diff --git a/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer.go b/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer.go
index fd3a937472..4edc73ef3d 100644
--- a/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer.go
+++ b/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer.go
@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ func (bb *ByteBuffer) Reset() {
 	bb.B = bb.B[:0]
 }
 
+// Grow grows bb capacity, so it can accept n bytes without additional allocations.
+func (bb *ByteBuffer) Grow(n int) {
+	bLen := len(bb.B)
+	bb.B = slicesutil.SetLength(bb.B, bLen+n)
+	bb.B = bb.B[:bLen]
+}
+
 // Write appends p to bb.
 func (bb *ByteBuffer) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
 	bb.B = append(bb.B, p...)
diff --git a/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer_test.go b/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer_test.go
index 85cb3c97e5..1e43074d16 100644
--- a/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer_test.go
+++ b/lib/bytesutil/bytebuffer_test.go
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ func TestByteBuffer(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected bb.B; got %q; want %q", bb.B, data1)
 	}
 
+	bb.Grow(10)
+
 	data2 := []byte("1")
 	n, err = bb.Write(data2)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/lib/chunkedbuffer/chunked_buffer.go b/lib/chunkedbuffer/buffer.go
similarity index 72%
rename from lib/chunkedbuffer/chunked_buffer.go
rename to lib/chunkedbuffer/buffer.go
index 4967802d32..c85f1203a8 100644
--- a/lib/chunkedbuffer/chunked_buffer.go
+++ b/lib/chunkedbuffer/buffer.go
@@ -1,15 +1,40 @@
 package chunkedbuffer
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"sync"
 
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/filestream"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/logger"
 )
 
 const chunkSize = 4 * 1024
 
+// Get returns Buffer from the pool.
+//
+// Return back the Buffer to the pool via Put() call when it is no longer needed.
+func Get() *Buffer {
+	v := cbPool.Get()
+	if v == nil {
+		return &Buffer{}
+	}
+	return v.(*Buffer)
+}
+
+// Put returns cb to the pool, so it could be re-used via Get() call.
+//
+// The cb cannot be used after Put() call.
+func Put(cb *Buffer) {
+	cb.Reset()
+	cbPool.Put(cb)
+}
+
+var cbPool sync.Pool
+
 // Buffer provides in-memory buffer optimized for storing big bytes volumes.
 //
 // It stores the data in chunks of fixed size. This reduces memory fragmentation
@@ -89,12 +114,45 @@ func (cb *Buffer) MustReadAt(p []byte, off int64) {
 	}
 }
 
+// ReadFrom reads all the data from r and appends it to cb.
+func (cb *Buffer) ReadFrom(r io.Reader) (int64, error) {
+	v := copyBufPool.Get()
+	if v == nil {
+		v = new([16 * 1024]byte)
+	}
+	b := (v.(*[16 * 1024]byte))[:]
+
+	bytesRead := int64(0)
+	for {
+		n, err := r.Read(b)
+		cb.MustWrite(b[:n])
+		bytesRead += int64(n)
+		if err != nil {
+			copyBufPool.Put(v)
+			if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+				return bytesRead, nil
+			}
+			return bytesRead, err
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+var copyBufPool sync.Pool
+
 // WriteTo writes cb data to w.
 func (cb *Buffer) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
-	if len(cb.chunks) == 0 {
+	bLen := cb.Len()
+	if bLen == 0 {
 		return 0, nil
 	}
 
+	switch t := w.(type) {
+	case *bytesutil.ByteBuffer:
+		t.Grow(bLen)
+	case *bytes.Buffer:
+		t.Grow(bLen)
+	}
+
 	nTotal := 0
 
 	// Write all the chunks except the last one, which may be incomplete.
@@ -123,6 +181,16 @@ func (cb *Buffer) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
 	return int64(nTotal), nil
 }
 
