diff --git a/controller/aof.go b/controller/aof.go
index 084a35d6..6cd25ef5 100644
--- a/controller/aof.go
+++ b/controller/aof.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package controller
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -13,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/tidwall/buntdb"
+	"github.com/tidwall/redcon"
 	"github.com/tidwall/resp"
 	"github.com/tidwall/tile38/controller/log"
 	"github.com/tidwall/tile38/controller/server"
@@ -53,86 +53,57 @@ func (c *Controller) loadAOF() error {
 		log.Infof("AOF loaded %d commands: %.2fs, %.0f/s, %s",
 			count, float64(d)/float64(time.Second), ps, byteSpeed)
 	}()
+	var buf []byte
+	var args [][]byte
+	var packet [0xFFFF]byte
 	var msg server.Message
-	rd := bufio.NewReader(c.aof)
 	for {
-		var nn int
-		ch, err := rd.ReadByte()
+		n, err := c.aof.Read(packet[:])
 		if err != nil {
 			if err == io.EOF {
+				if len(buf) > 0 {
+					return io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
+				}
 				return nil
 			}
 			return err
 		}
-		nn += 1
-		if ch != '*' {
-			return errInvalidAOF
+		c.aofsz += n
+		data := packet[:n]
+		if len(buf) > 0 {
+			data = append(buf, data...)
 		}
-		ns, err := rd.ReadString('\n')
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		nn += len(ns)
-		if len(ns) < 2 || ns[len(ns)-2] != '\r' {
-			return errInvalidAOF
-		}
-		n, err := strconv.ParseUint(ns[:len(ns)-2], 10, 64)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if int(n) == 0 {
-			continue
-		}
-		msg.Values = msg.Values[:0]
-		for i := 0; i < int(n); i++ {
-			ch, err := rd.ReadByte()
+		var complete bool
+		for {
+			complete, args, _, data, err = redcon.ReadNextCommand(data, args[:0])
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			if ch != '$' {
-				return errInvalidAOF
+			if !complete {
+				break
 			}
-			ns, err := rd.ReadString('\n')
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			if len(ns) < 2 || ns[len(ns)-2] != '\r' {
-				return errInvalidAOF
-			}
-			n, err := strconv.ParseUint(ns[:len(ns)-2], 10, 64)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			b := make([]byte, int(n))
-			_, err = io.ReadFull(rd, b)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			if ch, err := rd.ReadByte(); err != nil {
-				return err
-			} else if ch != '\r' {
-				return errInvalidAOF
-			}
-			if ch, err := rd.ReadByte(); err != nil {
-				return err
-			} else if ch != '\n' {
-				return errInvalidAOF
-			}
-			msg.Values = append(msg.Values, resp.BytesValue(b))
-			if i == 0 {
-				msg.Command = qlower(b)
-			}
-			nn += 1 + len(ns) + int(n) + 2
-		}
-		if _, _, err := c.command(&msg, nil, nil); err != nil {
-			if commandErrIsFatal(err) {
-				return err
+			if len(args) > 0 {
+				msg.Values = msg.Values[:0]
+				for _, arg := range args {
+					msg.Values = append(msg.Values, resp.BytesValue(arg))
+				}
+				msg.Command = qlower(args[0])
+				if _, _, err := c.command(&msg, nil, nil); err != nil {
+					if commandErrIsFatal(err) {
+						return err
+					}
+				}
+				count++
 			}
 		}
-		c.aofsz += nn
-		count++
+		if len(data) > 0 {
+			buf = append(buf[:0], data...)
+		} else if len(buf) > 0 {
+			buf = buf[:0]
+		}
 	}
 }
+
 func qlower(s []byte) string {
 	if len(s) == 3 {
 		if s[0] == 'S' && s[1] == 'E' && s[2] == 'T' {