diff --git a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/rocksdb.go b/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/rocksdb.go
index ab84ea03cc16..a54726f622d9 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/rocksdb.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/rocksdb.go
@@ -52,11 +52,11 @@ func VerifyBatchRepr(
 		for r.Next() {
 			switch r.BatchType() {
 			case engine.BatchTypeValue:
-				mvccKey, err := engine.DecodeKey(r.UnsafeKey())
+				mvccKey, err := r.MVCCKey()
 				if err != nil {
 					return enginepb.MVCCStats{}, errors.Wrapf(err, "verifying key/value checksums")
 				}
-				v := roachpb.Value{RawBytes: r.UnsafeValue()}
+				v := roachpb.Value{RawBytes: r.Value()}
 				if err := v.Verify(mvccKey.Key); err != nil {
 					return enginepb.MVCCStats{}, err
 				}
diff --git a/pkg/storage/engine/batch.go b/pkg/storage/engine/batch.go
index 7d25a8e3054b..60abd6e630ea 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/engine/batch.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/engine/batch.go
@@ -15,12 +15,9 @@
 package engine
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/bufalloc"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/hlc"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
@@ -347,18 +344,18 @@ func DecodeKey(encodedKey []byte) (MVCCKey, error) {
 // for r.Next() {
 // 	 switch r.BatchType() {
 // 	 case BatchTypeDeletion:
-// 	   fmt.Printf("delete(%x)", r.UnsafeKey())
+// 	   fmt.Printf("delete(%x)", r.Key())
 // 	 case BatchTypeValue:
-// 	   fmt.Printf("put(%x,%x)", r.UnsafeKey(), r.UnsafeValue())
+// 	   fmt.Printf("put(%x,%x)", r.Key(), r.Value())
 // 	 case BatchTypeMerge:
-// 	   fmt.Printf("merge(%x,%x)", r.UnsafeKey(), r.UnsafeValue())
+// 	   fmt.Printf("merge(%x,%x)", r.Key(), r.Value())
 // 	 }
 // }
 // if err != nil {
 //   return nil
 // }
 type RocksDBBatchReader struct {
-	buf *bytes.Reader
+	repr []byte
 
 	// The error encountered during iterator, if any
 	err error
@@ -366,9 +363,6 @@ type RocksDBBatchReader struct {
 	// The total number of entries, decoded from the batch header
 	count uint32
 
-	// For allocation avoidance
-	alloc bufalloc.ByteAllocator
-
 	// The following all represent the current entry and are updated by Next.
 	// `value` is not applicable for BatchTypeDeletion.
 	offset int
@@ -380,22 +374,19 @@ type RocksDBBatchReader struct {
 // NewRocksDBBatchReader creates a RocksDBBatchReader from the given repr and
 // verifies the header.
 func NewRocksDBBatchReader(repr []byte) (*RocksDBBatchReader, error) {
-	// Set offset to -1 so the first call to Next will increment it to 0.
-	r := RocksDBBatchReader{buf: bytes.NewReader(repr), offset: -1}
-
-	var seq uint64
-	if err := binary.Read(r.buf, binary.LittleEndian, &seq); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if len(repr) < headerSize {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("batch repr too small: %d < %d", len(repr), headerSize)
 	}
+	seq := binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(repr[:countPos])
 	if seq != 0 {
 		return nil, errors.Errorf("bad sequence: expected 0, but found %d", seq)
 	}
 
-	if err := binary.Read(r.buf, binary.LittleEndian, &r.count); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return &r, nil
+	// Set offset to -1 so the first call to Next will increment it to 0.
+	r := &RocksDBBatchReader{repr: repr, offset: -1}
+	r.count = binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(repr[countPos:headerSize])
+	r.repr = r.repr[headerSize:]
+	return r, nil
 }
 
 // Count returns the declared number of entries in the batch.
@@ -413,18 +404,21 @@ func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) BatchType() BatchType {
 	return r.typ
 }
 
-// UnsafeKey returns the key of the current batch entry. The memory is
-// invalidated on the next call to Next.
-func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) UnsafeKey() []byte {
+// Key returns the key of the current batch entry.
+func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) Key() []byte {
 	return r.key
 }
 
