diff --git a/spec/payload_spec.cr b/spec/payload_spec.cr
index c25d48c..2eda7f4 100644
--- a/spec/payload_spec.cr
+++ b/spec/payload_spec.cr
@@ -74,4 +74,29 @@ describe MQTT::Protocol::Payload do
       (one == two).should be_false
     end
   end
+
+  describe "IOPayload" do
+    it "#to_slice should peek if possible" do
+      io = IO::Memory.new("foo".to_slice)
+      io.rewind
+
+      obj = MQTT::Protocol::IOPayload.new(io, 3)
+      data = obj.to_slice
+
+      obj.@data.should be_nil
+    end
+
+    it "#to_io should not affect position" do
+      io = IO::Memory.new("foo".to_slice)
+      io.rewind
+
+      obj = MQTT::Protocol::IOPayload.new(io, 3)
+
+      dst = IO::Memory.new
+      obj.to_io(dst)
+
+      obj.@data.should be_nil
+      obj.@io.pos.should eq(0)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/src/mqtt/protocol/payload.cr b/src/mqtt/protocol/payload.cr
index ef7ad45..e9722a1 100644
--- a/src/mqtt/protocol/payload.cr
+++ b/src/mqtt/protocol/payload.cr
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ module MQTT
     end
 
     struct IOPayload < Payload
+      alias IOWithPosition = ::IO::Memory | ::IO::FileDescriptor
+
       getter bytesize : Int32
 
       @data : Bytes? = nil
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ module MQTT
         if peeked = @io.peek.try &.[0, bytesize]?
           return peeked
         end
-        return @data || begin
+        @data ||= begin
           data = Bytes.new(bytesize)
           @io.read(data)
           data
@@ -70,11 +72,20 @@ module MQTT
       end
 
       def to_io(io, format : ::IO::ByteFormat = ::IO::ByteFormat::SystemEndian)
+        # Use data that has already been copied to memory
         if data = @data
           io.write data
         else
-          copied = ::IO.copy(@io, io, bytesize)
-          raise "Failed to copy payload" if copied != bytesize
+          # else try to copy
+          if @io.io.is_a?(IOWithPosition)
+            pos = @io.pos
+            copied = ::IO.copy(@io, io, bytesize)
+            raise "Failed to copy payload" if copied != bytesize
+            @io.pos = pos
+          else
+            # copy to memory and write
+            io.write to_slice
+          end
         end
       end
     end