diff --git a/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim b/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim
index 44d9e6e19..224c6b408 100644
--- a/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim
+++ b/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim
@@ -175,9 +175,9 @@ method readOnce*(s: LPChannel,
     await s.reset()
     raise exc
 
-method write*(s: LPChannel, msg: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.} =
-  ## Write to mplex channel - there may be up to MaxWrite concurrent writes
-  ## pending after which the peer is disconnected
+proc prepareWrite(s: LPChannel, msg: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.} =
+  # prepareWrite is the slow path of writing a message - see conditions in
+  # write
   if s.closedLocal or s.conn.closed:
     raise newLPStreamClosedError()
 
@@ -191,19 +191,20 @@ method write*(s: LPChannel, msg: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.} =
     await s.conn.close()
     return
 
-  s.writes += 1
+  if not s.isOpen:
+    await s.open()
+
+  await s.conn.writeMsg(s.id, s.msgCode, msg)
+
+proc completeWrite(
+    s: LPChannel, fut: Future[void], msgLen: int): Future[void] {.async.} =
   try:
-    if not s.isOpen:
-      await s.open()
-
-    # writes should happen in sequence
-    trace "write msg", s, conn = s.conn, len = msg.len
-
-    await s.conn.writeMsg(s.id, s.msgCode, msg)
+    s.writes += 1
 
+    await fut
     when defined(libp2p_network_protocols_metrics):
       if s.tag.len > 0:
-        libp2p_protocols_bytes.inc(msg.len.int64, labelValues=[s.tag, "out"])
+        libp2p_protocols_bytes.inc(msgLen.int64, labelValues=[s.tag, "out"])
 
     s.activity = true
   except CatchableError as exc:
@@ -214,6 +215,24 @@ method write*(s: LPChannel, msg: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.} =
   finally:
     s.writes -= 1
 
+method write*(s: LPChannel, msg: seq[byte]): Future[void] =
+  ## Write to mplex channel - there may be up to MaxWrite concurrent writes
+  ## pending after which the peer is disconnected
+
+  let
+    closed = s.closedLocal or s.conn.closed
+
+  let fut =
+    if (not closed) and msg.len > 0 and s.writes < MaxWrites and s.isOpen:
+      # Fast path: Avoid a copy of msg being kept in the closure created by
+      # `{.async.}` as this drives up memory usage - the conditions are laid out
+      # in prepareWrite
+      s.conn.writeMsg(s.id, s.msgCode, msg)
+    else:
+      prepareWrite(s, msg)
+
+  s.completeWrite(fut, msg.len)
+
 proc init*(
   L: type LPChannel,
   id: uint64,
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/secure/noise.nim b/libp2p/protocols/secure/noise.nim
index 79cedb22f..a88fceb18 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/secure/noise.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/secure/noise.nim
@@ -460,10 +460,8 @@ proc encryptFrame(
 
   cipherFrame[2 + src.len()..<cipherFrame.len] = tag
 
-method write*(sconn: NoiseConnection, message: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.} =
-  if message.len == 0:
-    return
-
+method write*(sconn: NoiseConnection, message: seq[byte]): Future[void] =
+  # Fast path: `{.async.}` would introduce a copy of `message`
   const FramingSize = 2 + sizeof(ChaChaPolyTag)
 
   let
@@ -479,10 +477,16 @@ method write*(sconn: NoiseConnection, message: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.
     let
       chunkSize = min(MaxPlainSize, left)
 
-    encryptFrame(
-      sconn,
-      cipherFrames.toOpenArray(woffset, woffset + chunkSize + FramingSize - 1),
-      message.toOpenArray(offset, offset + chunkSize - 1))
+    try:
+      encryptFrame(
+        sconn,
+        cipherFrames.toOpenArray(woffset, woffset + chunkSize + FramingSize - 1),
+        message.toOpenArray(offset, offset + chunkSize - 1))
+    except NoiseNonceMaxError as exc:
+      debug "Noise nonce exceeded"
+      let fut = newFuture[void]("noise.write.nonce")
+      fut.fail(exc)
+      return fut
 
     when defined(libp2p_dump):
       dumpMessage(
@@ -492,9 +496,12 @@ method write*(sconn: NoiseConnection, message: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.
     left = left - chunkSize
     offset += chunkSize
     woffset += chunkSize + FramingSize
-    sconn.activity = true
 
-  await sconn.stream.write(cipherFrames)
+  sconn.activity = true
+
+  # Write all `cipherFrames` in a single write, to avoid interleaving /
+  # sequencing issues
+  sconn.stream.write(cipherFrames)
 
 method handshake*(p: Noise, conn: Connection, initiator: bool): Future[SecureConn] {.async.} =
   trace "Starting Noise handshake", conn, initiator
diff --git a/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim b/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim
index 10490c95a..90677ea05 100644
--- a/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim
+++ b/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ when defined(libp2p_agents_metrics):
 method readOnce*(s: ChronosStream, pbytes: pointer, nbytes: int): Future[int] {.async.} =
   if s.atEof:
     raise newLPStreamEOFError()
-
   withExceptions:
     result = await s.client.readOnce(pbytes, nbytes)
     s.activity = true # reset activity flag
@@ -104,31 +103,36 @@ method readOnce*(s: ChronosStream, pbytes: pointer, nbytes: int): Future[int] {.
       if s.tracked:
         libp2p_peers_traffic_read.inc(nbytes.int64, labelValues = [s.shortAgent])
 
-method write*(s: ChronosStream, msg: seq[byte]) {.async.} =
-  if s.closed:
-    raise newLPStreamClosedError()
-
-  if msg.len == 0:
-    return
-
+proc completeWrite(
+    s: ChronosStream, fut: Future[int], msgLen: int): Future[void] {.async.} =
   withExceptions:
     # StreamTransport will only return written < msg.len on fatal failures where
     # further writing is not possible - in such cases, we'll raise here,
     # since we don't return partial writes lengths
-    var written = await s.client.write(msg)
+    var written = await fut
 
-    if written < msg.len:
+    if written < msgLen:
       raise (ref LPStreamClosedError)(msg: "Write couldn't finish writing")
 
     s.activity = true # reset activity flag
-    libp2p_network_bytes.inc(msg.len.int64, labelValues = ["out"])
+    libp2p_network_bytes.inc(msgLen.int64, labelValues = ["out"])
     when defined(libp2p_agents_metrics):
       s.trackPeerIdentity()
       if s.tracked:
-        libp2p_peers_traffic_write.inc(msg.len.int64, labelValues = [s.shortAgent])
+        libp2p_peers_traffic_write.inc(msgLen.int64, labelValues = [s.shortAgent])
+
+method write*(s: ChronosStream, msg: seq[byte]): Future[void] =
+  # Avoid a copy of msg being kept in the closure created by `{.async.}` as this
+  # drives up memory usage
+  if s.closed:
+    let fut = newFuture[void]("chronosstream.write.closed")
+    fut.fail(newLPStreamClosedError())
+    return fut
+
+  s.completeWrite(s.client.write(msg), msg.len)
 
 method closed*(s: ChronosStream): bool =
-  result = s.client.closed
+  s.client.closed
 
 method atEof*(s: ChronosStream): bool =
   s.client.atEof()