+// MustWriteTo writes cb contents w.
+//
+// Use this function only if w cannot return errors. For example, if w is bytes.Buffer of bytesutil.ByteBuffer.
+// If w can return errors, then use WriteTo function instead.
+func (cb *Buffer) MustWriteTo(w io.Writer) {
+	if _, err := cb.WriteTo(w); err != nil {
+		logger.Panicf("BUG: unexpected error writing Buffer data to the provided writer: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
 // Path returns cb path.
 func (cb *Buffer) Path() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("Buffer/%p/mem", cb)
@@ -185,8 +253,7 @@ func (r *reader) MustClose() {
 func getChunk() *[chunkSize]byte {
 	v := chunkPool.Get()
 	if v == nil {
-		var chunk [chunkSize]byte
-		return &chunk
+		return new([chunkSize]byte)
 	}
 	return v.(*[chunkSize]byte)
 }
diff --git a/lib/chunkedbuffer/chunked_buffer_test.go b/lib/chunkedbuffer/buffer_test.go
similarity index 87%
rename from lib/chunkedbuffer/chunked_buffer_test.go
rename to lib/chunkedbuffer/buffer_test.go
index 4306795e86..42ee5ecbc2 100644
--- a/lib/chunkedbuffer/chunked_buffer_test.go
+++ b/lib/chunkedbuffer/buffer_test.go
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestBuffer(t *testing.T) {
-	var cb Buffer
+	cb := Get()
+	defer Put(cb)
+
 	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
 		cb.Reset()
 
@@ -84,8 +86,8 @@ func TestBuffer(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		// Copy the data to another chunked buffer via WriteTo.
-		var cb2 Buffer
-		n, err = cb.WriteTo(&cb2)
+		cb2 := Get()
+		n, err = cb.WriteTo(cb2)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("error when writing data to another chunked buffer: %s", err)
 		}
@@ -111,6 +113,40 @@ func TestBuffer(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// Verify MustClose at chunked buffer
 		cb2.MustClose()
+
+		Put(cb2)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBuffer_ReadFrom(t *testing.T) {
+	cb := Get()
+	defer Put(cb)
+
+	bb := bytes.NewBufferString("foo")
+	n, err := cb.ReadFrom(bb)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %s", err)
+	}
+	if n != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected number of bytes written: %d; want 3", n)
+	}
+
+	bb = bytes.NewBufferString("bar")
+	n, err = cb.ReadFrom(bb)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %s", err)
+	}
+	if n != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected number of bytes written: %d; want 3", n)
+	}
+
+	var bbResult bytes.Buffer
+	cb.MustWriteTo(&bbResult)
+
+	result := bbResult.String()
+	resultExpected := "foobar"
+	if result != resultExpected {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected result; got %q; want %q", result, resultExpected)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -164,13 +200,7 @@ func TestBuffer_ReaderSingleChunk(t *testing.T) {
 func TestBuffer_WriteToZeroData(t *testing.T) {
 	var cb Buffer
 	var bb bytes.Buffer
-	n, err := cb.WriteTo(&bb)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %s", err)
-	}
-	if n != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("unexpected data written from cb with len=%d", n)
-	}
+	cb.MustWriteTo(&bb)
 	if bbLen := bb.Len(); bbLen != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected data written to bb with len=%d; data=%q", bbLen, bb.Bytes())
 	}
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/client.go b/lib/promscrape/client.go
index 495f8217e4..8b34adf1d5 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/client.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/client.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/metrics"
 
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/chunkedbuffer"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/flagutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/httputil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/netutil"
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ type client struct {
 	setHeaders              func(req *http.Request) error
 	setProxyHeaders         func(req *http.Request) error
 	maxScrapeSize           int64
+	disableCompression      bool
 }
 
 func newClient(ctx context.Context, sw *ScrapeWork) (*client, error) {
@@ -82,12 +83,15 @@ func newClient(ctx context.Context, sw *ScrapeWork) (*client, error) {
 	tr.Proxy = proxyURLFunc
 	tr.TLSHandshakeTimeout = 10 * time.Second
 	tr.IdleConnTimeout = 2 * sw.ScrapeInterval
-	tr.DisableCompression = *disableCompression || sw.DisableCompression
 	tr.DisableKeepAlives = *disableKeepAlive || sw.DisableKeepAlive
 	tr.DialContext = dialFunc
 	tr.MaxIdleConnsPerHost = 100
 	tr.MaxResponseHeaderBytes = int64(maxResponseHeadersSize.N)
 
