diff --git a/docs/root/version_history/current.rst b/docs/root/version_history/current.rst
index d899e6053f255..f8751f7968d63 100644
--- a/docs/root/version_history/current.rst
+++ b/docs/root/version_history/current.rst
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Bug Fixes
 *Changes expected to improve the state of the world and are unlikely to have negative effects*
 
 * active http health checks: properly handles HTTP/2 GOAWAY frames from the upstream. Previously a GOAWAY frame due to a graceful listener drain could cause improper failed health checks due to streams being refused by the upstream on a connection that is going away. To revert to old GOAWAY handling behavior, set the runtime feature `envoy.reloadable_features.health_check.graceful_goaway_handling` to false.
+* buffer: tighten network connection read and write buffer high watermarks in preparation to more careful enforcement of read limits. Buffer high-watermark is now set to the exact configured value; previously it was set to value + 1.
 * upstream: fix handling of moving endpoints between priorities when active health checks are enabled. Previously moving to a higher numbered priority was a NOOP, and moving to a lower numbered priority caused an abort.
 
 Removed Config or Runtime
diff --git a/source/common/network/connection_impl.cc b/source/common/network/connection_impl.cc
index 4ce8ec63dd387..09a4bbc8a4bcf 100644
--- a/source/common/network/connection_impl.cc
+++ b/source/common/network/connection_impl.cc
@@ -490,20 +490,14 @@ void ConnectionImpl::setBufferLimits(uint32_t limit) {
   // limits we err on the side of buffering more triggering watermark callbacks less often.
   //
   // Given the current implementation for straight up TCP proxying, the common case is reading
-  // |limit| bytes through the socket, passing |limit| bytes to the connection (triggering the high
-  // watermarks) and the immediately draining |limit| bytes to the socket (triggering the low
-  // watermarks). We avoid this by setting the high watermark to limit + 1 so a single read will
-  // not trigger watermarks if the socket is not blocked.
-  //
-  // If the connection class is changed to write to the buffer and flush to the socket in the same
-  // stack then instead of checking watermarks after the write and again after the flush it can
-  // check once after both operations complete. At that point it would be better to change the high
-  // watermark from |limit + 1| to |limit| as the common case (move |limit| bytes, flush |limit|
-  // bytes) would not trigger watermarks but a blocked socket (move |limit| bytes, flush 0 bytes)
-  // would result in respecting the exact buffer limit.
+  // |limit| bytes through the socket, passing |limit| bytes to the connection and the immediately
+  // draining |limit| bytes to the socket. Triggering the high watermarks and then immediately
+  // triggering the low watermarks would be expensive, but we narrowly avoid triggering high
+  // watermark when moving |limit| bytes through the connection because the high watermark
+  // computation checks if the size of the buffer exceeds the high watermark value.
   if (limit > 0) {
-    write_buffer_->setWatermarks(limit + 1);
-    read_buffer_->setWatermarks(limit + 1);
+    write_buffer_->setWatermarks(limit);
+    read_buffer_->setWatermarks(limit);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/common/network/connection_impl_test.cc b/test/common/network/connection_impl_test.cc
index 63361228acbe5..e7fc08590ec12 100644
--- a/test/common/network/connection_impl_test.cc
+++ b/test/common/network/connection_impl_test.cc
@@ -984,38 +984,55 @@ TEST_P(ConnectionImplTest, ReadWatermarks) {
   };
 
   EXPECT_FALSE(testClientConnection()->readBuffer().highWatermarkTriggered());
+  EXPECT_FALSE(testClientConnection()->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
   EXPECT_TRUE(client_connection_->readEnabled());
-  // Add 4 bytes to the buffer and verify the connection becomes read disabled.
+  // Add 2 bytes to the buffer so that it sits at exactly the read limit. Verify that
+  // shouldDrainReadBuffer is true, but the connection remains read enabled.
   {
-    Buffer::OwnedImpl buffer("data");
+    Buffer::OwnedImpl buffer("12");
+    server_connection_->write(buffer, false);
+    EXPECT_CALL(*client_read_filter, onData(_, false)).WillOnce(Invoke(on_filter_data_exit));
+    dispatcher_->run(Event::Dispatcher::RunType::Block);
+
+    EXPECT_TRUE(testClientConnection()->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
+    EXPECT_FALSE(testClientConnection()->readBuffer().highWatermarkTriggered());
+    EXPECT_TRUE(client_connection_->readEnabled());
+  }
+  // Add 1 bytes to the buffer to go over the high watermark. Verify the connection becomes read
+  // disabled.
+  {
+    Buffer::OwnedImpl buffer("3");
     server_connection_->write(buffer, false);
     EXPECT_CALL(*client_read_filter, onData(_, false)).WillOnce(Invoke(on_filter_data_exit));
     dispatcher_->run(Event::Dispatcher::RunType::Block);
 
