diff --git a/renderdoc/core/remote_server.cpp b/renderdoc/core/remote_server.cpp
index f1c561c22..66b1d6b26 100644
--- a/renderdoc/core/remote_server.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/core/remote_server.cpp
@@ -180,6 +180,8 @@ static bool HandleHandshakeClient(ActiveClient &activeClient, ClientThread *thre
   {
     ReadSerialiser ser(new StreamReader(threadData->socket, Ownership::Nothing), Ownership::Stream);
 
+    ser.SetStreamingMode(true);
+
     // this thread just handles receiving the handshake and sending a busy signal without blocking
     // the server thread
     RemoteServerPacket type = ser.ReadChunk<RemoteServerPacket>();
@@ -1206,6 +1208,8 @@ RENDERDOC_CreateRemoteServerConnection(const rdcstr &URL, IRemoteServer **rend)
   {
     ReadSerialiser ser(new StreamReader(sock, Ownership::Nothing), Ownership::Stream);
 
+    ser.SetStreamingMode(true);
+
     RemoteServerPacket type = ser.ReadChunk<RemoteServerPacket>();
 
     uint32_t remoteVersion = 0;
diff --git a/renderdoc/core/target_control.cpp b/renderdoc/core/target_control.cpp
index cc0dd77d3..716e6c38a 100644
--- a/renderdoc/core/target_control.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/core/target_control.cpp
@@ -471,6 +471,8 @@ void RenderDoc::TargetControlServerThread(Network::Socket *sock)
     {
       ReadSerialiser ser(new StreamReader(client, Ownership::Nothing), Ownership::Stream);
 
+      ser.SetStreamingMode(true);
+
       PacketType type = ser.ReadChunk<PacketType>();
 
       if(type != ePacket_Handshake)
diff --git a/renderdoc/serialise/serialiser.cpp b/renderdoc/serialise/serialiser.cpp
index ee759ad87..7cb2a8ce6 100644
--- a/renderdoc/serialise/serialiser.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/serialise/serialiser.cpp
@@ -179,6 +179,13 @@ uint32_t Serialiser<SerialiserMode::Reading>::BeginChunk(uint32_t, uint64_t)
       m_ChunkMetadata.length = chunkSize;
     }
 
+    uint64_t len = m_ChunkMetadata.length;
+    VerifyArraySize(m_ChunkMetadata.length);
+    // if length was set to 0 by VerifyArraySize due to being invalid, set it to something
+    // reasonable just to prevent knock-on problems with error handling
+    if(len != 0 && m_ChunkMetadata.length == 0)
+      m_ChunkMetadata.length = 1024;
+
     m_LastChunkOffset = m_Read->GetOffset();
   }