+	// The client handles response compression manually in order to optimize it.
+	// See client.ReadData
+	tr.DisableCompression = true
+
 	hc := &http.Client{
 		Transport: ac.NewRoundTripper(tr),
 		Timeout:   sw.ScrapeTimeout,
@@ -106,17 +110,19 @@ func newClient(ctx context.Context, sw *ScrapeWork) (*client, error) {
 		setHeaders:              setHeaders,
 		setProxyHeaders:         setProxyHeaders,
 		maxScrapeSize:           sw.MaxScrapeSize,
+		disableCompression:      *disableCompression || sw.DisableCompression,
 	}
 	return c, nil
 }
 
-func (c *client) ReadData(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error {
+func (c *client) ReadData(dst *chunkedbuffer.Buffer) (bool, error) {
 	deadline := time.Now().Add(c.c.Timeout)
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithDeadline(c.ctx, deadline)
+	defer cancel()
+
 	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, c.scrapeURL, nil)
 	if err != nil {
-		cancel()
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot create request for %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("cannot create request for %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
 	}
 	// The following `Accept` header has been copied from Prometheus sources.
 	// See https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/blob/f9d21f10ecd2a343a381044f131ea4e46381ce09/scrape/scrape.go#L532 .
@@ -129,28 +135,32 @@ func (c *client) ReadData(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error {
 	req.Header.Set("X-Prometheus-Scrape-Timeout-Seconds", c.scrapeTimeoutSecondsStr)
 	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", "vm_promscrape")
 	if err := c.setHeaders(req); err != nil {
-		cancel()
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set request headers for %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to set request headers for %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
 	}
 	if err := c.setProxyHeaders(req); err != nil {
-		cancel()
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set proxy request headers for %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to set proxy request headers for %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
 	}
+	if !c.disableCompression {
+		req.Header.Set("Accept-Encoding", "gzip")
+	}
+
 	scrapeRequests.Inc()
 	resp, err := c.c.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
-		cancel()
 		if ue, ok := err.(*url.Error); ok && ue.Timeout() {
 			scrapesTimedout.Inc()
 		}
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot perform request to %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("cannot perform request to %q: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
 	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
 		metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`vm_promscrape_scrapes_total{status_code="%d"}`, resp.StatusCode)).Inc()
-		respBody, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-		_ = resp.Body.Close()
-		cancel()
-		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected status code returned when scraping %q: %d; expecting %d; response body: %q",
+		respBody, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		if err != nil {
+			respBody = []byte(err.Error())
+		}
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("unexpected status code returned when scraping %q: %d; expecting %d; response body: %q",
 			c.scrapeURL, resp.StatusCode, http.StatusOK, respBody)
 	}
 	scrapesOK.Inc()
@@ -158,21 +168,21 @@ func (c *client) ReadData(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error {
 	// Read the data from resp.Body
 	r := io.LimitReader(resp.Body, c.maxScrapeSize)
 	_, err = dst.ReadFrom(r)
-	_ = resp.Body.Close()
-	cancel()
 	if err != nil {
 		if ue, ok := err.(*url.Error); ok && ue.Timeout() {
 			scrapesTimedout.Inc()
 		}
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot read data from %s: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("cannot read data from %s: %w", c.scrapeURL, err)
 	}
-	if int64(len(dst.B)) >= c.maxScrapeSize {
+	if int64(dst.Len()) >= c.maxScrapeSize {
 		maxScrapeSizeExceeded.Inc()
-		return fmt.Errorf("the response from %q exceeds -promscrape.maxScrapeSize or max_scrape_size in the scrape config (%d bytes). "+
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("the response from %q exceeds -promscrape.maxScrapeSize or max_scrape_size in the scrape config (%d bytes). "+
 			"Possible solutions are: reduce the response size for the target, increase -promscrape.maxScrapeSize command-line flag, "+
 			"increase max_scrape_size value in scrape config for the given target", c.scrapeURL, c.maxScrapeSize)
 	}
-	return nil
+
+	isGzipped := resp.Header.Get("Content-Encoding") == "gzip"
+	return isGzipped, nil
 }
 
