diff --git a/p2p/transport/webrtc/datachannel.go b/p2p/transport/webrtc/datachannel.go
index 5a9aa45ef7..da95942dbd 100644
--- a/p2p/transport/webrtc/datachannel.go
+++ b/p2p/transport/webrtc/datachannel.go
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/network"
-	"github.com/libp2p/go-msgio/protoio"
 	"github.com/pion/datachannel"
 	"github.com/pion/webrtc/v3"
 
@@ -44,6 +43,7 @@ const (
 type dataChannel struct {
 	// TODO: Are these circular references okay?
 	channel       *webrtc.DataChannel
+	rwc           datachannel.ReadWriteCloser
 	laddr         net.Addr
 	raddr         net.Addr
 	readDeadline  *deadline
@@ -59,10 +59,8 @@ type dataChannel struct {
 	cancel         context.CancelFunc
 	m              sync.Mutex
 	readBuf        bytes.Buffer
+	buf            []byte
 	writeAvailable chan struct{}
-
-	writer protoio.Writer
-	reader protoio.Reader
 }
 
 func newDataChannel(
@@ -74,15 +72,15 @@ func newDataChannel(
 
 	result := &dataChannel{
 		channel:        channel,
+		rwc:            rwc,
 		laddr:          laddr,
 		raddr:          raddr,
 		readDeadline:   newDeadline(),
 		writeDeadline:  newDeadline(),
 		ctx:            ctx,
 		cancel:         cancel,
-		writer:         protoio.NewDelimitedWriter(rwc),
-		reader:         protoio.NewDelimitedReader(rwc, 1500),
 		writeAvailable: make(chan struct{}),
+		buf:            make([]byte, 1500),
 	}
 
 	// channel.OnMessage(result.handleMessage)
@@ -100,6 +98,9 @@ func (d *dataChannel) processControlMessage(msg pb.Message) {
 	if d.state == stateClosed {
 		return
 	}
+	if msg.Flag == nil {
+		return
+	}
 	switch msg.GetFlag() {
 	case pb.Message_FIN:
 		if d.state == stateWriteClosed {
@@ -144,22 +145,30 @@ func (d *dataChannel) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
 
 		// read in a separate goroutine to enable read deadlines
 		go func() {
-			err = d.reader.ReadMsg(&msg)
+			read, err = d.rwc.Read(d.buf)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Warnf("error reading from datachannel: %v", err)
+				signal <- struct {
+					error
+				}{err}
+				return
+			}
+			err = msg.Unmarshal(d.buf[:read])
 			if err != nil {
+				log.Warnf("could not unmarshal message: read: %d, err: %v", read, err)
 				signal <- struct {
 					error
 				}{err}
 				return
 			}
-			if state := d.getState(); state != stateClosed && state != stateReadClosed {
+
+			if state := d.getState(); state != stateClosed && state != stateReadClosed && msg.Message != nil {
 				d.m.Lock()
-				d.readBuf.Write(msg.GetMessage())
+				d.readBuf.Write(msg.Message)
 				d.m.Unlock()
 			}
-			// process control message
-			if msg.Flag != nil {
-				d.processControlMessage(msg)
-			}
+			d.processControlMessage(msg)
+
 			signal <- struct{ error }{nil}
 
 		}()
@@ -183,9 +192,8 @@ func (d *dataChannel) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
 	var err error
 	var (
 		start     int = 0
-		end           = 0
-		written       = 0
-		chunkSize     = 1024*1024 - 10
+		end           = len(b)
+		chunkSize     = 65525
 		n             = 0
 	)
 
@@ -199,11 +207,9 @@ func (d *dataChannel) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			break
 		}
-		written += n
-		start = end
+		start += n
 	}
-	return written, err
-
+	return start, err
 }
 
 func (d *dataChannel) partialWrite(b []byte) (int, error) {
@@ -224,7 +230,20 @@ func (d *dataChannel) partialWrite(b []byte) (int, error) {
 			return 0, os.ErrDeadlineExceeded
 		}
 	}
-	return len(b), d.writer.WriteMsg(msg)
+	return d.writeMessage(msg)
+}
+
+func (d *dataChannel) writeMessage(msg *pb.Message) (int, error) {
+	data, err := msg.Marshal()
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	_, err = d.rwc.Write(data)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	return len(msg.GetMessage()), err
+
 }
 
 func (d *dataChannel) Close() error {
@@ -255,7 +274,7 @@ func (d *dataChannel) CloseRead() error {
 		msg := &pb.Message{
 			Flag: pb.Message_STOP_SENDING.Enum(),
 		}
-		err = d.writer.WriteMsg(msg)
+		_, err = d.writeMessage(msg)
 	})
 	return err
 
