diff --git a/plugins/inputs/syslog/syslog.go b/plugins/inputs/syslog/syslog.go
index a88c06216..daa9b3a46 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/syslog/syslog.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/syslog/syslog.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"strconv"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -282,19 +283,16 @@ func (s *Syslog) handle(conn net.Conn, acc telegraf.Accumulator) {
 
 	zero := time.Time{}
 	for {
-		// make a temporary bytes var to read from the connection
-		tmp := make([]byte, 128)
-		// make 0 length data bytes (since we'll be appending)
-		data := make([]byte, 0)
+		tmpLen := make([]byte, 1)
+		length := make([]byte, 0)
 
-		// loop through the connection stream, appending tmp to data
+		// gather length from beginning of stream
 		for {
 			if s.ReadTimeout != nil && s.ReadTimeout.Duration > 0 {
 				conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(s.ReadTimeout.Duration))
 			}
 
-			// read to the tmp var
-			n, err := conn.Read(tmp)
+			_, err := conn.Read(tmpLen)
 			if err != nil {
 				// read timeout reached, retry
 				if er, ok := err.(net.Error); ok && er.Timeout() {
@@ -309,22 +307,68 @@ func (s *Syslog) handle(conn net.Conn, acc telegraf.Accumulator) {
 				return
 			}
 
-			// append read data to full data
-			data = append(data, tmp[:n]...)
-
-			// break if ends with '\n' (todo: need to ensure writing w/o "\n" works)
-			if tmp[n-1] == '\n' { //|| tmp[n-1] == 'EOF' {
+			// if space found start parsing
+			if tmpLen[0] == byte(32) {
 				break
 			}
+
+			// if byte read is not a number, error
+			if !(tmpLen[0] >= 48 && tmpLen[0] <= 57) {
+				s.store(rfc5425.Result{Error: fmt.Errorf("bad format received")}, acc)
+				return
+			}
+
+			length = append(length, tmpLen[0])
+		}
+
+		data := &bytes.Buffer{}
+
+		// read the data
+		if s.ReadTimeout != nil && s.ReadTimeout.Duration > 0 {
+			conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(s.ReadTimeout.Duration))
+		}
+
+		n, err := io.Copy(data, conn)
+		if err != nil {
+			// read timeout reached, parse what we have
+			if er, ok := err.(net.Error); ok && er.Timeout() {
+				goto parseMsg
+			}
+			// client has closed connection, return
+			if err == io.EOF {
+				if n > 0 {
+					goto parseMsg
+				}
+				return
+			}
+			// other error, log and return
+			s.store(rfc5425.Result{Error: fmt.Errorf("failed reading from syslog client - %s", err.Error())}, acc)
+			return
+		}
+
+parseMsg:
+		x, err := strconv.Atoi(string(length))
+		if err != nil {
+			s.store(rfc5425.Result{Error: fmt.Errorf("bad length received - %s", err.Error())}, acc)
+			return
+		}
+
+		if n < int64(x) {
+			s.store(rfc5425.Result{Error: fmt.Errorf("failed reading all of msg; got %d, expected %d", n, x)}, acc)
+			return
 		}
 
 		conn.SetReadDeadline(zero)
 
+		// reconstruct syslog payload for parser
+		length = append(length, byte(32))
+		tdata := append(length, data.Bytes()...)
+
 		var p *rfc5425.Parser
 		if s.BestEffort {
-			p = rfc5425.NewParser(bytes.NewReader(data), rfc5425.WithBestEffort())
+			p = rfc5425.NewParser(bytes.NewReader(tdata), rfc5425.WithBestEffort())
 		} else {
-			p = rfc5425.NewParser(bytes.NewReader(data))
+			p = rfc5425.NewParser(bytes.NewReader(tdata))
 		}
 
 		p.ParseExecuting(func(r *rfc5425.Result) {