 var (
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/client_test.go b/lib/promscrape/client_test.go
index 8654c69826..fbf33862bd 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/client_test.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/client_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/chunkedbuffer"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/httputil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/promauth"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/proxy"
@@ -149,20 +149,25 @@ func TestClientProxyReadOk(t *testing.T) {
 			// bump timeout for slow CIs
 			ScrapeTimeout: 5 * time.Second,
 			// force connection re-creating to avoid broken conns in slow CIs
-			DisableKeepAlive: true,
-			AuthConfig:       newTestAuthConfig(t, isBackendTLS, backendAuth),
-			ProxyAuthConfig:  newTestAuthConfig(t, isProxyTLS, proxyAuth),
-			MaxScrapeSize:    16000,
+			DisableKeepAlive:   true,
+			AuthConfig:         newTestAuthConfig(t, isBackendTLS, backendAuth),
+			ProxyAuthConfig:    newTestAuthConfig(t, isProxyTLS, proxyAuth),
+			MaxScrapeSize:      16000,
+			DisableCompression: true,
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("failed to create client: %s", err)
 		}
 
-		var bb bytesutil.ByteBuffer
-		if err = c.ReadData(&bb); err != nil {
+		var cb chunkedbuffer.Buffer
+		isGzipped, err := c.ReadData(&cb)
+		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("unexpected error at ReadData: %s", err)
 		}
-		got, err := io.ReadAll(bb.NewReader())
+		if isGzipped {
+			t.Fatalf("the response musn't be gzipped")
+		}
+		got, err := io.ReadAll(cb.NewReader())
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("err read: %s", err)
 		}
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go b/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go
index d7b99e38e5..2ea94d74e7 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bloomfilter"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/cgroup"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/chunkedbuffer"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/decimal"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/encoding"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/flagutil"
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/promutil"
 	parser "github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/protoparser/prometheus"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/protoparser/prometheus/stream"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/protoparser/protoparserutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/proxy"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/slicesutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/timerpool"
@@ -188,7 +190,7 @@ type scrapeWork struct {
 	Config *ScrapeWork
 
 	// ReadData is called for reading the scrape response data into dst.
-	ReadData func(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error
+	ReadData func(dst *chunkedbuffer.Buffer) (bool, error)
 
 	// PushData is called for pushing collected data.
 	//
@@ -323,6 +325,12 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) run(stopCh <-chan struct{}, globalStopCh <-chan struct{})
 				// Do not send staleness markers on graceful shutdown as Prometheus does.
 				// See https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/2013#issuecomment-1006994079
 			default:
+				// The code below is CPU-bound, while it may allocate big amounts of memory.
+				// That's why it is a good idea to limit the number of concurrent goroutines,
+				// which may execute this code, in order to limit memory usage under high load
+				// without sacrificing the performance.
+				processScrapedDataConcurrencyLimitCh <- struct{}{}
+
 				// Send staleness markers to all the metrics scraped last time from the target
 				// when the given target disappears as Prometheus does.
 				// Use the current real timestamp for staleness markers, so queries
@@ -332,6 +340,8 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) run(stopCh <-chan struct{}, globalStopCh <-chan struct{})
 				lastScrapeStr := bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(bbLastScrape.B)
 				sw.sendStaleSeries(lastScrapeStr, "", t, true)
 				leveledbytebufferpool.Put(bbLastScrape)
+
+				<-processScrapedDataConcurrencyLimitCh
 			}
 			if sl := sw.getSeriesLimiter(); sl != nil {
 				sl.MustStop()
@@ -402,28 +412,33 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) needStreamParseMode(responseSize int) bool {
 
 // getTargetResponse() fetches response from sw target in the same way as when scraping the target.
 func (sw *scrapeWork) getTargetResponse() ([]byte, error) {
-	var bb bytesutil.ByteBuffer
-	if err := sw.ReadData(&bb); err != nil {
+	cb := chunkedbuffer.Get()
+	defer chunkedbuffer.Put(cb)
+
+	isGzipped, err := sw.ReadData(cb)
+	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return bb.B, nil
+
+	var bb bytesutil.ByteBuffer
+	err = readFromBuffer(&bb, cb, isGzipped)
+	chunkedbuffer.Put(cb)
+	return bb.B, err
 }
 
