diff --git a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
index 45be49076..11fa3cae2 100644
--- a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -54,7 +54,15 @@ void BinaryCacheStore::init()
     }
 }
 
-std::shared_ptr<std::string> BinaryCacheStore::getFile(const std::string & path)
+void BinaryCacheStore::getFile(const std::string & path,
+    Callback<std::shared_ptr<std::string>> callback)
+{
+    try {
+        callback(getFile(path));
+    } catch (...) { callback.rethrow(); }
+}
+
+void BinaryCacheStore::getFile(const std::string & path, Sink & sink)
 {
     std::promise<std::shared_ptr<std::string>> promise;
     getFile(path,
@@ -65,7 +73,19 @@ std::shared_ptr<std::string> BinaryCacheStore::getFile(const std::string & path)
                 promise.set_exception(std::current_exception());
             }
         }});
-    return promise.get_future().get();
+    auto data = promise.get_future().get();
+    sink((unsigned char *) data->data(), data->size());
+}
+
+std::shared_ptr<std::string> BinaryCacheStore::getFile(const std::string & path)
+{
+    StringSink sink;
+    try {
+        getFile(path, sink);
+    } catch (NoSuchBinaryCacheFile &) {
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+    return sink.s;
 }
 
 Path BinaryCacheStore::narInfoFileFor(const Path & storePath)
@@ -197,23 +217,21 @@ void BinaryCacheStore::narFromPath(const Path & storePath, Sink & sink)
 {
     auto info = queryPathInfo(storePath).cast<const NarInfo>();
 
-    auto nar = getFile(info->url);
-
-    if (!nar) throw Error(format("file '%s' missing from binary cache") % info->url);
+    auto source = sinkToSource([this, url{info->url}](Sink & sink) {
+        getFile(url, sink);
+    });
 
     stats.narRead++;
-    stats.narReadCompressedBytes += nar->size();
+    //stats.narReadCompressedBytes += nar->size(); // FIXME
 
     uint64_t narSize = 0;
 
-    StringSource source(*nar);
-
     LambdaSink wrapperSink([&](const unsigned char * data, size_t len) {
         sink(data, len);
         narSize += len;
     });
 
-    decompress(info->compression, source, wrapperSink);
+    decompress(info->compression, *source, wrapperSink);
 
     stats.narReadBytes += narSize;
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
index fcde666be..6bc83fc50 100644
--- a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
@@ -38,10 +38,16 @@ public:
         const std::string & data,
         const std::string & mimeType) = 0;
 
-    /* Return the contents of the specified file, or null if it
-       doesn't exist. */
+    /* Note: subclasses must implement at least one of the two
+       following getFile() methods. */
+
+    /* Dump the contents of the specified file to a sink. */
+    virtual void getFile(const std::string & path, Sink & sink);
+
+    /* Fetch the specified file and call the specified callback with
+       the result. A subclass may implement this asynchronously. */
     virtual void getFile(const std::string & path,
-        Callback<std::shared_ptr<std::string>> callback) = 0;
+        Callback<std::shared_ptr<std::string>> callback);
 
     std::shared_ptr<std::string> getFile(const std::string & path);
 
@@ -129,4 +135,6 @@ public:
 
 };
 
+MakeError(NoSuchBinaryCacheFile, Error);
+
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
index ae0ffa6a5..b7001795b 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -34,15 +34,14 @@ protected:
         const std::string & data,
         const std::string & mimeType) override;
 
-    void getFile(const std::string & path,
-        Callback<std::shared_ptr<std::string>> callback) override
+    void getFile(const std::string & path, Sink & sink) override
     {
         try {
-            // FIXME: O(n) space
-            callback(std::make_shared<std::string>(readFile(binaryCacheDir + "/" + path)));
+            readFile(binaryCacheDir + "/" + path, sink);
         } catch (SysError & e) {
-            if (e.errNo == ENOENT) callback(nullptr); else callback.rethrow();
-        } catch (...) { callback.rethrow(); }
+            if (e.errNo == ENOENT)
+                throw NoSuchBinaryCacheFile("file '%s' does not exist in binary cache", path);
+        }
     }
 
     PathSet queryAllValidPaths() override
diff --git a/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
index f2e8efc16..239739bae 100644
--- a/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -364,23 +364,23 @@ struct S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl : public S3BinaryCacheStore
             uploadFile(path, data, mimeType, "");
     }
 
-    void getFile(const std::string & path,
-        Callback<std::shared_ptr<std::string>> callback) override
+    void getFile(const std::string & path, Sink & sink) override
     {
-        try {
-            stats.get++;
+        stats.get++;
 
-            auto res = s3Helper.getObject(bucketName, path);
+        // FIXME: stream output to sink.
+        auto res = s3Helper.getObject(bucketName, path);
 
-            stats.getBytes += res.data ? res.data->size() : 0;
-            stats.getTimeMs += res.durationMs;
+        stats.getBytes += res.data ? res.data->size() : 0;
+        stats.getTimeMs += res.durationMs;
 
-            if (res.data)
-                printTalkative("downloaded 's3://%s/%s' (%d bytes) in %d ms",
-                    bucketName, path, res.data->size(), res.durationMs);
+        if (res.data) {
+            printTalkative("downloaded 's3://%s/%s' (%d bytes) in %d ms",
+                bucketName, path, res.data->size(), res.durationMs);
 
-            callback(std::move(res.data));
-        } catch (...) { callback.rethrow(); }
+            sink((unsigned char *) res.data->data(), res.data->size());
+        } else
+            throw NoSuchBinaryCacheFile("file '%s' does not exist in binary cache '%s'", path, getUri());
     }
 
     PathSet queryAllValidPaths() override
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index 15962236e..22753f4b7 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -311,6 +311,14 @@ string readFile(const Path & path, bool drain)
 }
 
 
+void readFile(const Path & path, Sink & sink)
+{
+    AutoCloseFD fd = open(path.c_str(), O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+    if (!fd) throw SysError("opening file '%s'", path);
+    drainFD(fd.get(), sink);
+}
+
+
 void writeFile(const Path & path, const string & s, mode_t mode)
 {
     AutoCloseFD fd = open(path.c_str(), O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC | O_CREAT | O_CLOEXEC, mode);
@@ -593,7 +601,7 @@ void drainFD(int fd, Sink & sink, bool block)
             throw SysError("making file descriptor non-blocking");
     }
 
-    std::vector<unsigned char> buf(4096);
+    std::vector<unsigned char> buf(64 * 1024);
     while (1) {
         checkInterrupt();
         ssize_t rd = read(fd, buf.data(), buf.size());
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.hh b/src/libutil/util.hh
index 215c7ceca..af97b76d9 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/util.hh
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ unsigned char getFileType(const Path & path);
 /* Read the contents of a file into a string. */
 string readFile(int fd);
 string readFile(const Path & path, bool drain = false);
+void readFile(const Path & path, Sink & sink);
 
 /* Write a string to a file. */
 void writeFile(const Path & path, const string & s, mode_t mode = 0666);