diff --git a/src/ca/client/cac.cpp b/src/ca/client/cac.cpp
index bdfc68c73..d13b5766c 100644
--- a/src/ca/client/cac.cpp
+++ b/src/ca/client/cac.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ static const char pVersionCAC[] =
     "@(#) " EPICS_VERSION_STRING
     ", CA Client Library " __DATE__;
 
+// when set, respect EPICS_CA_MAX_ARRAY_BYTES
+// when clear, ignore it
+extern "C" {
+int caLimitArray;
+}
+
 // TCP response dispatch table
 const cac::pProtoStubTCP cac::tcpJumpTableCAC [] =
 {
@@ -218,9 +224,11 @@ cac::cac (
             throw std::bad_alloc ();
         }
 
-        freeListInitPvt ( &this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList, this->maxRecvBytesTCP, 1 );
-        if ( ! this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList ) {
-            throw std::bad_alloc ();
+        if(caLimitArray) {
+            freeListInitPvt ( &this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList, this->maxRecvBytesTCP, 1 );
+            if ( ! this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList ) {
+                throw std::bad_alloc ();
+            }
         }
         unsigned bufsPerArray = this->maxRecvBytesTCP / comBuf::capacityBytes ();
         if ( bufsPerArray > 1u ) {
@@ -231,9 +239,7 @@ cac::cac (
     catch ( ... ) {
         osiSockRelease ();
         delete [] this->pUserName;
-        if ( this->tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList ) {
-            freeListCleanup ( this->tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList );
-        }
+        freeListCleanup ( this->tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList );
         if ( this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList ) {
             freeListCleanup ( this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList );
         }
@@ -318,7 +324,9 @@ cac::~cac ()
     }
 
     freeListCleanup ( this->tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList );
-    freeListCleanup ( this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList );
+    if ( this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList ) {
+        freeListCleanup ( this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList );
+    }
 
     delete [] this->pUserName;
 
diff --git a/src/ca/client/cac.h b/src/ca/client/cac.h
index 99c3d3d27..7db5c6ddc 100644
--- a/src/ca/client/cac.h
+++ b/src/ca/client/cac.h
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 class netWriteNotifyIO;
 class netReadNotifyIO;
 class netSubscription;
+class tcpiiu;
 
 // used to control access to cac's recycle routines which
 // should only be indirectly invoked by CAC when its lock
@@ -193,12 +194,6 @@ public:
         const char *pformat, va_list args ) const;
     double connectionTimeout ( epicsGuard < epicsMutex > & );
 
-    // buffer management
-    char * allocateSmallBufferTCP ();
-    void releaseSmallBufferTCP ( char * );
-    unsigned largeBufferSizeTCP () const;
-    char * allocateLargeBufferTCP ();
-    void releaseLargeBufferTCP ( char * );
     unsigned maxContiguousFrames ( epicsGuard < epicsMutex > & ) const;
 
     // misc
@@ -355,6 +350,8 @@ private:
 
 	cac ( const cac & );
 	cac & operator = ( const cac & );
+
+    friend class tcpiiu;
 };
 
 inline const char * cac::userNamePointer () const
@@ -385,35 +382,6 @@ inline void cac::attachToClientCtx ()
     this->notify.attachToClientCtx ();
 }
 
