diff --git a/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs b/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs
index 7257ed04e..6d62d0e8e 100644
--- a/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs
+++ b/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@
 
 //! Snapshot creation helpers.
 
-// Try to have chunks be around 16MB (before compression)
-const PREFERRED_CHUNK_SIZE: usize = 16 * 1024 * 1024;
-
 use std::collections::VecDeque;
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::io::Write;
@@ -35,6 +32,31 @@ use util::hash::{FixedHash, H256};
 use util::numbers::U256;
 use util::rlp::{DecoderError, Rlp, RlpStream, Stream, SHA3_NULL_RLP, UntrustedRlp, View};
 use util::snappy;
+
+// Try to have chunks be around 16MB (before compression)
+const PREFERRED_CHUNK_SIZE: usize = 16 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+// use initially 20MB for the reusable snappy buffers.
+// should always be larger than PREFERRED_CHUNK_SIZE for fault tolerance.
+const SNAPPY_BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 20 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+// compresses the data into the buffer, resizing if necessary.
+fn compression_helper(input: &[u8], output: &mut Vec<u8>) -> usize {
+	let max_size = snappy::max_compressed_len(input.len());
+	let buf_len = output.len();
+
+	// resize if necessary, but in reality this will probably never happen.
+	if max_size > buf_len {
+		output.resize(max_size, 0);
+	}
+
+	match snappy::compress_into(&input, output) {
+		Ok(size) => size,
+		Err(snappy::Error::BufferTooSmall) => panic!("buffer too small although capacity ensured?"),
+		Err(snappy::Error::InvalidInput) => panic!("invalid input error impossible in snappy_compress"),
+	}
+}
+
 /// Used to build block chunks.
 struct BlockChunker<'a> {
 	client: &'a BlockChainClient,
@@ -43,6 +65,7 @@ struct BlockChunker<'a> {
 	genesis_hash: H256,
 	current_hash: H256,
 	hashes: Vec<H256>,
+	snappy_buffer: Vec<u8>,
 }
 
 impl<'a> BlockChunker<'a> {
@@ -93,7 +116,10 @@ impl<'a> BlockChunker<'a> {
 			rlp_stream.append(&pair);
 		}
 
-		let raw_data = snappy::compress(&rlp_stream.out());
+		let uncompressed = rlp_stream.out();
+		let compressed_size = compression_helper(&uncompressed, &mut self.snappy_buffer);
+		let raw_data = &self.snappy_buffer[..compressed_size];
+
 		let hash = raw_data.sha3();
 
 		trace!(target: "snapshot", "writing block chunk. hash: {},  size: {} bytes", hash.hex(), raw_data.len());
@@ -121,6 +147,7 @@ pub fn chunk_blocks(client: &BlockChainClient, best_block_hash: H256, genesis_ha
 		genesis_hash: genesis_hash,
 		current_hash: best_block_hash,
 		hashes: Vec::new(),
+		snappy_buffer: vec![0; SNAPPY_BUFFER_SIZE],
 	};
 
 	while chunker.fill_buffers() {
@@ -138,6 +165,7 @@ struct StateChunker<'a> {
 	rlps: Vec<Bytes>,
 	cur_size: usize,
 	snapshot_path: &'a Path,
+	snappy_buffer: Vec<u8>,
 }
 
 impl<'a> StateChunker<'a> {
@@ -167,21 +195,24 @@ impl<'a> StateChunker<'a> {
 	fn write_chunk(&mut self) -> Result<(), Error> {
 		trace!(target: "snapshot", "writing state chunk. uncompressed size: {}", self.cur_size);
 
-		let bytes = {
+		let compressed_size = {
 			let mut stream = RlpStream::new();
 			stream.append(&&self.rlps[..]);
-			snappy::compress(&stream.out())
+
+			compression_helper(&stream.out(), &mut self.snappy_buffer)
 		};
 
 		self.rlps.clear();
 
+		let bytes = &self.snappy_buffer[..compressed_size];
+
 		let hash = bytes.sha3();
 
 		let mut path = self.snapshot_path.to_owned();
 		path.push(hash.hex());
 
 		let mut file = try!(File::create(path));
-		try!(file.write_all(&bytes));
+		try!(file.write_all(bytes));
 
 		self.hashes.push(hash);
 		self.cur_size = 0;
@@ -203,6 +234,7 @@ pub fn chunk_state(db: &HashDB, root: &H256, path: &Path) -> Result<Vec<H256>, E
 		rlps: Vec::new(),
 		cur_size: 0,
 		snapshot_path: path,
+		snappy_buffer: vec![0; SNAPPY_BUFFER_SIZE],
 	};
 
 	trace!(target: "snapshot", "beginning state chunking");
diff --git a/util/src/snappy.rs b/util/src/snappy.rs
index 519575e4c..ed47fa9e8 100644
--- a/util/src/snappy.rs
+++ b/util/src/snappy.rs
@@ -68,9 +68,14 @@ impl fmt::Display for Error {
 	}
 }
 
+/// The maximum compressed length given a size.
+pub fn max_compressed_len(len: usize) -> usize {
+	unsafe { snappy_max_compressed_length(len as size_t) as usize }
+}
+
 /// Compress a buffer using snappy.
 pub fn compress(input: &[u8]) -> Vec<u8> {
-	let mut buf_size = unsafe { snappy_max_compressed_length(input.len() as size_t) };
+	let mut buf_size = max_compressed_len(input.len());
 	let mut output = vec![0; buf_size as usize];
 
 	buf_size = compress_into(input, &mut output).expect("snappy compression failed with large enough buffer.");
@@ -79,7 +84,7 @@ pub fn compress(input: &[u8]) -> Vec<u8> {
 }
 
 /// Compress a buffer using snappy, writing the result into
-/// the given output buffer. Will error if the buffer is too small.
+/// the given output buffer. Will error iff the buffer is too small.
 /// Otherwise, returns the length of the compressed data.
 pub fn compress_into(input: &[u8], output: &mut [u8]) -> Result<usize, Error> {
 	let mut len = output.len() as size_t;