 func (sw *scrapeWork) scrapeInternal(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64) error {
-	body := leveledbytebufferpool.Get(sw.prevBodyLen)
-
-	// Read the scrape response into body.
-	// It is OK to do for stream parsing mode, since the most of RAM
+	// Read the whole scrape response into cb.
+	// It is OK to do this for stream parsing mode, since the most of RAM
 	// is occupied during parsing of the read response body below.
 	// This also allows measuring the real scrape duration, which doesn't include
 	// the time needed for processing of the read response.
-	err := sw.ReadData(body)
+	cb := chunkedbuffer.Get()
+	isGzipped, err := sw.ReadData(cb)
 
 	// Measure scrape duration.
 	endTimestamp := time.Now().UnixMilli()
 	scrapeDurationSeconds := float64(endTimestamp-realTimestamp) / 1e3
 	scrapeDuration.Update(scrapeDurationSeconds)
-	scrapeResponseSize.Update(float64(len(body.B)))
 
 	// The code below is CPU-bound, while it may allocate big amounts of memory.
 	// That's why it is a good idea to limit the number of concurrent goroutines,
@@ -431,7 +446,19 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) scrapeInternal(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64) error
 	// without sacrificing the performance.
 	processScrapedDataConcurrencyLimitCh <- struct{}{}
 
-	if err == nil && sw.needStreamParseMode(len(body.B)) {
+	// Copy the read scrape response to body in order to parse it and send
+	// the parsed results to remote storage.
+	body := leveledbytebufferpool.Get(sw.prevBodyLen)
+	if err == nil {
+		err = readFromBuffer(body, cb, isGzipped)
+	}
+	chunkedbuffer.Put(cb)
+
+	bodyLen := len(body.B)
+	sw.prevBodyLen = bodyLen
+	scrapeResponseSize.Update(float64(bodyLen))
+
+	if err == nil && sw.needStreamParseMode(bodyLen) {
 		// Process response body from scrape target in streaming manner.
 		// This case is optimized for targets exposing more than ten thousand of metrics per target,
 		// such as kube-state-metrics.
@@ -443,15 +470,33 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) scrapeInternal(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64) error
 		err = sw.processDataOneShot(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp, body.B, scrapeDurationSeconds, err)
 	}
 
-	<-processScrapedDataConcurrencyLimitCh
-
 	leveledbytebufferpool.Put(body)
 
+	<-processScrapedDataConcurrencyLimitCh
+
 	return err
 }
 
 var processScrapedDataConcurrencyLimitCh = make(chan struct{}, cgroup.AvailableCPUs())
 
+func readFromBuffer(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer, src *chunkedbuffer.Buffer, isGzipped bool) error {
+	if !isGzipped {
+		src.MustWriteTo(dst)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	reader, err := protoparserutil.GetUncompressedReader(src.NewReader(), "gzip")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot decompress response body: %w", err)
+	}
+	_, err = dst.ReadFrom(reader)
+	protoparserutil.PutUncompressedReader(reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot read gzipped response body: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (sw *scrapeWork) processDataOneShot(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64, body []byte, scrapeDurationSeconds float64, err error) error {
 	up := 1
 
@@ -497,6 +542,7 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) processDataOneShot(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64, b
 		samplesDropped = wc.applySeriesLimit(sw)
 	}
 	responseSize := len(bodyString)
+
 	am := &autoMetrics{
 		up:                        up,
 		scrapeDurationSeconds:     scrapeDurationSeconds,
@@ -507,9 +553,9 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) processDataOneShot(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64, b
 		seriesLimitSamplesDropped: samplesDropped,
 	}
 	wc.addAutoMetrics(sw, am, scrapeTimestamp)
+
 	sw.pushData(&wc.writeRequest)
 	sw.prevLabelsLen = len(wc.labels)
-	sw.prevBodyLen = responseSize
 	writeRequestCtxPool.Put(wc)
 
 	if !areIdenticalSeries {
@@ -607,7 +653,6 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) processDataInStreamMode(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int
 		seriesLimitSamplesDropped: int(samplesDroppedTotal.Load()),
 	}
 	sw.pushAutoMetrics(am, scrapeTimestamp)
-	sw.prevBodyLen = responseSize
 
