diff --git a/gcloud-java-contrib/gcloud-java-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageReadChannel.java b/gcloud-java-contrib/gcloud-java-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageReadChannel.java
index 5b5e2b649e0d..bb03e53fc362 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-contrib/gcloud-java-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageReadChannel.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-contrib/gcloud-java-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageReadChannel.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public SeekableByteChannel position(long newPosition) throws IOException {
       if (newPosition == position) {
         return this;
       }
-      channel.seek((int) newPosition);
+      channel.seek(newPosition);
       position = newPosition;
       return this;
     }
diff --git a/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/ReadChannel.java b/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/ReadChannel.java
index 2afb8b2d5b32..1ac45902b27d 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/ReadChannel.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/ReadChannel.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public interface ReadChannel extends ReadableByteChannel, Closeable, Restorable<
   @Override
   void close();
 
-  void seek(int position) throws IOException;
+  void seek(long position) throws IOException;
 
   /**
    * Sets the minimum size that will be read by a single RPC.
diff --git a/gcloud-java-examples/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/examples/nio/ParallelCountBytes.java b/gcloud-java-examples/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/examples/nio/ParallelCountBytes.java
index f2b0959acee8..0f268ddb72ca 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-examples/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/examples/nio/ParallelCountBytes.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-examples/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/examples/nio/ParallelCountBytes.java
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ public WorkUnit(SeekableByteChannel chan, int blockSize, int blockIndex) {
 
     @Override
     public WorkUnit call() throws IOException {
-      int pos = blockSize * blockIndex;
+      long pos = ((long)blockSize) * blockIndex;
       if (pos > chan.size()) {
         return this;
       }
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ public WorkUnit resetForIndex(int blockIndex) {
       return this;
     }
 
+
     public void close() throws IOException {
       chan.close();
     }
diff --git a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java
index 0352e8a9d550..04b085574844 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/BlobReadChannel.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class BlobReadChannel implements ReadChannel {
   private final BlobId blob;
   private final Map<StorageRpc.Option, ?> requestOptions;
   private String lastEtag;
-  private int position;
+  private long position;
   private boolean isOpen;
   private boolean endOfStream;
   private int chunkSize = DEFAULT_CHUNK_SIZE;
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ private void validateOpen() throws ClosedChannelException {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public void seek(int position) throws IOException {
+  public void seek(long position) throws IOException {
     validateOpen();
     this.position = position;
     buffer = null;
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ static class StateImpl implements RestorableState<ReadChannel>, Serializable {
     private final BlobId blob;
     private final Map<StorageRpc.Option, ?> requestOptions;
     private final String lastEtag;
-    private final int position;
+    private final long position;
     private final boolean isOpen;
     private final boolean endOfStream;
     private final int chunkSize;
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ static class Builder {
       private final BlobId blob;
       private final Map<StorageRpc.Option, ?> requestOptions;
       private String lastEtag;
-      private int position;
+      private long position;
       private boolean isOpen;
       private boolean endOfStream;
       private int chunkSize;
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ Builder lastEtag(String lastEtag) {
         return this;
       }
 
-      Builder position(int position) {
+      Builder position(long position) {
         this.position = position;
         return this;
       }
diff --git a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/DefaultStorageRpc.java b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/DefaultStorageRpc.java
index 65d540458c7c..883ce80003bb 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/DefaultStorageRpc.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/DefaultStorageRpc.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import static com.google.cloud.storage.spi.StorageRpc.Option.PREFIX;
 import static com.google.cloud.storage.spi.StorageRpc.Option.VERSIONS;
 import static com.google.common.base.MoreObjects.firstNonNull;
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
 import static java.net.HttpURLConnection.HTTP_NOT_FOUND;
 import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_REQUESTED_RANGE_NOT_SATISFIABLE;
 
@@ -467,10 +468,11 @@ public Tuple<String, byte[]> read(StorageObject from, Map<Option, ?> options, lo
           .setIfMetagenerationNotMatch(IF_METAGENERATION_NOT_MATCH.getLong(options))
           .setIfGenerationMatch(IF_GENERATION_MATCH.getLong(options))
           .setIfGenerationNotMatch(IF_GENERATION_NOT_MATCH.getLong(options));
+      checkArgument(position >= 0, "Position should be non-negative, is %d", position);
       StringBuilder range = new StringBuilder();
       range.append("bytes=").append(position).append("-").append(position + bytes - 1);
       req.getRequestHeaders().setRange(range.toString());
-      ByteArrayOutputStream output = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+      ByteArrayOutputStream output = new ByteArrayOutputStream(bytes);
       req.executeMedia().download(output);
       String etag = req.getLastResponseHeaders().getETag();
       return Tuple.of(etag, output.toByteArray());