     EXPECT_TRUE(testClientConnection()->readBuffer().highWatermarkTriggered());
+    EXPECT_TRUE(testClientConnection()->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
     EXPECT_FALSE(client_connection_->readEnabled());
   }
 
-  // Drain 3 bytes from the buffer. This bring sit below the low watermark, and
+  // Drain 2 bytes from the buffer. This bring sit below the low watermark, and
   // read enables, as well as triggering a kick for the remaining byte.
   {
-    testClientConnection()->readBuffer().drain(3);
+    testClientConnection()->readBuffer().drain(2);
     EXPECT_FALSE(testClientConnection()->readBuffer().highWatermarkTriggered());
+    EXPECT_FALSE(testClientConnection()->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
     EXPECT_TRUE(client_connection_->readEnabled());
 
     EXPECT_CALL(*client_read_filter, onData(_, false));
     dispatcher_->run(Event::Dispatcher::RunType::NonBlock);
   }
 
-  // Add 3 bytes to the buffer and verify the connection becomes read disabled
+  // Add 2 bytes to the buffer and verify the connection becomes read disabled
   // again.
   {
-    Buffer::OwnedImpl buffer("bye");
+    Buffer::OwnedImpl buffer("45");
     server_connection_->write(buffer, false);
     EXPECT_CALL(*client_read_filter, onData(_, false)).WillOnce(Invoke(on_filter_data_exit));
     dispatcher_->run(Event::Dispatcher::RunType::Block);
 
     EXPECT_TRUE(testClientConnection()->readBuffer().highWatermarkTriggered());
+    EXPECT_TRUE(testClientConnection()->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
     EXPECT_FALSE(client_connection_->readEnabled());
   }
 
@@ -1024,8 +1041,9 @@ TEST_P(ConnectionImplTest, ReadWatermarks) {
   // does not want to read.
   {
     client_connection_->readDisable(true);
-    testClientConnection()->readBuffer().drain(3);
+    testClientConnection()->readBuffer().drain(2);
     EXPECT_FALSE(testClientConnection()->readBuffer().highWatermarkTriggered());
+    EXPECT_FALSE(testClientConnection()->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
     EXPECT_FALSE(client_connection_->readEnabled());
 
     EXPECT_CALL(*client_read_filter, onData(_, false)).Times(0);
@@ -1061,6 +1079,7 @@ TEST_P(ConnectionImplTest, ReadWatermarks) {
         }));
     dispatcher_->run(Event::Dispatcher::RunType::Block);
     EXPECT_TRUE(testClientConnection()->readBuffer().highWatermarkTriggered());
+    EXPECT_TRUE(testClientConnection()->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
     EXPECT_FALSE(client_connection_->readEnabled());
 
     // Read disable and read enable, to set dispatch_buffered_data_ true.
@@ -1220,7 +1239,7 @@ TEST_P(ConnectionImplTest, WatermarkFuzzing) {
     // If the current bytes buffered plus the bytes we write this loop go over
     // the watermark and we're not currently above, we will get a callback for
     // going above.
-    if (bytes_to_write + bytes_buffered > 11 && is_below) {
+    if (bytes_to_write + bytes_buffered > 10 && is_below) {
       ENVOY_LOG_MISC(trace, "Expect onAboveWriteBufferHighWatermark");
       EXPECT_CALL(client_callbacks_, onAboveWriteBufferHighWatermark());
       is_below = false;
@@ -2083,17 +2102,41 @@ TEST_F(MockTransportConnectionImplTest, ReadBufferResumeAfterReadDisable) {
   connection_->enableHalfClose(true);
   connection_->addReadFilter(read_filter);
 