@@ -280,7 +299,7 @@ func (d *dataChannel) CloseWrite() error {
 		msg := &pb.Message{
 			Flag: pb.Message_FIN.Enum(),
 		}
-		err = d.writer.WriteMsg(msg)
+		_, err = d.writeMessage(msg)
 	})
 	return err
 }
@@ -297,7 +316,7 @@ func (d *dataChannel) Reset() error {
 	var err error
 	d.resetOnce.Do(func() {
 		msg := &pb.Message{Flag: pb.Message_RESET.Enum()}
-		err = d.writer.WriteMsg(msg)
+		_, err = d.writeMessage(msg)
 		d.Close()
 	})
 	return err
diff --git a/p2p/transport/webrtc/listener.go b/p2p/transport/webrtc/listener.go
index 5c5ee9c452..6e6876db6a 100644
--- a/p2p/transport/webrtc/listener.go
+++ b/p2p/transport/webrtc/listener.go
@@ -186,11 +186,13 @@ func (l *listener) accept(ctx context.Context, addr candidateAddr) (tpt.CapableC
 	// signaling channel wraps an error in a struct to make
 	// the error nullable.
 	signalChan := make(chan struct{ error })
+	var wrappedChannel *dataChannel
+	var handshakeOnce sync.Once
 	// this enforces that the correct data channel label is used
 	// for the handshake
-	handshakeChannel, err := pc.CreateDataChannel("data", &webrtc.DataChannelInit{
+	handshakeChannel, err := pc.CreateDataChannel("handshake", &webrtc.DataChannelInit{
 		Negotiated: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(true),
-		ID:         func(v uint16) *uint16 { return &v }(1),
+		ID:         func(v uint16) *uint16 { return &v }(0),
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		defer cleanup()
@@ -208,9 +210,6 @@ func (l *listener) accept(ctx context.Context, addr candidateAddr) (tpt.CapableC
 	// Therefore, we wrap the datachannel before performing the
 	// offer-answer exchange, so any messages sent from the remote get
 	// buffered.
-	var wrappedChannel *dataChannel
-
-	var handshakeOnce sync.Once
 	handshakeChannel.OnOpen(func() {
 		rwc, err := handshakeChannel.Detach()
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/p2p/transport/webrtc/transport.go b/p2p/transport/webrtc/transport.go
index 422b872ad5..5a8105dc16 100644
--- a/p2p/transport/webrtc/transport.go
+++ b/p2p/transport/webrtc/transport.go
@@ -210,20 +210,9 @@ func (t *WebRTCTransport) Dial(
 		return nil, errInternal("could not instantiate peerconnection", err)
 	}
 
-	// We need to set negotiated = true for this channel on both
-	// the client and server to avoid DCEP errors.
-	handshakeChannel, err := pc.CreateDataChannel("data", &webrtc.DataChannelInit{
-		Negotiated: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(true),
-		ID:         func(v uint16) *uint16 { return &v }(1),
-	})
-
-	if err != nil {
-		defer cleanup()
-		return nil, errDatachannel("could not create", err)
-	}
-
 	signalChan := make(chan struct{ error })
 	var connectedOnce sync.Once
+
 	pc.OnConnectionStateChange(func(state webrtc.PeerConnectionState) {
 		switch state {
 		case webrtc.PeerConnectionStateConnected:
@@ -238,6 +227,16 @@ func (t *WebRTCTransport) Dial(
 		}
 	})
 
+	// We need to set negotiated = true for this channel on both
+	// the client and server to avoid DCEP errors.
+	handshakeChannel, err := pc.CreateDataChannel("handshake", &webrtc.DataChannelInit{
+		Negotiated: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(true),
+		ID:         func(v uint16) *uint16 { return &v }(0),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		defer cleanup()
+		return nil, errDatachannel("could not create", err)
+	}
 	handshakeChannel.OnOpen(func() {
 		rwc, err := handshakeChannel.Detach()
 		if err != nil {