diff --git a/cmd/restore_tar.go b/cmd/restore_tar.go
index d626a488c..c00b9f8da 100644
--- a/cmd/restore_tar.go
+++ b/cmd/restore_tar.go
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ The Restore command will take a tar-formatted backup archive and restore it to a
 	flags.DurationVar(&cmd.RetryPeriod, "retry-period", cmd.RetryPeriod, "Length of time after HTTP request failure to continue retrying request.")
 	flags.StringVar(&cmd.Pprof, "pprof", cmd.Pprof, "host:port to listen for profiling requests at /debug/pprof and /debug/fgprof.")
 	flags.StringVar(&cmd.AuthToken, "auth-token", "", "Authentication token")
+	flags.StringVar(&cmd.TempDir, "temp-dir", cmd.TempDir, "Location of tempory spillover files the default is the system's default(usually /tmp)")
+
 	ctl.SetTLSConfig(
 		flags, "",
 		&cmd.TLS.CertificatePath,
diff --git a/ctl/backup_tar.go b/ctl/backup_tar.go
index f2244ff17..6dcf95c7e 100644
--- a/ctl/backup_tar.go
+++ b/ctl/backup_tar.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package ctl
 
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
+	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/tls"
@@ -492,3 +493,10 @@ func (fb *FileBuffer) Reset() error {
 	fb.buf.Reset()
 	return fb.Close()
 }
+
+func (fb *FileBuffer) NewReader() io.Reader {
+	if fb.file != nil {
+		return bytes.NewReader(fb.buf.Bytes())
+	}
+	return bufio.NewReader(fb.file)
+}
diff --git a/ctl/restore_tar.go b/ctl/restore_tar.go
index 7432a3b75..bcfee44bc 100644
--- a/ctl/restore_tar.go
+++ b/ctl/restore_tar.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package ctl
 
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
-	"bytes"
 	"compress/gzip"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/tls"
@@ -39,6 +38,8 @@ type RestoreTarCommand struct {
 	// Host:port on which to listen for pprof.
 	Pprof string `json:"pprof"`
 
+	TempDir string
+
 	// Reusable client.
 	client *pilosa.InternalClient
 
@@ -134,7 +135,10 @@ func (cmd *RestoreTarCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 		return errors.New("no primary")
 	}
 	c := &gohttp.Client{}
-	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	mb512 := 2 << 29
+	buf := NewFileBuffer(mb512, cmd.TempDir)
+	defer buf.Close()
+
 	for {
 		buf.Reset()
 		header, err := tarReader.Next()
@@ -188,7 +192,8 @@ func (cmd *RestoreTarCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 				node := node
 				g.Go(func() error {
 					client := &gohttp.Client{}
-					rd := bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes())
+					// rd := bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes())
+					rd := buf.NewReader()
 					logger.Printf("shard %v %v", shard, indexName)
 					url := node.URI.Path(fmt.Sprintf("/internal/restore/%v/%v", indexName, shard))
 					_, err = client.Post(url, "application/octet-stream", rd)
@@ -220,7 +225,8 @@ func (cmd *RestoreTarCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 				node := node
 				g.Go(func() error {
 					client := &gohttp.Client{}
-					rd := bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes())
+					// rd := bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes())
+					rd := buf.NewReader()
 					logger.Printf("dataframe shard %v %v", shard, indexName)
 					url := node.URI.Path(fmt.Sprintf("/internal/dataframe/restore/%v/%v", indexName, shard))
 					_, err = client.Post(url, "application/octet-stream", rd)
@@ -252,7 +258,8 @@ func (cmd *RestoreTarCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 				g.Go(func() error {
 					// rd := bytes.NewReader(shardBytes)
 					rd := func() (io.Reader, error) {
-						return bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes()), nil
+						return buf.NewReader(), nil
+						// return bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes()), nil
 					}
 
 					return cmd.client.ImportIndexKeys(ctx, &node.URI, indexName, partitionID, false, rd)
@@ -269,20 +276,18 @@ func (cmd *RestoreTarCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 			switch action := record[4]; action {
 			case "translate":
 				logger.Printf("field keys %v %v", indexName, fieldName)
-				bc := NewBroadcaster(tarReader, len(nodes))
+				_, err = io.Copy(buf, tarReader)
 				g, _ := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)
-				for i, node := range nodes {
-					i := i
+				for _, node := range nodes {
 					node := node
 					g.Go(func() error {
 						rd := func() (io.Reader, error) {
-							return bc.Readers[i], nil
+							return buf.NewReader(), nil
 						}
 
 						return cmd.client.ImportFieldKeys(ctx, &node.URI, indexName, fieldName, false, rd)
 					})
 				}
-				bc.Consume()
 				if err := g.Wait(); err != nil {
 					return err
 				}