-  // Add some data to the read buffer to trigger read activate calls when re-enabling read.
   EXPECT_CALL(*transport_socket_, doRead(_))
       .WillOnce(Invoke([](Buffer::Instance& buffer) -> IoResult {
-        buffer.add("0123456789");
-        return {PostIoAction::KeepOpen, 10, false};
+        buffer.add("0123");
+        return {PostIoAction::KeepOpen, 4, false};
       }));
-  // Expect a change to the event mask when hitting the read buffer high-watermark.
-  EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, setEnabled(Event::FileReadyType::Write));
+  // Buffer is under the read limit, expect no changes to the file event registration.
+  EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, setEnabled(_)).Times(0);
   EXPECT_CALL(*read_filter, onNewConnection()).WillOnce(Return(FilterStatus::Continue));
   EXPECT_CALL(*read_filter, onData(_, false)).WillOnce(Return(FilterStatus::Continue));
   file_ready_cb_(Event::FileReadyType::Read);
+  EXPECT_FALSE(connection_->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
+
+  // Do a second read to hit the read limit.
+  EXPECT_CALL(*transport_socket_, doRead(_))
+      .WillOnce(Invoke([](Buffer::Instance& buffer) -> IoResult {
+        buffer.add("4");
+        return {PostIoAction::KeepOpen, 1, false};
+      }));
+  // Buffer is exactly at the read limit, expect no changes to the file event registration.
+  EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, setEnabled(_)).Times(0);
+  EXPECT_CALL(*read_filter, onData(_, false)).WillOnce(Return(FilterStatus::Continue));
+  file_ready_cb_(Event::FileReadyType::Read);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(connection_->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
+
+  // Do a third read to trigger the high watermark.
+  EXPECT_CALL(*transport_socket_, doRead(_))
+      .WillOnce(Invoke([](Buffer::Instance& buffer) -> IoResult {
+        buffer.add("5");
+        return {PostIoAction::KeepOpen, 1, false};
+      }));
+  // Expect a change to the event mask when going over the read limit.
+  EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, setEnabled(Event::FileReadyType::Write));
+  EXPECT_CALL(*read_filter, onData(_, false)).WillOnce(Return(FilterStatus::Continue));
+  file_ready_cb_(Event::FileReadyType::Read);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(connection_->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
 
   // Already read disabled, expect no changes to enabled events mask.
   EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, setEnabled(_)).Times(0);
@@ -2111,7 +2154,7 @@ TEST_F(MockTransportConnectionImplTest, ReadBufferResumeAfterReadDisable) {
   EXPECT_CALL(*transport_socket_, doRead(_)).Times(0);
   EXPECT_CALL(*read_filter, onData(_, _))
       .WillRepeatedly(Invoke([&](Buffer::Instance& data, bool) -> FilterStatus {
-        EXPECT_EQ(10, data.length());
+        EXPECT_EQ(6, data.length());
         data.drain(data.length() - 1);
         return FilterStatus::Continue;
       }));
@@ -2120,6 +2163,7 @@ TEST_F(MockTransportConnectionImplTest, ReadBufferResumeAfterReadDisable) {
   EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, setEnabled(Event::FileReadyType::Read | Event::FileReadyType::Write));
   EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, activate(Event::FileReadyType::Read));
   file_ready_cb_(Event::FileReadyType::Read);
+  EXPECT_FALSE(connection_->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
 
   // Drain the rest of the buffer and verify there are no spurious read activate calls.
   EXPECT_CALL(*transport_socket_, doRead(_))
@@ -2131,6 +2175,7 @@ TEST_F(MockTransportConnectionImplTest, ReadBufferResumeAfterReadDisable) {
         return FilterStatus::Continue;
       }));
   file_ready_cb_(Event::FileReadyType::Read);
+  EXPECT_FALSE(connection_->shouldDrainReadBuffer());
 
   EXPECT_CALL(*file_event_, setEnabled(_));
   connection_->readDisable(true);
diff --git a/test/integration/http2_flood_integration_test.cc b/test/integration/http2_flood_integration_test.cc
index ede1f86253bef..e803ae160c1f0 100644
--- a/test/integration/http2_flood_integration_test.cc
+++ b/test/integration/http2_flood_integration_test.cc
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ TEST_P(Http2FloodMitigationTest, Data) {
   EXPECT_GE(22000, buffer_factory->sumMaxBufferSizes());
   // Verify that all buffers have watermarks set.
   EXPECT_THAT(buffer_factory->highWatermarkRange(),
-              testing::Pair(1024 * 1024 * 1024 + 1, 1024 * 1024 * 1024 + 1));
+              testing::Pair(1024 * 1024 * 1024, 1024 * 1024 * 1024));
 }
 
 // Verify that the server can detect flood triggered by a DATA frame from a decoder filter call