diff --git a/codec/codec.go b/codec/codec.go
index aff90cd3d..a65231261 100644
--- a/codec/codec.go
+++ b/codec/codec.go
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 package codec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/binary"
-	"io"
+	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
 
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec/types"
-
-	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
 )
 
 type (
@@ -58,12 +55,3 @@ type (
 		Unmarshal(data []byte) error
 	}
 )
-
-func encodeUvarint(w io.Writer, u uint64) (err error) {
-	var buf [10]byte
-
-	n := binary.PutUvarint(buf[:], u)
-	_, err = w.Write(buf[0:n])
-
-	return err
-}
diff --git a/codec/proto_codec.go b/codec/proto_codec.go
index 2a2befc33..09853e7a7 100644
--- a/codec/proto_codec.go
+++ b/codec/proto_codec.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package codec
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
@@ -40,16 +39,9 @@ func (pc *ProtoCodec) MarshalBinaryLengthPrefixed(o ProtoMarshaler) ([]byte, err
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
-	if err := encodeUvarint(buf, uint64(o.Size())); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	if _, err := buf.Write(bz); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return buf.Bytes(), nil
+	var sizeBuf [binary.MaxVarintLen64]byte
+	n := binary.PutUvarint(sizeBuf[:], uint64(o.Size()))
+	return append(sizeBuf[:n], bz...), nil
 }
 
 func (pc *ProtoCodec) MustMarshalBinaryLengthPrefixed(o ProtoMarshaler) []byte {
diff --git a/codec/proto_codec_test.go b/codec/proto_codec_test.go
index def016a6c..fd1fc7a23 100644
--- a/codec/proto_codec_test.go
+++ b/codec/proto_codec_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec"
@@ -193,3 +194,45 @@ func TestProtoCodecUnmarshalBinaryLengthPrefixedChecks(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Panics(t, func() { cdc.MustUnmarshalBinaryLengthPrefixed(crafted, recv) })
 	})
 }
+
+func mustAny(msg proto.Message) *types.Any {
+	any, err := types.NewAnyWithValue(msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return any
+}
+
+func BenchmarkProtoCodecMarshalBinaryLengthPrefixed(b *testing.B) {
+	var pCdc = codec.NewProtoCodec(types.NewInterfaceRegistry()).(*codec.ProtoCodec)
+	var msg = &testdata.HasAnimal{
+		X: 1000,
+		Animal: mustAny(&testdata.HasAnimal{
+			X: 2000,
+			Animal: mustAny(&testdata.HasAnimal{
+				X: 3000,
+				Animal: mustAny(&testdata.HasAnimal{
+					X: 4000,
+					Animal: mustAny(&testdata.HasAnimal{
+						X: 5000,
+						Animal: mustAny(&testdata.Cat{
+							Moniker: "Garfield",
+							Lives:   6,
+						}),
+					}),
+				}),
+			}),
+		}),
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		blob, err := pCdc.MarshalBinaryLengthPrefixed(msg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		b.SetBytes(int64(len(blob)))
+	}
+}