-inline char * cac::allocateSmallBufferTCP ()
-{
-    // this locks internally
-    return ( char * ) freeListMalloc ( this->tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList );
-}
-
-inline void cac::releaseSmallBufferTCP ( char *pBuf )
-{
-    // this locks internally
-    freeListFree ( this->tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList, pBuf );
-}
-
-inline unsigned cac::largeBufferSizeTCP () const
-{
-    return this->maxRecvBytesTCP;
-}
-
-inline char * cac::allocateLargeBufferTCP ()
-{
-    // this locks internally
-    return ( char * ) freeListMalloc ( this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList );
-}
-
-inline void cac::releaseLargeBufferTCP ( char *pBuf )
-{
-    // this locks internally
-    freeListFree ( this->tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList, pBuf );
-}
-
 inline unsigned cac::beaconAnomaliesSinceProgramStart (
     epicsGuard < epicsMutex > & guard ) const
 {
diff --git a/src/ca/client/tcpiiu.cpp b/src/ca/client/tcpiiu.cpp
index 9581baa4c..045f8d57e 100644
--- a/src/ca/client/tcpiiu.cpp
+++ b/src/ca/client/tcpiiu.cpp
@@ -690,7 +690,7 @@ tcpiiu::tcpiiu (
     curDataBytes ( 0ul ),
     comBufMemMgr ( comBufMemMgrIn ),
     cacRef ( cac ),
-    pCurData ( cac.allocateSmallBufferTCP () ),
+    pCurData ( (char*) freeListMalloc(this->cacRef.tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList) ),
     pSearchDest ( pSearchDestIn ),
     mutex ( mutexIn ),
     cbMutex ( cbMutexIn ),
@@ -714,9 +714,12 @@ tcpiiu::tcpiiu (
     socketHasBeenClosed ( false ),
     unresponsiveCircuit ( false )
 {
+    if(!pCurData)
+        throw std::bad_alloc();
+
     this->sock = epicsSocketCreate ( AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP );
     if ( this->sock == INVALID_SOCKET ) {
-        cac.releaseSmallBufferTCP ( this->pCurData );
+        freeListFree(this->cacRef.tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList, this->pCurData);
         char sockErrBuf[64];
         epicsSocketConvertErrnoToString ( 
             sockErrBuf, sizeof ( sockErrBuf ) );
@@ -1027,10 +1030,10 @@ tcpiiu :: ~tcpiiu ()
     // free message body cache
     if ( this->pCurData ) {
         if ( this->curDataMax <= MAX_TCP ) {
-            this->cacRef.releaseSmallBufferTCP ( this->pCurData );
+            freeListFree(this->cacRef.tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList, this->pCurData);
         }
-        else if ( this->curDataMax <= cacRef.largeBufferSizeTCP()) {
-            this->cacRef.releaseLargeBufferTCP ( this->pCurData );
+        else if ( this->cacRef.tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList ) {
+            freeListFree(this->cacRef.tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList, this->pCurData);
         }
         else {
             free ( this->pCurData );
@@ -1208,30 +1211,32 @@ bool tcpiiu::processIncoming (
             char * newbuf = NULL;
             arrayElementCount newsize;
 
-            if ( this->curMsg.m_postsize <= this->cacRef.largeBufferSizeTCP() ) {
-                newbuf = this->cacRef.allocateLargeBufferTCP ();
-                newsize = this->cacRef.largeBufferSizeTCP();
-            }
-#ifndef NO_HUGE
-            else {
+            if ( !this->cacRef.tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList ) {
                 // round size up to multiple of 4K
                 newsize = ((this->curMsg.m_postsize-1)|0xfff)+1;
 
-                if (this->curDataMax > this->cacRef.largeBufferSizeTCP()) {
-                    // expand existing huge buffer
-                    newbuf = (char*)realloc(this->pCurData, newsize);
-                } else {
-                    // trade up from small or large
+                if ( this->curDataMax <= MAX_TCP ) {
+                    // small -> large
                     newbuf = (char*)malloc(newsize);
+
+                } else {
+                    // expand large to larger
+                    newbuf = (char*)realloc(this->pCurData, newsize);
                 }
+
+            } else if ( this->curMsg.m_postsize <= this->cacRef.maxRecvBytesTCP ) {
+                newbuf = (char*) freeListMalloc(this->cacRef.tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList);
+                newsize = this->cacRef.maxRecvBytesTCP;
+
             }
-#endif
 
             if ( newbuf) {
                 if (this->curDataMax <= MAX_TCP) {
-                    this->cacRef.releaseSmallBufferTCP ( this->pCurData );
-                } else if (this->curDataMax <= this->cacRef.largeBufferSizeTCP()) {
-                    this->cacRef.releaseLargeBufferTCP ( this->pCurData );
+                    freeListFree(this->cacRef.tcpSmallRecvBufFreeList, this->pCurData );
+
+                } else if (this->cacRef.tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList) {
+                    freeListFree(this->cacRef.tcpLargeRecvBufFreeList, this->pCurData );
+
                 } else {
                     // called realloc()
                 }