diff --git a/library/std/src/io/copy.rs b/library/std/src/io/copy.rs
index 57d226a3771..4d51a719f6c 100644
--- a/library/std/src/io/copy.rs
+++ b/library/std/src/io/copy.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use super::{BorrowedBuf, BufReader, BufWriter, Read, Result, Write, DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE};
 use crate::alloc::Allocator;
 use crate::cmp;
+use crate::cmp::min;
 use crate::collections::VecDeque;
 use crate::io::IoSlice;
 use crate::mem::MaybeUninit;
@@ -263,36 +264,67 @@ fn buffer_size(&self) -> usize {
     fn copy_from<R: Read + ?Sized>(&mut self, reader: &mut R) -> Result<u64> {
         let mut bytes = 0;
 
-        // avoid allocating before we have determined that there's anything to read
-        if self.capacity() == 0 {
-            bytes = stack_buffer_copy(&mut reader.take(DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE as u64), self)?;
-            if bytes == 0 {
-                return Ok(0);
+        // avoid inflating empty/small vecs before we have determined that there's anything to read
+        if self.capacity() < DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE {
+            let stack_read_limit = DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE as u64;
+            bytes = stack_buffer_copy(&mut reader.take(stack_read_limit), self)?;
+            // fewer bytes than requested -> EOF reached
+            if bytes < stack_read_limit {
+                return Ok(bytes);
             }
         }
 
+        // don't immediately offer the vec's whole spare capacity, otherwise
+        // we might have to fully initialize it if the reader doesn't have a custom read_buf() impl
+        let mut max_read_size = DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE;
+
         loop {
             self.reserve(DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE);
-            let mut buf: BorrowedBuf<'_> = self.spare_capacity_mut().into();
-            match reader.read_buf(buf.unfilled()) {
-                Ok(()) => {}
-                Err(e) if e.is_interrupted() => continue,
-                Err(e) => return Err(e),
-            };
+            let mut initialized_spare_capacity = 0;
 
-            let read = buf.filled().len();
-            if read == 0 {
-                break;
+            loop {
+                let buf = self.spare_capacity_mut();
+                let read_size = min(max_read_size, buf.len());
+                let mut buf = BorrowedBuf::from(&mut buf[..read_size]);
+                // SAFETY: init is either 0 or the init_len from the previous iteration.
+                unsafe {
+                    buf.set_init(initialized_spare_capacity);
+                }
+                match reader.read_buf(buf.unfilled()) {
+                    Ok(()) => {
+                        let bytes_read = buf.len();
+
+                        // EOF
+                        if bytes_read == 0 {
+                            return Ok(bytes);
+                        }
+
+                        // the reader is returning short reads but it doesn't call ensure_init()
+                        if buf.init_len() < buf.capacity() {
+                            max_read_size = usize::MAX;
+                        }
+                        // the reader hasn't returned short reads so far
+                        if bytes_read == buf.capacity() {
+                            max_read_size *= 2;
+                        }
+
+                        initialized_spare_capacity = buf.init_len() - bytes_read;
+                        bytes += bytes_read as u64;
+                        // SAFETY: BorrowedBuf guarantees all of its filled bytes are init
+                        // and the number of read bytes can't exceed the spare capacity since
+                        // that's what the buffer is borrowing from.
+                        unsafe { self.set_len(self.len() + bytes_read) };
+
+                        // spare capacity full, reserve more
+                        if self.len() == self.capacity() {
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                    Err(e) if e.is_interrupted() => continue,
+                    Err(e) => return Err(e),
+                }
             }
-
-            // SAFETY: BorrowedBuf guarantees all of its filled bytes are init
-            // and the number of read bytes can't exceed the spare capacity since
-            // that's what the buffer is borrowing from.
-            unsafe { self.set_len(self.len() + read) };
-            bytes += read as u64;
         }
-
-        Ok(bytes)
     }
 }