diff --git a/mmtf-codec/src/main/java/org/rcsb/mmtf/decoder/ReaderUtils.java b/mmtf-codec/src/main/java/org/rcsb/mmtf/decoder/ReaderUtils.java
index 2da3ff9..cbef80b 100644
--- a/mmtf-codec/src/main/java/org/rcsb/mmtf/decoder/ReaderUtils.java
+++ b/mmtf-codec/src/main/java/org/rcsb/mmtf/decoder/ReaderUtils.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.rcsb.mmtf.decoder;
 
+import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -158,6 +159,11 @@ private static byte[] readFile(Path path) throws IOException {
 	 */
 	public static MmtfStructure getDataFromInputStream(InputStream inStream)
 		throws IOException {
+		// ensure that InputStream is buffered if needed  (i.e. not externally buffered e.g. via GZIPInputStream)
+		if (!(inStream instanceof BufferedInputStream)) {
+			inStream = new BufferedInputStream(inStream, 65536);
+		}
+
 		MessagePackSerialization mmtfBeanSeDeMessagePackImpl
 			= new MessagePackSerialization();
 		return mmtfBeanSeDeMessagePackImpl.deserialize(inStream);