diff --git a/libp2p-identify/Cargo.toml b/libp2p-identify/Cargo.toml
index 200e2604..fdb97399 100644
--- a/libp2p-identify/Cargo.toml
+++ b/libp2p-identify/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ libp2p-swarm = { path = "../libp2p-swarm" }
 multiaddr = "0.2.0"
 protobuf = "1.4.2"
 tokio-io = "0.1.0"
+varint = { path = "../varint-rs" }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 libp2p-tcp-transport = { path = "../libp2p-tcp-transport" }
diff --git a/libp2p-identify/src/lib.rs b/libp2p-identify/src/lib.rs
index 37c832aa..6fb3d219 100644
--- a/libp2p-identify/src/lib.rs
+++ b/libp2p-identify/src/lib.rs
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ extern crate libp2p_peerstore;
 extern crate libp2p_swarm;
 extern crate protobuf;
 extern crate tokio_io;
+extern crate varint;
 
 use bytes::{Bytes, BytesMut};
 use futures::{Future, Stream, Sink};
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ use protobuf::repeated::RepeatedField;
 use std::io::{Error as IoError, ErrorKind as IoErrorKind};
 use std::iter;
 use tokio_io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite};
-use tokio_io::codec::length_delimited;
+use varint::VarintCodec;
 
 mod structs_proto;
 
@@ -94,8 +95,7 @@ impl<C> ConnectionUpgrade<C> for IdentifyProtocol
 	}
 
 	fn upgrade(self, socket: C, _: (), ty: Endpoint, remote_addr: &Multiaddr) -> Self::Future {
-		// TODO: use jack's varint library instead
-		let socket = length_delimited::Builder::new().length_field_length(1).new_framed(socket);
+		let socket = socket.framed(VarintCodec::default());
 
 		match ty {
 			Endpoint::Dialer => {
diff --git a/varint-rs/src/lib.rs b/varint-rs/src/lib.rs
index 7c660bf6..5529c41c 100644
--- a/varint-rs/src/lib.rs
+++ b/varint-rs/src/lib.rs
@@ -31,14 +31,16 @@ extern crate futures;
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate error_chain;
 
-use bytes::BytesMut;
+use bytes::{BufMut, BytesMut, IntoBuf};
 use futures::{Poll, Async};
 use num_bigint::BigUint;
 use num_traits::ToPrimitive;
 use tokio_io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite};
-use tokio_io::codec::Decoder;
+use tokio_io::codec::{Encoder, Decoder};
 use std::io;
 use std::io::prelude::*;
+use std::marker::PhantomData;
+use std::mem;
 
 mod errors {
     error_chain! {
@@ -395,6 +397,78 @@ impl<T: Default + DecoderHelper> Decoder for VarintDecoder<T> {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct VarintCodec<W> {
+    inner: VarintCodecInner,
+    marker: PhantomData<W>,
+}
+
+impl<T> Default for VarintCodec<T> {
+    #[inline]
+    fn default() -> VarintCodec<T> {
+        VarintCodec {
+            inner: VarintCodecInner::WaitingForLen(VarintDecoder::default()),
+            marker: PhantomData,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+enum VarintCodecInner {
+    WaitingForLen(VarintDecoder<usize>),
+    WaitingForData(usize),
+    Poisonned,
+}
+
+impl<T> Decoder for VarintCodec<T> {
+    type Item = BytesMut;
+    type Error = io::Error;
+
+    fn decode(&mut self, src: &mut BytesMut) -> Result<Option<Self::Item>, Self::Error> {
+        loop {
+            match mem::replace(&mut self.inner, VarintCodecInner::Poisonned) {
+                VarintCodecInner::WaitingForData(len) => {
+                    if src.len() >= len {
+                        self.inner = VarintCodecInner::WaitingForLen(VarintDecoder::default());
+                        return Ok(Some(src.split_to(len)));
+                    } else {
+                        self.inner = VarintCodecInner::WaitingForData(len);
+                        return Ok(None);
+                    }
+                },
+                VarintCodecInner::WaitingForLen(mut decoder) => {
+                    match decoder.decode(src)? {
+                        None => {
+                            self.inner = VarintCodecInner::WaitingForLen(decoder);
+                            return Ok(None);
+                        },
+                        Some(len) => {
+                            self.inner = VarintCodecInner::WaitingForData(len);
+                        },
+                    }
+                },
+                VarintCodecInner::Poisonned => {
+                    panic!("varint codec was poisoned")
+                },
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<D> Encoder for VarintCodec<D>
+    where D: IntoBuf + AsRef<[u8]>,
+{
+    type Item = D;
+    type Error = io::Error;
+
+    fn encode(&mut self, item: D, dst: &mut BytesMut) -> Result<(), io::Error> {
+        let encoded_len = encode(item.as_ref().len());       // TODO: can be optimized by not allocating?
+        dst.put(encoded_len);
+        dst.put(item);
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
 /// Syncronously decode a number from a `Read`
 pub fn decode<R: Read, T: Default + DecoderHelper>(mut input: R) -> errors::Result<T> {
     let mut decoder = DecoderState::default();