diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2c6ddfd..4fc1bd3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,3 +16,5 @@ bundles
 dist
 **/*.egg-info
 .vscode
+venv
+.venv
diff --git a/i2cdisplaybus/__init__.py b/i2cdisplaybus/__init__.py
index c8d6441..7842d9d 100644
--- a/i2cdisplaybus/__init__.py
+++ b/i2cdisplaybus/__init__.py
@@ -86,8 +86,14 @@ def send(self, command: int, data: ReadableBuffer) -> None:
         such as vertical scroll, set via ``send`` may or may not be reset once the code is
         done.
         """
+
+        # prepend the command to the data buffer
+        buffer = bytearray(len(data) + 1)
+        buffer[0] = command & 0xFF
+        buffer[1:] = data
+
         self._begin_transaction()
-        self._send(DISPLAY_COMMAND, CHIP_SELECT_UNTOUCHED, bytes([command] + data))
+        self._send(DISPLAY_COMMAND, CHIP_SELECT_UNTOUCHED, buffer)
         self._end_transaction()
 
     def _send(