diff --git a/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray.go b/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray.go
index c2a999483b..cff7daa9d5 100644
--- a/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray.go
+++ b/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray.go
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ package suffixarray
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/binary"
 	"exp/regexp"
+	"gob"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"sort"
@@ -37,13 +37,18 @@ func New(data []byte) *Index {
 	return &Index{data, qsufsort(data)}
 }
 
+// Read and Write slice the data into successive portions of length gobN,
+// so gob can allocate smaller buffers for its I/O.
+const gobN = 1 << 16 // slightly better than say 1 << 20 (BenchmarkSaveRestore)
+
 // Read reads the index from r into x; x must not be nil.
 func (x *Index) Read(r io.Reader) os.Error {
-	var n int32
-	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.LittleEndian, &n); err != nil {
+	d := gob.NewDecoder(r)
+	var n int
+	if err := d.Decode(&n); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if 2*n < int32(cap(x.data)) || int32(cap(x.data)) < n {
+	if 2*n < cap(x.data) || cap(x.data) < n {
 		// new data is significantly smaller or larger then
 		// existing buffers - allocate new ones
 		x.data = make([]byte, n)
@@ -53,28 +58,51 @@ func (x *Index) Read(r io.Reader) os.Error {
 		x.data = x.data[0:n]
 		x.sa = x.sa[0:n]
 	}
-
-	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.LittleEndian, x.data); err != nil {
-		return err
+	for i := 0; i < n; {
+		j := i + gobN
+		if j > n {
+			j = n
+		}
+		// data holds next piece of x.data; its length is updated by Decode
+		data := x.data[i:j]
+		if err := d.Decode(&data); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if len(data) != j-i {
+			return os.NewError("suffixarray.Read: inconsistent data format")
+		}
+		// sa holds next piece of x.data; its length is updated by Decode
+		sa := x.sa[i:j]
+		if err := d.Decode(&sa); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if len(sa) != j-i {
+			return os.NewError("suffixarray.Read: inconsistent data format")
+		}
+		i = j
 	}
-	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.LittleEndian, x.sa); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	return nil
 }
 
 // Write writes the index x to w.
 func (x *Index) Write(w io.Writer) os.Error {
-	n := int32(len(x.data))
-	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.LittleEndian, n); err != nil {
+	e := gob.NewEncoder(w)
+	n := len(x.data)
+	if err := e.Encode(n); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.LittleEndian, x.data); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.LittleEndian, x.sa); err != nil {
-		return err
+	for i := 0; i < n; {
+		j := i + gobN
+		if j > n {
+			j = n
+		}
+		if err := e.Encode(x.data[i:j]); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := e.Encode(x.sa[i:j]); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		i = j
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray_test.go b/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray_test.go
index cffedfba0f..9b4d89f42e 100644
--- a/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/index/suffixarray/suffixarray_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ package suffixarray
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"exp/regexp"
+	"rand"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -255,3 +256,21 @@ func TestIndex(t *testing.T) {
 		testLookups(t, &tc, x, -1)
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkSaveRestore(b *testing.B) {
+	b.StopTimer()
+	r := rand.New(rand.NewSource(0x5a77a1)) // guarantee always same sequence
+	data := make([]byte, 10<<20)            // 10MB index data
+	for i := range data {
+		data[i] = byte(r.Intn(256))
+	}
+	x := New(data)
+	testSaveRestore(nil, nil, x)                    // verify correctness
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(make([]byte, len(data))) // avoid frequent growing
+	b.StartTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		x.Write(buf)
+		var y Index
+		y.Read(buf)
+	}
+}