diff --git a/Doc/library/ssl.rst b/Doc/library/ssl.rst
index 5df61746515be4..2eefefc32eb0d7 100644
--- a/Doc/library/ssl.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/ssl.rst
@@ -1157,6 +1157,11 @@ SSL Sockets
       to create instances directly. This was never documented or officially
       supported.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.10
+      Python now uses ``SSL_read_ex`` and ``SSL_write_ex`` internally. The
+      functions support reading and writing of data larger than 2 GB. Writing
+      zero-length data no longer fails with a protocol violation error.
+
 SSL sockets also have the following additional methods and attributes:
 
 .. method:: SSLSocket.read(len=1024, buffer=None)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_ssl.py b/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
index c95b2a8d814f4c..2e126e6cf3d133 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
@@ -1130,6 +1130,17 @@ def test_connect_ex_error(self):
         )
         self.assertIn(rc, errors)
 
+    def test_read_write_zero(self):
+        # empty reads and writes now work, bpo-42854, bpo-31711
+        client_context, server_context, hostname = testing_context()
+        server = ThreadedEchoServer(context=server_context)
+        with server:
+            with client_context.wrap_socket(socket.socket(),
+                                            server_hostname=hostname) as s:
+                s.connect((HOST, server.port))
+                self.assertEqual(s.recv(0), b"")
+                self.assertEqual(s.send(b""), 0)
+
 
 class ContextTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
diff --git a/Modules/_ssl.c b/Modules/_ssl.c
index f67af82b76cc31..d142dac95f4cb7 100644
--- a/Modules/_ssl.c
+++ b/Modules/_ssl.c
@@ -2352,7 +2352,8 @@ static PyObject *
 _ssl__SSLSocket_write_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_buffer *b)
 /*[clinic end generated code: output=aa7a6be5527358d8 input=77262d994fe5100a]*/
 {
-    int len;
+    size_t count = 0;
+    int retval;
     int sockstate;
     _PySSLError err;
     int nonblocking;
@@ -2370,12 +2371,6 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_write_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_buffer *b)
         Py_INCREF(sock);
     }
 
-    if (b->len > INT_MAX) {
-        PyErr_Format(PyExc_OverflowError,
-                     "string longer than %d bytes", INT_MAX);
-        goto error;
-    }
-
     if (sock != NULL) {
         /* just in case the blocking state of the socket has been changed */
         nonblocking = (sock->sock_timeout >= 0);
@@ -2405,8 +2400,8 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_write_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_buffer *b)
 
     do {
         PySSL_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
-        len = SSL_write(self->ssl, b->buf, (int)b->len);
-        err = _PySSL_errno(len <= 0, self->ssl, len);
+        retval = SSL_write_ex(self->ssl, b->buf, (size_t)b->len, &count);
+        err = _PySSL_errno(retval == 0, self->ssl, retval);
         PySSL_END_ALLOW_THREADS
         self->err = err;
 
@@ -2439,11 +2434,11 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_write_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_buffer *b)
              err.ssl == SSL_ERROR_WANT_WRITE);
 
     Py_XDECREF(sock);
-    if (len <= 0)
-        return PySSL_SetError(self, len, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+    if (retval == 0)
+        return PySSL_SetError(self, retval, __FILE__, __LINE__);
     if (PySSL_ChainExceptions(self) < 0)
         return NULL;
-    return PyLong_FromLong(len);
+    return PyLong_FromSize_t(count);
 error:
     Py_XDECREF(sock);
     PySSL_ChainExceptions(self);
@@ -2493,7 +2488,8 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_read_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_ssize_t len,
 {
     PyObject *dest = NULL;
     char *mem;
-    int count;
+    size_t count = 0;
+    int retval;
     int sockstate;
     _PySSLError err;
     int nonblocking;
@@ -2556,8 +2552,8 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_read_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_ssize_t len,
 
     do {
         PySSL_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
-        count = SSL_read(self->ssl, mem, len);
-        err = _PySSL_errno(count <= 0, self->ssl, count);
+        retval = SSL_read_ex(self->ssl, mem, (size_t)len, &count);
+        err = _PySSL_errno(retval == 0, self->ssl, retval);
         PySSL_END_ALLOW_THREADS
         self->err = err;
 
@@ -2590,8 +2586,8 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_read_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_ssize_t len,
     } while (err.ssl == SSL_ERROR_WANT_READ ||
              err.ssl == SSL_ERROR_WANT_WRITE);
 
-    if (count <= 0) {
-        PySSL_SetError(self, count, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+    if (retval == 0) {
+        PySSL_SetError(self, retval, __FILE__, __LINE__);
         goto error;
     }
     if (self->exc_type != NULL)
@@ -2604,7 +2600,7 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_read_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_ssize_t len,
         return dest;
     }
     else {
-        return PyLong_FromLong(count);
+        return PyLong_FromSize_t(count);
     }
 
 error: