diff --git a/zlib-rs/src/deflate.rs b/zlib-rs/src/deflate.rs
index 1c8acd01..15ef9772 100644
--- a/zlib-rs/src/deflate.rs
+++ b/zlib-rs/src/deflate.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #![warn(unsafe_op_in_unsafe_fn)]
 use core::{ffi::CStr, marker::PhantomData, mem::MaybeUninit, ops::ControlFlow};
 
+use sym_buf::Symbol;
+
 use crate::{
     adler32::adler32,
     allocate::Allocator,
@@ -1168,10 +1170,10 @@ impl<'a> BitWriter<'a> {
     }
 
     fn compress_block_help(&mut self, sym_buf: &SymBuf, ltree: &[Value], dtree: &[Value]) {
-        for (dist, lc) in sym_buf.iter() {
+        for Symbol { dist, len, .. } in sym_buf.iter() {
             match dist {
-                0 => self.emit_lit(ltree, lc) as usize,
-                _ => self.emit_dist(ltree, dtree, lc, dist),
+                0 => self.emit_lit(ltree, len) as usize,
+                _ => self.emit_dist(ltree, dtree, len, dist),
             };
         }
 
@@ -1540,10 +1542,10 @@ impl<'a> State<'a> {
 
     fn compress_block_static_trees(&mut self) {
         let ltree = self::trees_tbl::STATIC_LTREE.as_slice();
-        for (dist, lc) in self.sym_buf.iter() {
+        for Symbol { dist, len, .. } in self.sym_buf.iter() {
             match dist {
-                0 => self.bit_writer.emit_lit(ltree, lc) as usize,
-                _ => self.bit_writer.emit_dist_static(lc, dist),
+                0 => self.bit_writer.emit_lit(ltree, len) as usize,
+                _ => self.bit_writer.emit_dist_static(len, dist),
             };
         }
 
diff --git a/zlib-rs/src/deflate/pending.rs b/zlib-rs/src/deflate/pending.rs
index 781ca95f..bcc6173d 100644
--- a/zlib-rs/src/deflate/pending.rs
+++ b/zlib-rs/src/deflate/pending.rs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ impl<'a> Pending<'a> {
         }
     }
 
-    #[inline(always)]
+    #[inline]
     #[track_caller]
     pub fn extend(&mut self, buf: &[u8]) {
         assert!(
diff --git a/zlib-rs/src/deflate/sym_buf.rs b/zlib-rs/src/deflate/sym_buf.rs
index 1659d044..6cce2491 100644
--- a/zlib-rs/src/deflate/sym_buf.rs
+++ b/zlib-rs/src/deflate/sym_buf.rs
@@ -4,25 +4,28 @@
 use crate::allocate::Allocator;
 use crate::weak_slice::WeakSliceMut;
 
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Default)]
+#[repr(C)]
+pub(crate) struct Symbol {
+    pub len: u8,
+    _padding: u8,
+    pub dist: u16,
+}
+
 pub(crate) struct SymBuf<'a> {
-    buf: WeakSliceMut<'a, u8>,
+    buf: WeakSliceMut<'a, Symbol>,
     filled: usize,
 }
 
 impl<'a> SymBuf<'a> {
     #[inline]
-    pub fn iter(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = (u16, u8)> + '_ {
-        self.buf.as_slice()[..self.filled]
-            .chunks_exact(3)
-            .map(|chunk| match *chunk {
-                [dist_low, dist_high, lc] => (u16::from_le_bytes([dist_low, dist_high]), lc),
-                _ => unreachable!("chunks are exactly 3 elements wide"),
-            })
+    pub fn iter(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = Symbol> + '_ {
+        self.buf.as_slice()[..self.filled].iter().copied()
     }
 
     #[inline]
     pub fn should_flush_block(&self) -> bool {
-        self.filled == self.buf.len() - 3
+        self.filled == self.buf.len() - 1
     }
 
     /// Returns true if there are no bytes in this ReadBuf
@@ -36,41 +39,43 @@ impl<'a> SymBuf<'a> {
     /// The number of initialized bytes is not changed, and the contents of the buffer are not modified.
     #[inline]
     pub fn clear(&mut self) {
-        self.buf.as_mut_slice().fill(0);
+        self.buf.as_mut_slice().fill(Symbol::default());
         self.filled = 0;
     }
 
     #[inline(always)]
-    pub fn push_lit(&mut self, byte: u8) {
-        // NOTE: we rely on the buffer being zeroed here!
-        self.buf.as_mut_slice()[self.filled + 2] = byte;
-
-        self.filled += 3;
+    pub fn push_lit(&mut self, len: u8) {
+        // NOTE: we rely on the value being zeroed here!
+        self.buf.as_mut_slice()[self.filled] = Symbol {
+            len,
+            ..Symbol::default()
+        };
+
+        self.filled += 1;
     }
 
     #[inline(always)]
     pub fn push_dist(&mut self, dist: u16, len: u8) {
-        let buf = &mut self.buf.as_mut_slice()[self.filled..][..3];
-        let [dist1, dist2] = dist.to_le_bytes();
-
-        buf[0] = dist1;
-        buf[1] = dist2;
-        buf[2] = len;
+        self.buf.as_mut_slice()[self.filled] = Symbol {
+            len,
+            dist,
+            ..Symbol::default()
+        };
 
-        self.filled += 3;
+        self.filled += 1;
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn new_in(alloc: &Allocator<'a>, len: usize) -> Option<Self> {
-        let ptr = alloc.allocate_zeroed_buffer(len * 3)?;
+        let ptr = alloc.allocate_zeroed_buffer(len * 4)?;
 
         // safety: all elements are now initialized
-        let buf = unsafe { WeakSliceMut::from_raw_parts_mut(ptr.as_ptr(), len * 3) };
+        let buf = unsafe { WeakSliceMut::from_raw_parts_mut(ptr.as_ptr().cast(), len) };
 
         Some(Self { buf, filled: 0 })
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn clone_in(&self, alloc: &Allocator<'a>) -> Option<Self> {
-        let mut clone = Self::new_in(alloc, self.buf.len() / 3)?;
+        let mut clone = Self::new_in(alloc, self.buf.len())?;
 
         clone
             .buf