diff --git a/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go b/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go
index a4b70ffe3..d9f597bcf 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/influxdb/telegraf/plugins/inputs"
 )
 
+const UDP_PACKET_SIZE int = 1500
+
 var dropwarn = "ERROR: Message queue full. Discarding line [%s] " +
 	"You may want to increase allowed_pending_messages in the config\n"
 
@@ -37,10 +39,14 @@ type Statsd struct {
 	DeleteTimings  bool
 	ConvertNames   bool
 
+	// UDPPacketSize is the size of the read packets for the server listening
+	// for statsd UDP packets. This will default to 1500 bytes.
+	UDPPacketSize int `toml:"udp_packet_size"`
+
 	sync.Mutex
 
-	// Channel for all incoming statsd messages
-	in   chan string
+	// Channel for all incoming statsd packets
+	in   chan []byte
 	done chan struct{}
 
 	// Cache gauges, counters & sets so they can be aggregated as they arrive
@@ -58,13 +64,14 @@ func NewStatsd() *Statsd {
 
 	// Make data structures
 	s.done = make(chan struct{})
-	s.in = make(chan string, s.AllowedPendingMessages)
+	s.in = make(chan []byte, s.AllowedPendingMessages)
 	s.gauges = make(map[string]cachedgauge)
 	s.counters = make(map[string]cachedcounter)
 	s.sets = make(map[string]cachedset)
 	s.timings = make(map[string]cachedtimings)
 
 	s.ConvertNames = true
+	s.UDPPacketSize = UDP_PACKET_SIZE
 
 	return &s
 }
@@ -139,6 +146,10 @@ const sampleConfig = `
   # calculation of percentiles. Raising this limit increases the accuracy
   # of percentiles but also increases the memory usage and cpu time.
   percentile_limit = 1000
+
+  # UDP packet size for the server to listen for. This will depend on the size
+  # of the packets that the client is sending, which is usually 1500 bytes.
+  udp_packet_size = 1500
 `
 
 func (_ *Statsd) SampleConfig() string {
@@ -191,7 +202,7 @@ func (s *Statsd) Gather(acc inputs.Accumulator) error {
 func (s *Statsd) Start() error {
 	// Make data structures
 	s.done = make(chan struct{})
-	s.in = make(chan string, s.AllowedPendingMessages)
+	s.in = make(chan []byte, s.AllowedPendingMessages)
 	s.gauges = make(map[string]cachedgauge)
 	s.counters = make(map[string]cachedcounter)
 	s.sets = make(map[string]cachedset)
@@ -220,36 +231,37 @@ func (s *Statsd) udpListen() error {
 		case <-s.done:
 			return nil
 		default:
-			buf := make([]byte, 1024)
+			buf := make([]byte, s.UDPPacketSize)
 			n, _, err := listener.ReadFromUDP(buf)
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Printf("ERROR: %s\n", err.Error())
 			}
 
-			lines := strings.Split(string(buf[:n]), "\n")
-			for _, line := range lines {
-				line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
-				if line != "" {
-					select {
-					case s.in <- line:
-					default:
-						log.Printf(dropwarn, line)
-					}
-				}
+			select {
+			case s.in <- buf[:n]:
+			default:
+				log.Printf(dropwarn, string(buf[:n]))
 			}
 		}
 	}
 }
 
-// parser monitors the s.in channel, if there is a line ready, it parses the
-// statsd string into a usable metric struct and aggregates the value
+// parser monitors the s.in channel, if there is a packet ready, it parses the
+// packet into statsd strings and then calls parseStatsdLine, which parses a
+// single statsd metric into a struct.
 func (s *Statsd) parser() error {
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-s.done:
 			return nil
-		case line := <-s.in:
-			s.parseStatsdLine(line)
+		case packet := <-s.in:
+			lines := strings.Split(string(packet), "\n")
+			for _, line := range lines {
+				line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+				if line != "" {
+					s.parseStatsdLine(line)
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -499,6 +511,9 @@ func (s *Statsd) Stop() {
 
 func init() {
 	inputs.Add("statsd", func() inputs.Input {
-		return &Statsd{ConvertNames: true}
+		return &Statsd{
+			ConvertNames:  true,
+			UDPPacketSize: UDP_PACKET_SIZE,
+		}
 	})
 }