diff --git a/packages/netty/src/main/java/dev/elide/bemo/transport/NativeDirectByteBufAllocator.java b/packages/netty/src/main/java/dev/elide/bemo/transport/NativeDirectByteBufAllocator.java
index 310fb0a..663dc94 100644
--- a/packages/netty/src/main/java/dev/elide/bemo/transport/NativeDirectByteBufAllocator.java
+++ b/packages/netty/src/main/java/dev/elide/bemo/transport/NativeDirectByteBufAllocator.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.nio.ByteOrder;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
+import org.jspecify.annotations.Nullable;
 
 /**
  * Direct buffers whose memory comes from Bemo's native allocator, the same allocator the transport
@@ -129,24 +130,93 @@ public void clean() {}
   }
 
   private static final class UnsafeBuffer extends UnpooledUnsafeDirectByteBuf {
+    // The superclass treats the initial externally supplied buffer as borrowed and frees it here.
+    private @Nullable CleanableDirectBuffer initial;
+
     UnsafeBuffer(NativeDirectByteBufAllocator allocator, int initialCapacity, int maxCapacity) {
-      super(allocator, initialCapacity, maxCapacity);
+      this(allocator, allocator.allocate(initialCapacity), maxCapacity);
+    }
+
+    private UnsafeBuffer(
+        NativeDirectByteBufAllocator allocator, CleanableDirectBuffer allocation, int maxCapacity) {
+      super(allocator, allocation.buffer(), maxCapacity);
+      this.initial = allocation;
+      setIndex(0, 0);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected CleanableDirectBuffer allocateDirectBuffer(int capacity) {
       return ((NativeDirectByteBufAllocator) alloc()).allocate(capacity);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public ByteBuf capacity(int capacity) {
+      ensureAccessible();
+      if (capacity == capacity()) return this;
+      super.capacity(capacity);
+      releaseInitial();
+      return this;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void deallocate() {
+      try {
+        super.deallocate();
+      } finally {
+        releaseInitial();
+      }
+    }
+
+    private void releaseInitial() {
+      if (initial != null) {
+        initial.clean();
+        initial = null;
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   private static final class SafeBuffer extends UnpooledDirectByteBuf {
+    private @Nullable CleanableDirectBuffer initial;
+
     SafeBuffer(NativeDirectByteBufAllocator allocator, int initialCapacity, int maxCapacity) {
-      super(allocator, initialCapacity, maxCapacity);
+      this(allocator, allocator.allocate(initialCapacity), maxCapacity);
+    }
+
+    private SafeBuffer(
+        NativeDirectByteBufAllocator allocator, CleanableDirectBuffer allocation, int maxCapacity) {
+      super(allocator, allocation.buffer(), maxCapacity);
+      this.initial = allocation;
+      setIndex(0, 0);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected CleanableDirectBuffer allocateDirectBuffer(int capacity) {
       return ((NativeDirectByteBufAllocator) alloc()).allocate(capacity);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public ByteBuf capacity(int capacity) {
+      ensureAccessible();
+      if (capacity == capacity()) return this;
+      super.capacity(capacity);
+      releaseInitial();
+      return this;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void deallocate() {
+      try {
+        super.deallocate();
+      } finally {
+        releaseInitial();
+      }
+    }
+
+    private void releaseInitial() {
+      if (initial != null) {
+        initial.clean();
+        initial = null;
+      }
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/tests/transport/java/NativeDirectAllocatorTest.java b/tests/transport/java/NativeDirectAllocatorTest.java
index 50f3778..72326ad 100644
--- a/tests/transport/java/NativeDirectAllocatorTest.java
+++ b/tests/transport/java/NativeDirectAllocatorTest.java
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ public static void verify(TransportNative api) throws Exception {
     ByteBuf buffer = allocator.directBuffer(8, 1 << 20);
     if (!buffer.isDirect()) throw new AssertionError("expected a direct buffer");
     String kind = buffer.getClass().getSimpleName() + (buffer.hasMemoryAddress() ? "/address" : "");
+    // A freshly allocated buffer (before any growth) must already be backed by Bemo's native
+    // allocator; the initial allocation may not silently fall back to Netty's direct path.
+    if (allocator.nativeAllocatedBytes() < baseline + buffer.capacity())
+      throw new AssertionError("fresh direct buffer is not backed by the Bemo native allocator");
     // Write across several reallocations, checking the whole prefix after each one.
     int capacity = buffer.capacity();
     for (int index = 0; index < 4096; index++) {
@@ -71,6 +75,11 @@ public static void verify(TransportNative api) throws Exception {
     List<ByteBuf> buffers = new ArrayList<>();
     for (int index = 0; index < 256; index++)
       buffers.add(allocator.directBuffer(1024).writeLong(index));
+    // These buffers are never grown, so their storage must come from Bemo's native allocator for
+    // the whole lifetime (the common request/response case); no part of them is Netty-owned.
+    if (allocator.nativeAllocatedBytes() < baseline + (long) buffers.size() * 1024)
+      throw new AssertionError(
+          "never-grown direct buffers are not backed by the Bemo native allocator");
     var failure = new AtomicReference<Throwable>();
     var done = new CountDownLatch(1);
     Thread release =