diff --git a/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/async/AsyncResponseTransformer.java b/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/async/AsyncResponseTransformer.java
index 64565a62a204..7bf28fb30e39 100644
--- a/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/async/AsyncResponseTransformer.java
+++ b/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/async/AsyncResponseTransformer.java
@@ -19,8 +19,10 @@
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.annotations.SdkPublicApi;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.FileTransformerConfiguration;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.ResponseBytes;
@@ -202,7 +204,11 @@ static <ResponseT> AsyncResponseTransformer<ResponseT, ResponseT> toFile(
      * @return AsyncResponseTransformer instance.
      */
     static <ResponseT> AsyncResponseTransformer<ResponseT, ResponseBytes<ResponseT>> toBytes() {
-        return new ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer<>();
+        return new ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer<>(Optional.empty());
+    }
+
+    static <ResponseT> AsyncResponseTransformer<ResponseT, ResponseBytes<ResponseT>> toBytes(Function<ResponseT, Integer> f) {
+        return new ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer<>(Optional.of(f));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/async/ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer.java b/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/async/ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer.java
index 90d587cd5a36..bb06ecf8edc8 100644
--- a/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/async/ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer.java
+++ b/core/sdk-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/core/internal/async/ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer.java
@@ -15,11 +15,14 @@
 
 package software.amazon.awssdk.core.internal.async;
 
+import static software.amazon.awssdk.utils.BinaryUtils.copyBytes;
 import static software.amazon.awssdk.utils.FunctionalUtils.invokeSafely;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 import org.reactivestreams.Subscriber;
 import org.reactivestreams.Subscription;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.annotations.SdkInternalApi;
@@ -41,13 +44,18 @@
 public final class ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer<ResponseT> implements
         AsyncResponseTransformer<ResponseT, ResponseBytes<ResponseT>> {
 
+    private final Optional<Function<ResponseT, Integer>> knownSize;
     private volatile CompletableFuture<byte[]> cf;
     private volatile ResponseT response;
 
+    public ByteArrayAsyncResponseTransformer(Optional<Function<ResponseT, Integer>> knownSize) {
+        this.knownSize = knownSize;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public CompletableFuture<ResponseBytes<ResponseT>> prepare() {
         cf = new CompletableFuture<>();
-        return cf.thenApply(arr -> ResponseBytes.fromByteArray(response, arr));
+        return cf.thenApply(arr -> ResponseBytes.fromByteArrayUnsafe(response, arr));
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -57,7 +65,9 @@ public void onResponse(ResponseT response) {
 
     @Override
     public void onStream(SdkPublisher<ByteBuffer> publisher) {
-        publisher.subscribe(new BaosSubscriber(cf));
+        ByteStore byteStore =
+            knownSize.<ByteStore>map(f -> new KnownLengthStore(f.apply(response))).orElseGet(BaosStore::new);
+        publisher.subscribe(new ByteSubscriber(cf, byteStore));
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -65,15 +75,17 @@ public void exceptionOccurred(Throwable throwable) {
         cf.completeExceptionally(throwable);
     }
 
-    static class BaosSubscriber implements Subscriber<ByteBuffer> {
+
+    static class ByteSubscriber implements Subscriber<ByteBuffer> {
         private final CompletableFuture<byte[]> resultFuture;
 
-        private ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        private ByteStore byteStore;
 
         private Subscription subscription;
 
-        BaosSubscriber(CompletableFuture<byte[]> resultFuture) {
+        ByteSubscriber(CompletableFuture<byte[]> resultFuture, ByteStore byteStore) {
             this.resultFuture = resultFuture;
+            this.byteStore = byteStore;
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -88,19 +100,54 @@ public void onSubscribe(Subscription s) {
 
         @Override
         public void onNext(ByteBuffer byteBuffer) {
-            invokeSafely(() -> baos.write(BinaryUtils.copyBytesFrom(byteBuffer)));
+            byteStore.append(byteBuffer);
             subscription.request(1);
         }
 
