diff --git a/vortex-ipc/src/messages/reader_sync.rs b/vortex-ipc/src/messages/reader_sync.rs
index ad744ce359f..7af395eb9ae 100644
--- a/vortex-ipc/src/messages/reader_sync.rs
+++ b/vortex-ipc/src/messages/reader_sync.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use std::io::Read;
 
 use bytes::BytesMut;
 use vortex_error::VortexResult;
+use vortex_error::vortex_err;
 
 use crate::messages::DecoderMessage;
 use crate::messages::MessageDecoder;
@@ -38,15 +39,24 @@ impl<R: Read> Iterator for SyncMessageReader<R> {
                 }
                 Ok(PollRead::NeedMore(nbytes)) => {
                     self.buffer.resize(nbytes, 0x00);
-                    match self.read.read(&mut self.buffer) {
-                        Ok(0) => {
-                            // EOF
-                            return None;
+                    // `Read` can return fewer bytes than requested; fill completely
+                    // before decoding, which reads `nbytes` regardless of how many
+                    // were actually written.
+                    let mut total_bytes_read = 0;
+                    while total_bytes_read < nbytes {
+                        match self.read.read(&mut self.buffer[total_bytes_read..]) {
+                            Ok(0) => {
+                                if total_bytes_read == 0 {
+                                    // Clean EOF at a message boundary.
+                                    return None;
+                                }
+                                return Some(Err(vortex_err!(
+                                    "unexpected EOF during partial read: read {total_bytes_read} of {nbytes} expected bytes"
+                                )));
+                            }
+                            Ok(n) => total_bytes_read += n,
+                            Err(e) => return Some(Err(e.into())),
                         }
-                        Ok(_nbytes) => {
-                            // Continue in the loop
-                        }
-                        Err(e) => return Some(Err(e.into())),
                     }
                 }
                 Err(e) => return Some(Err(e)),
@@ -54,3 +64,65 @@ impl<R: Read> Iterator for SyncMessageReader<R> {
         }
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::io::Read;
+
+    use bytes::BytesMut;
+    use vortex_array::IntoArray;
+    use vortex_buffer::buffer;
+    use vortex_error::VortexExpect;
+    use vortex_error::VortexResult;
+    use vortex_error::vortex_panic;
+
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::messages::DecoderMessage;
+    use crate::messages::EncoderMessage;
+    use crate::messages::MessageEncoder;
+    use crate::test::SESSION;
+
+    /// A `Read` that yields a single byte per call, forcing maximal partial reads.
+    struct ByteAtATimeReader {
+        data: Vec<u8>,
+        pos: usize,
+    }
+
+    impl Read for ByteAtATimeReader {
+        fn read(&mut self, buf: &mut [u8]) -> std::io::Result<usize> {
+            if buf.is_empty() || self.pos >= self.data.len() {
+                return Ok(0);
+            }
+            buf[0] = self.data[self.pos];
+            self.pos += 1;
+            Ok(1)
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn reads_message_split_across_short_reads() -> VortexResult<()> {
+        let array = buffer![0i32, 1, 2, 3].into_array();
+        let mut ipc_bytes = BytesMut::new();
+        let mut encoder = MessageEncoder::new(SESSION.clone());
+        for buf in encoder.encode(EncoderMessage::Array(&array))? {
+            ipc_bytes.extend_from_slice(buf.as_ref());
+        }
+
+        let reader = ByteAtATimeReader {
+            data: ipc_bytes.to_vec(),
+            pos: 0,
+        };
+        let mut messages = SyncMessageReader::new(reader);
+
+        let DecoderMessage::Array((parts, ctx, row_count)) =
+            messages.next().vortex_expect("expected a message")?
+        else {
+            vortex_panic!("expected an array message");
+        };
+        let actual = parts.decode(array.dtype(), row_count, &ctx, &SESSION)?;
+        assert_eq!(actual.len(), array.len());
+        assert_eq!(actual.encoding_id(), array.encoding_id());
+        assert!(messages.next().is_none());
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}