-// UnsafeValue returns the value of the current batch entry. The memory is
-// invalidated on the next call to Next. UnsafeValue panics if the BatchType is
-// BatchTypeDeleted.
-func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) UnsafeValue() []byte {
+// MVCCKey returns the MVCC key of the current batch entry.
+func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) MVCCKey() (MVCCKey, error) {
+	return DecodeKey(r.key)
+}
+
+// Value returns the value of the current batch entry. Value panics if the
+// BatchType is BatchTypeDeleted.
+func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) Value() []byte {
 	if r.typ == BatchTypeDeletion {
-		panic("cannot call UnsafeValue on a deletion entry")
+		panic("cannot call Value on a deletion entry")
 	}
 	return r.value
 }
@@ -437,21 +431,15 @@ func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) Next() bool {
 	}
 
 	r.offset++
-	typ, err := r.buf.ReadByte()
-	if err == io.EOF {
+	if len(r.repr) == 0 {
 		if r.offset < int(r.count) {
 			r.err = errors.Errorf("invalid batch: expected %d entries but found %d", r.count, r.offset)
 		}
 		return false
-	} else if err != nil {
-		r.err = err
-		return false
 	}
 
-	// Reset alloc.
-	r.alloc = r.alloc[:0]
-
-	r.typ = BatchType(typ)
+	r.typ = BatchType(r.repr[0])
+	r.repr = r.repr[1:]
 	switch r.typ {
 	case BatchTypeDeletion:
 		if r.key, r.err = r.varstring(); r.err != nil {
@@ -472,30 +460,27 @@ func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) Next() bool {
 			return false
 		}
 	default:
-		r.err = errors.Errorf("unexpected type %d", typ)
+		r.err = errors.Errorf("unexpected type %d", r.typ)
 		return false
 	}
 	return true
 }
 
 func (r *RocksDBBatchReader) varstring() ([]byte, error) {
-	n, err := binary.ReadUvarint(r.buf)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	v, n := binary.Uvarint(r.repr)
+	if n <= 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to decode uvarint")
 	}
-	if n == 0 {
+	r.repr = r.repr[n:]
+	if v == 0 {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
-
-	var s []byte
-	r.alloc, s = r.alloc.Alloc(int(n), 0)
-	c, err := r.buf.Read(s)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if c != int(n) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected %d bytes, but found %d", n, c)
+	if v > uint64(len(r.repr)) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("malformed varstring, expected %d bytes, but only %d remaining",
+			v, len(r.repr))
 	}
+	s := r.repr[:v]
+	r.repr = r.repr[v:]
 	return s, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/storage/engine/batch_test.go b/pkg/storage/engine/batch_test.go
index c3daae30bf4f..f106a0ccfaf2 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/engine/batch_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/engine/batch_test.go
@@ -261,12 +261,12 @@ func TestBatchRepr(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			switch r.BatchType() {
 			case BatchTypeDeletion:
-				ops = append(ops, fmt.Sprintf("delete(%s)", string(r.UnsafeKey())))
+				ops = append(ops, fmt.Sprintf("delete(%s)", string(r.Key())))
 			case BatchTypeValue:
-				ops = append(ops, fmt.Sprintf("put(%s,%s)", string(r.UnsafeKey()), string(r.UnsafeValue())))
+				ops = append(ops, fmt.Sprintf("put(%s,%s)", string(r.Key()), string(r.Value())))
 			case BatchTypeMerge:
 				// The merge value is a protobuf and not easily displayable.
-				ops = append(ops, fmt.Sprintf("merge(%s)", string(r.UnsafeKey())))
+				ops = append(ops, fmt.Sprintf("merge(%s)", string(r.Key())))
 			}
 		}
 		if err != nil {
@@ -1140,7 +1140,7 @@ func TestDecodeKey(t *testing.T) {
 			if !r.Next() {
 				t.Fatalf("could not get the first entry: %+v", r.Error())
 			}
-			decodedKey, err := DecodeKey(r.UnsafeKey())
+			decodedKey, err := DecodeKey(r.Key())
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %+v", err)
 			}