if len(fi.Data) == 0 && cap(buf) >= metaDataReadDefault && cap(buf) < metaDataReadDefault*4 {
+		// We did not read inline data, so we have no references.
+		defer func(b []byte) {
+			metaDataPool.Put(buf)
+		}(buf)
+	}
+
 	if readData {
 		if len(fi.Data) > 0 || fi.Size == 0 {
 			if len(fi.Data) > 0 {