 	if !areIdenticalSeries {
 		// Send stale markers for disappeared metrics with the real scrape timestamp
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/scrapework_test.go b/lib/promscrape/scrapework_test.go
index 5fadaac692..659f5c0742 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/scrapework_test.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/scrapework_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/auth"
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/chunkedbuffer"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/prompbmarshal"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/promrelabel"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/promutil"
@@ -93,9 +93,9 @@ func TestScrapeWorkScrapeInternalFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	readDataCalls := 0
-	sw.ReadData = func(_ *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error {
+	sw.ReadData = func(_ *chunkedbuffer.Buffer) (bool, error) {
 		readDataCalls++
-		return fmt.Errorf("error when reading data")
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("error when reading data")
 	}
 
 	pushDataCalls := 0
@@ -149,10 +149,10 @@ func testScrapeWorkScrapeInternalSuccess(t *testing.T, streamParse bool) {
 		sw.Config = cfg
 
 		readDataCalls := 0
-		sw.ReadData = func(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error {
+		sw.ReadData = func(dst *chunkedbuffer.Buffer) (bool, error) {
 			readDataCalls++
-			dst.B = append(dst.B, data...)
-			return nil
+			dst.MustWrite([]byte(data))
+			return false, nil
 		}
 
 		var pushDataMu sync.Mutex
@@ -543,15 +543,14 @@ func TestScrapeWorkScrapeInternalStreamConcurrency(t *testing.T) {
 		sw.Config = cfg
 
 		readDataCalls := 0
-		sw.ReadData = func(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error {
+		sw.ReadData = func(dst *chunkedbuffer.Buffer) (bool, error) {
 			readDataCalls++
-			dst.B = append(dst.B, data...)
-			return nil
+			dst.MustWrite([]byte(data))
+			return false, nil
 		}
 
 		var pushDataCalls atomic.Int64
 		var pushedTimeseries atomic.Int64
-		var pushDataErr error
 		sw.PushData = func(_ *auth.Token, wr *prompbmarshal.WriteRequest) {
 			pushDataCalls.Add(1)
 			pushedTimeseries.Add(int64(len(wr.Timeseries)))
@@ -568,9 +567,6 @@ func TestScrapeWorkScrapeInternalStreamConcurrency(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 		}
 		tsmGlobal.Unregister(&sw)
-		if pushDataErr != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %s", pushDataErr)
-		}
 		if readDataCalls != 1 {
 			t.Fatalf("unexpected number of readData calls; got %d; want %d", readDataCalls, 1)
 		}
@@ -630,8 +626,8 @@ func TestScrapeWorkScrapeInternalStreamConcurrency(t *testing.T) {
 func TestWriteRequestCtx_AddRowNoRelabeling(t *testing.T) {
 	f := func(row string, cfg *ScrapeWork, dataExpected string) {
 		t.Helper()
-		var wc writeRequestCtx
 		r := parsePromRow(row)
+		var wc writeRequestCtx
 		wc.addRow(cfg, r, r.Timestamp, false)
 		tss := wc.writeRequest.Timeseries
 		tssExpected := parseData(dataExpected)
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/scrapework_timing_test.go b/lib/promscrape/scrapework_timing_test.go
index 7913778f80..c8eedcb5e0 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/scrapework_timing_test.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/scrapework_timing_test.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/auth"
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/chunkedbuffer"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/prompbmarshal"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/protoparser/protoparserutil"
 )
@@ -133,12 +133,14 @@ func benchmarkScrapeWorkScrapeInternal(b *testing.B, data []byte, streamParse bo
 	protoparserutil.StartUnmarshalWorkers()
 	defer protoparserutil.StopUnmarshalWorkers()
 
-	readData := func(dst *bytesutil.ByteBuffer) error {
-		dst.B = append(dst.B, data...)
-		return nil
+	readData := func(dst *chunkedbuffer.Buffer) (bool, error) {
+		dst.MustWrite(data)
+		return false, nil
 	}
+
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.SetBytes(int64(len(data)))
+
 	b.RunParallel(func(pb *testing.PB) {
 		var sw scrapeWork
 		sw.Config = &ScrapeWork{