diff --git a/src/decode.js b/src/decode.js
index 4aa55a1..b055ac8 100644
--- a/src/decode.js
+++ b/src/decode.js
@@ -20,16 +20,37 @@ function decode (opts) {
 
   return (read) => {
     reader(read)
+
+    // this function has to be written without recursion
+    // or it blows the stack in case of sync stream
     function next () {
-      _decodeFromReader(reader, opts, (err, msg) => {
-        if (err) return p.end(err)
+      let doNext = true
+      let decoded = false
 
-        p.push(msg)
-        next()
-      })
+      const decodeCb = (err, msg) => {
+        decoded = true
+        if (err) {
+          p.end(err)
+          doNext = false
+        } else {
+          p.push(msg)
+          if (!doNext) {
+            next()
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      while (doNext) {
+        decoded = false
+        _decodeFromReader(reader, opts, decodeCb)
+        if (!decoded) {
+          doNext = false
+        }
+      }
     }
 
     next()
+
     return p
   }
 }
@@ -100,6 +121,11 @@ function readVarintMessage (reader, maxLength, cb) {
       if (msgSize > maxLength) {
         return cb(new Error('size longer than max permitted length of ' + maxLength + '!'))
       }
+
+      if (msgSize <= 0) {
+        return cb(true) // eslint-disable-line standard/no-callback-literal
+      }
+
       readMessage(reader, msgSize, (err, msg) => {
         if (err) {
           return cb(err)
diff --git a/src/encode.js b/src/encode.js
index 23c48b9..9664c0e 100644
--- a/src/encode.js
+++ b/src/encode.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ function encode (opts) {
   let used = 0
 
   let ended = false
+  let first = true
 
   return (read) => (end, cb) => {
     if (end) ended = end
@@ -24,19 +25,25 @@ function encode (opts) {
 
     read(null, (end, data) => {
       if (end) ended = end
-      if (ended) return cb(ended)
+      if (ended && !first) {
+        return cb(ended)
+      }
+
+      first = false
 
-      if (!Buffer.isBuffer(data)) {
+      if (!ended && !Buffer.isBuffer(data)) {
         ended = new Error('data must be a buffer')
         return cb(ended)
       }
 
+      const dataLength = ended ? 0 : data.length
+
       let encodedLength
       if (opts.fixed) {
         encodedLength = Buffer.alloc(4)
-        encodedLength.writeInt32BE(data.length, 0) // writes exactly 4 bytes
+        encodedLength.writeInt32BE(dataLength, 0) // writes exactly 4 bytes
       } else {
-        varint.encode(data.length, pool, used)
+        varint.encode(dataLength, pool, used)
         used += varint.encode.bytes
         encodedLength = pool.slice(used - varint.encode.bytes, used)
 
@@ -46,10 +53,14 @@ function encode (opts) {
         }
       }
 
+      if (ended) {
+        return cb(null, encodedLength)
+      }
+
       cb(null, Buffer.concat([
         encodedLength,
         data
-      ]))
+      ], (opts.fixed ? 4 : varint.encode.bytes) + dataLength))
     })
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/index.spec.js b/test/index.spec.js
index 54ef6b7..8e20887 100644
--- a/test/index.spec.js
+++ b/test/index.spec.js
@@ -96,6 +96,35 @@ describe('pull-length-prefixed', () => {
     )
   })
 
+  it('zero length', (done) => {
+    pull(
+      pull.values(),
+      lp.encode(),
+      pull.collect((err, encoded) => {
+        if (err) throw err
+
+        expect(
+          encoded
+        ).to.be.eql([Buffer.alloc(1, 0)])
+
+        pull(
+          pull.values(),
+          lp.encode(),
+          lp.decode(),
+          pull.collect((err, decoded) => {
+            if (err) throw err
+
+            expect(
+              decoded
+            ).to.be.eql([])
+
+            done()
+          })
+        )
+      })
+    )
+  })
+
   it('push time based', (done) => {
     const p = new Pushable()
     const input = []
diff --git a/test/syncStream.spec.js b/test/syncStream.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96e4b87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/syncStream.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/* eslint-env mocha */
+'use strict'
+
+const Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer
+
+const pull = require('pull-stream')
+const expect = require('chai').expect
+const varint = require('varint')
+
+const lp = require('../src')
+
+describe('pull-length-prefixed', () => {
+  it('sync stream', (done) => {
+    const input = [...Array(500).keys()].map(() => Buffer.from('payload'))
+
+    pull(
+      pull.values(input),
+      lp.encode(),
+      pull.collect((err, encoded) => {
+        if (err) throw err
+
+        expect(
+          encoded
+        ).to.be.eql(
+          input.map(data => {
+            const len = varint.encode(data.length)
+            return Buffer.concat([
+              Buffer.alloc(len.length, len, 'utf8'),
+              Buffer.alloc(data.length, data, 'utf8')
+            ])
+          }))
+
+        pull(
+          pull.values(encoded),
+          lp.decode(),
+          pull.collect((err, output) => {
+            if (err) throw err
+            expect(
+              input
+            ).to.be.eql(
+              output
+            )
+            done()
+          })
+        )
+      })
+    )
+  })
+})