         @Override
         public void onError(Throwable throwable) {
-            baos = null;
+            byteStore = null;
             resultFuture.completeExceptionally(throwable);
         }
 
         @Override
         public void onComplete() {
-            resultFuture.complete(baos.toByteArray());
+            resultFuture.complete(byteStore.toByteArray());
+        }
+    }
+
+    interface ByteStore {
+        void append(ByteBuffer byteBuffer);
+        
+        byte[] toByteArray();
+    }
+
+    static class BaosStore implements ByteStore {
+        private final ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+
+        public void append(ByteBuffer byteBuffer) {
+            invokeSafely(() -> baos.write(BinaryUtils.copyBytesFrom(byteBuffer)));
+        }
+
+        public byte[] toByteArray() {
+            return baos.toByteArray();
+        }
+    }
+
+    static class KnownLengthStore implements ByteStore {
+        private final byte[] byteArray;
+        private int offset = 0;
+
+        KnownLengthStore(int contentSize) {
+            this.byteArray = new byte[contentSize];
+        }
+
+        public void append(ByteBuffer byteBuffer) {
+            offset += copyBytes(byteBuffer, byteArray, offset);
+        }
+
+        public byte[] toByteArray() {
+            return byteArray;
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/AsyncS3ResponseTransformer.java b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/AsyncS3ResponseTransformer.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ced9917305bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/AsyncS3ResponseTransformer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package software.amazon.awssdk.services.s3;
+
+import software.amazon.awssdk.core.ResponseBytes;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.core.async.AsyncResponseTransformer;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.services.s3.model.GetObjectResponse;
+
+public class AsyncS3ResponseTransformer {
+    public static AsyncResponseTransformer<GetObjectResponse, ResponseBytes<GetObjectResponse>> toBytes() {
+        return AsyncResponseTransformer.toBytes(r -> r.contentLength().intValue());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/sdk-native-image-test/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/nativeimagetest/S3TestRunner.java b/test/sdk-native-image-test/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/nativeimagetest/S3TestRunner.java
index 4290edd7a87d..d34211fd0f08 100644
--- a/test/sdk-native-image-test/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/nativeimagetest/S3TestRunner.java
+++ b/test/sdk-native-image-test/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/nativeimagetest/S3TestRunner.java
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
 import java.util.UUID;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
-import software.amazon.awssdk.core.async.AsyncResponseTransformer;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.sync.RequestBody;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.services.s3.AsyncS3ResponseTransformer;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.s3.S3AsyncClient;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.s3.S3Client;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.s3.model.CreateBucketResponse;
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public void runTests() {
                                          requestBody);
 
             s3NettyClient.getObject(b -> b.bucket(BUCKET_NAME).key(KEY),
-                               AsyncResponseTransformer.toBytes()).join();
+                               AsyncS3ResponseTransformer.toBytes()).join();
 
         } finally {
             if (bucketResponse != null) {
diff --git a/utils/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/utils/BinaryUtils.java b/utils/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/utils/BinaryUtils.java
index e8d9271f3b65..ebfdc1c344ec 100644
--- a/utils/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/utils/BinaryUtils.java
+++ b/utils/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/utils/BinaryUtils.java
@@ -304,4 +304,22 @@ public static byte[] copyBytesFrom(ByteBuffer bb, int readLimit) {
         return dst;
     }
 
+
+    /**
+     * This behaves identically to {@link software.amazon.awssdk.utils.BinaryUtils#copyBytesFrom(ByteBuffer)}, except
+     * that the bytes are copied to the supplied destination array, at the supplied destination offset.
+     */
+    public static int copyBytes(ByteBuffer bb, byte[] dest, int destOffset) {
+        if (bb == null) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        int remaining = bb.remaining();
+        if (bb.hasArray()) {
+            System.arraycopy(bb.array(), bb.arrayOffset() + bb.position(), dest, destOffset, remaining);
+        } else {
+            bb.asReadOnlyBuffer().get(dest, destOffset, remaining);
+        }
+        return remaining;
+    }
 }