diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/diff/DiffFormatter.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/diff/DiffFormatter.java
index bf49b8e84..c80202ad1 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/diff/DiffFormatter.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/diff/DiffFormatter.java
@@ -50,13 +50,11 @@
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import org.eclipse.jgit.JGitText;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.CorruptObjectException;
-import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.LargeObjectException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.MissingObjectException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.AbbreviatedObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
@@ -68,7 +66,6 @@
 import org.eclipse.jgit.patch.FileHeader;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.patch.HunkHeader;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.patch.FileHeader.PatchType;
-import org.eclipse.jgit.util.IO;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.QuotedString;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.io.DisabledOutputStream;
 
@@ -88,7 +85,7 @@ public class DiffFormatter {
 
 	private RawText.Factory rawTextFactory = RawText.FACTORY;
 
-	private long bigFileThreshold = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
+	private int bigFileThreshold = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 	/**
 	 * Create a new formatter with a default level of context.
@@ -176,7 +173,7 @@ public void setRawTextFactory(RawText.Factory type) {
 	 * @param bigFileThreshold
 	 *            the limit, in bytes.
 	 */
-	public void setBigFileThreshold(long bigFileThreshold) {
+	public void setBigFileThreshold(int bigFileThreshold) {
 		this.bigFileThreshold = bigFileThreshold;
 	}
 
@@ -358,34 +355,8 @@ private byte[] open(FileMode mode, AbbreviatedObjectId id)
 		if (db == null)
 			throw new IllegalStateException(JGitText.get().repositoryIsRequired);
 
-		if (id.isComplete()) {
-			ObjectLoader ldr = db.open(id.toObjectId());
-			if (!ldr.isLarge())
-				return ldr.getCachedBytes();
-
-			long sz = ldr.getSize();
-			if (sz < bigFileThreshold && sz < Integer.MAX_VALUE) {
-				byte[] buf;
-				try {
-					buf = new byte[(int) sz];
-				} catch (OutOfMemoryError noMemory) {
-					LargeObjectException e;
-
-					e = new LargeObjectException(id.toObjectId());
-					e.initCause(noMemory);
-					throw e;
-				}
-				InputStream in = ldr.openStream();
-				try {
-					IO.readFully(in, buf, 0, buf.length);
-				} finally {
-					in.close();
-				}
-				return buf;
-			}
-		}
-
-		return new byte[] {};
+		ObjectLoader ldr = db.open(id.toObjectId());
+		return ldr.getCachedBytes(bigFileThreshold);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BlobBasedConfig.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BlobBasedConfig.java
index f25b0781e..37676ec2f 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BlobBasedConfig.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BlobBasedConfig.java
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevTree;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevWalk;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.TreeWalk;
-import org.eclipse.jgit.util.IO;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.RawParseUtils;
 
 /**
@@ -117,17 +116,7 @@ private static byte[] read(ObjectReader or, AnyObjectId blobId)
 			throws MissingObjectException, IncorrectObjectTypeException,
 			IOException {
 		ObjectLoader loader = or.open(blobId, Constants.OBJ_BLOB);
-		if (loader.isLarge()) {
-			ObjectStream in = loader.openStream();
-			try {
-				byte[] buf = new byte[(int) in.getSize()];
-				IO.readFully(in, buf, 0, buf.length);
-				return buf;
-			} finally {
-				in.close();
-			}
-		}
-		return loader.getCachedBytes();
+		return loader.getCachedBytes(Integer.MAX_VALUE);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackConfig.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackConfig.java
index 9bda76d96..7206bb8b0 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackConfig.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackConfig.java
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ public class PackConfig {
 	/**
 	 * Default big file threshold: {@value}
 	 *
-	 * @see #setBigFileThreshold(long)
+	 * @see #setBigFileThreshold(int)
 	 */
-	public static final long DEFAULT_BIG_FILE_THRESHOLD = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
+	public static final int DEFAULT_BIG_FILE_THRESHOLD = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 	/**
 	 * Default delta cache size: {@value}
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ public class PackConfig {
 
 	private int deltaCacheLimit = DEFAULT_DELTA_CACHE_LIMIT;
 
-	private long bigFileThreshold = DEFAULT_BIG_FILE_THRESHOLD;
+	private int bigFileThreshold = DEFAULT_BIG_FILE_THRESHOLD;
 
 	private int threads;
 
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ public void setDeltaCacheLimit(int size) {
 	 *
 	 * @return the configured big file threshold.
 	 */
-	public long getBigFileThreshold() {
+	public int getBigFileThreshold() {
 		return bigFileThreshold;
 	}
 
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ public long getBigFileThreshold() {
 	 * @param bigFileThreshold
 	 *            the limit, in bytes.
 	 */
-	public void setBigFileThreshold(long bigFileThreshold) {
+	public void setBigFileThreshold(int bigFileThreshold) {
 		this.bigFileThreshold = bigFileThreshold;
 	}
 
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ public void fromConfig(final Config rc) {
 		setCompressionLevel(rc.getInt("pack", "compression",
 				rc.getInt("core", "compression", getCompressionLevel())));
 		setIndexVersion(rc.getInt("pack", "indexversion", getIndexVersion()));
-		setBigFileThreshold(rc.getLong("core", "bigfilethreshold", getBigFileThreshold()));
+		setBigFileThreshold(rc.getInt("core", "bigfilethreshold", getBigFileThreshold()));
 		setThreads(rc.getInt("pack", "threads", getThreads()));
 
 		// These variables aren't standardized
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackWriter.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackWriter.java
index eefce0b31..2fb342dad 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackWriter.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/storage/pack/PackWriter.java
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@
 import static org.eclipse.jgit.storage.pack.StoredObjectRepresentation.PACK_WHOLE;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.security.MessageDigest;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -93,7 +92,6 @@
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevObject;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevSort;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.storage.file.PackIndexWriter;
-import org.eclipse.jgit.util.IO;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.TemporaryBuffer;
 
 /**
@@ -957,41 +955,12 @@ private byte[] buffer(AnyObjectId objId) throws IOException {
 
 	static byte[] buffer(PackConfig config, ObjectReader or, AnyObjectId objId)
 			throws IOException {
-		ObjectLoader ldr = or.open(objId);
-		if (!ldr.isLarge())
-			return ldr.getCachedBytes();
-
 		// PackWriter should have already pruned objects that
 		// are above the big file threshold, so our chances of
 		// the object being below it are very good. We really
 		// shouldn't be here, unless the implementation is odd.
 
-		// If it really is too big to work with, abort out now.
-		//
-		long sz = ldr.getSize();
-		if (config.getBigFileThreshold() <= sz || Integer.MAX_VALUE < sz)
-			throw new LargeObjectException(objId.copy());
-
-		// Its considered to be large by the loader, but we really
-		// want it in byte array format. Try to make it happen.
-		//
-		byte[] buf;
-		try {
-			buf = new byte[(int) sz];
-		} catch (OutOfMemoryError noMemory) {
-			LargeObjectException e;
-
-			e = new LargeObjectException(objId.copy());
-			e.initCause(noMemory);
-			throw e;
-		}
-		InputStream in = ldr.openStream();
-		try {
-			IO.readFully(in, buf, 0, buf.length);
-		} finally {
-			in.close();
-		}
-		return buf;
+		return or.open(objId).getCachedBytes(config.getBigFileThreshold());
 	}
 
 	private Deflater deflater() {