diff --git a/examples/readout/fairmq-start-ex-readout.sh.in b/examples/readout/fairmq-start-ex-readout.sh.in
index c3518b84..63da0101 100755
--- a/examples/readout/fairmq-start-ex-readout.sh.in
+++ b/examples/readout/fairmq-start-ex-readout.sh.in
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 export FAIRMQ_PATH=@FAIRMQ_BIN_DIR@
 
-msgSize="1000000"
+msgSize="2000000"
 
 if [[ $1 =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
     msgSize=$1
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ xterm -geometry 80x23+0+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$SAMPLER &
 BUILDER="fairmq-ex-readout-builder"
 BUILDER+=" --id builder1"
 BUILDER+=" --severity debug"
+BUILDER+=" --ofi-size-hint $msgSize"
 BUILDER+=" --channel-config name=data1,type=pair,method=connect,address=tcp://127.0.0.1:7777,transport=shmem"
 BUILDER+="                  name=data2,type=pair,method=connect,address=tcp://127.0.0.1:7778,transport=ofi"
 xterm -geometry 80x23+500+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$BUILDER &
@@ -26,5 +27,6 @@ xterm -geometry 80x23+500+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$BUILDER &
 SINK="fairmq-ex-readout-sink"
 SINK+=" --id sink1"
 SINK+=" --severity debug"
+SINK+=" --ofi-size-hint $msgSize"
 SINK+=" --channel-config name=data,type=pair,method=bind,address=tcp://127.0.0.1:7778,transport=ofi"
 xterm -geometry 80x23+1000+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$SINK &
diff --git a/fairmq/ofi/Context.cxx b/fairmq/ofi/Context.cxx
index d8db08f6..c842daeb 100644
--- a/fairmq/ofi/Context.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/ofi/Context.cxx
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Context::Context(FairMQTransportFactory& sendFactory,
     : fIoWork(fIoContext)
     , fReceiveFactory(receiveFactory)
     , fSendFactory(sendFactory)
+    , fSizeHint(2000000) // temporary hack to provide expected message size for receive
 {
     InitThreadPool(numberIoThreads);
 }
diff --git a/fairmq/ofi/Context.h b/fairmq/ofi/Context.h
index 3f3f4ed0..c49df097 100644
--- a/fairmq/ofi/Context.h
+++ b/fairmq/ofi/Context.h
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ class Context
     auto Reset() -> void;
     auto MakeReceiveMessage(size_t size) -> MessagePtr;
     auto MakeSendMessage(size_t size) -> MessagePtr;
+    size_t GetSizeHint() { return fSizeHint; } // temporary hack to provide expected message size for receive
+    void SetSizeHint(size_t size) { fSizeHint = size; } // temporary hack to provide expected message size for receive
 
   private:
     boost::asio::io_context fIoContext;
@@ -80,6 +82,8 @@ class Context
     FairMQTransportFactory& fReceiveFactory;
     FairMQTransportFactory& fSendFactory;
 
+    size_t fSizeHint; // temporary hack to provide expected message size for receive
+
     auto InitThreadPool(int numberIoThreads) -> void;
 }; /* class Context */
 
diff --git a/fairmq/ofi/Socket.cxx b/fairmq/ofi/Socket.cxx
index 45ee1ce7..3d7e9041 100644
--- a/fairmq/ofi/Socket.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/ofi/Socket.cxx
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ auto Socket::OnSend(MessagePtr& msg) -> void
 {
     // LOG(debug) << "OFI transport (" << fId << "): ENTER OnSend";
 
-    auto size = 2000000;
+    auto size = msg->GetSize();
 
     // LOG(debug) << "OFI transport (" << fId << "):       OnSend: data=" << msg->GetData() << ",size=" << msg->GetSize();
 
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ auto Socket::RecvQueueReader() -> void
 {
     fRecvSem.async_wait([&](const boost::system::error_code& ec) {
         if (!ec) {
-            auto size = 2000000;
+            static size_t size = fContext.GetSizeHint(); // temporary hack to provide expected message size for receive
 
             auto msg = fContext.MakeReceiveMessage(size);
             boost::asio::mutable_buffer buffer(msg->GetData(), size);
diff --git a/fairmq/ofi/TransportFactory.cxx b/fairmq/ofi/TransportFactory.cxx
index 0c2124f7..d3b5c4bc 100644
--- a/fairmq/ofi/TransportFactory.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/ofi/TransportFactory.cxx
@@ -23,12 +23,15 @@ namespace ofi
 
 using namespace std;
 
-TransportFactory::TransportFactory(const string& id, const FairMQProgOptions* /*config*/)
+TransportFactory::TransportFactory(const string& id, const FairMQProgOptions* config)
 try : FairMQTransportFactory(id)
     , fContext(*this, *this, 1)
 {
     LOG(debug) << "OFI transport: Using AZMQ & "
                << "asiofi (" << fContext.GetAsiofiVersion() << ")";
+    if (config) {
+        fContext.SetSizeHint(config->GetValue<size_t>("ofi-size-hint")); // temporary hack to provide expected message size for receive
+    }
 } catch (ContextError& e) {
     throw TransportFactoryError{e.what()};
 }
diff --git a/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx b/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx
index f5540f5b..ff17c5fe 100644
--- a/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ FairMQProgOptions::FairMQProgOptions()
         ("print-channels",         po::value<bool    >()->implicit_value(true),      "Print registered channel endpoints in a machine-readable format (<channel name>:<min num subchannels>:<max num subchannels>)")
         ("shm-segment-size",       po::value<size_t  >()->default_value(2000000000), "Shared memory: size of the shared memory segment (in bytes).")
         ("shm-monitor",            po::value<bool    >()->default_value(true),       "Shared memory: run monitor daemon.")
+        ("ofi-size-hint",          po::value<size_t  >()->default_value(2000000),    "EXPERIMENTAL: OFI size hint for the allocator.")
         ("rate",                   po::value<float   >()->default_value(0.),         "Rate for conditional run loop (Hz).")
         ("session",                po::value<string  >()->default_value("default"),  "Session name.");
 
diff --git a/fairmq/run/startMQBenchmark.sh.in b/fairmq/run/startMQBenchmark.sh.in
index 86f44e33..ae67a27f 100755
--- a/fairmq/run/startMQBenchmark.sh.in
+++ b/fairmq/run/startMQBenchmark.sh.in
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ SINK+=" --id sink1"
 #SINK+=" --io-threads 2"
 #SINK+=" --control static"
 SINK+=" --transport $transport"
+SINK+=" --ofi-size-hint $msgSize"
 SINK+=" --severity debug"
 SINK+=" --multipart false"
 SINK+=" --max-iterations $maxIterations"