diff --git a/utils/managed_bytes.hh b/utils/managed_bytes.hh
index d2c82f6cc5..402bf84fd4 100644
--- a/utils/managed_bytes.hh
+++ b/utils/managed_bytes.hh
@@ -30,9 +30,21 @@ struct blob_storage {
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
 // A managed version of "bytes" (can be used with LSA).
-// FIXME: Add small managed_bytes optimization
 class managed_bytes {
-    blob_storage* _ptr;
+    static constexpr size_t max_inline_size = 15;
+    struct small_blob {
+        bytes_view::value_type data[max_inline_size];
+        int8_t size; // -1 -> use blob_storage
+    };
+    union {
+        blob_storage* ptr;
+        small_blob small;
+    } _u;
+    static_assert(sizeof(small_blob) > sizeof(blob_storage*), "inline size too small");
+private:
+    bool external() const {
+        return _u.small.size < 0;
+    }
 public:
     using size_type = blob_storage::size_type;
     struct initialized_later {};
@@ -45,30 +57,37 @@ public:
     managed_bytes(const bytes& b) : managed_bytes(static_cast<bytes_view>(b)) {}
 
     managed_bytes(initialized_later, size_type size) {
-        void* p = current_allocator().alloc(standard_migrator<blob_storage>,
-            sizeof(blob_storage) + size, alignof(blob_storage));
-        new (p) blob_storage(&_ptr, size);
+        if (size <= max_inline_size) {
+            _u.small.size = size;
+        } else {
+            _u.small.size = -1;
+            void* p = current_allocator().alloc(standard_migrator<blob_storage>,
+                sizeof(blob_storage) + size, alignof(blob_storage));
+            new (p) blob_storage(&_u.ptr, size);
+        }
     }
 
     managed_bytes(bytes_view v) : managed_bytes(initialized_later(), v.size()) {
-        memcpy(_ptr->data, v.data(), v.size());
+        memcpy(data(), v.data(), v.size());
     }
 
     ~managed_bytes() {
-        if (_ptr) {
-            current_allocator().destroy(_ptr);
+        if (external()) {
+            current_allocator().destroy(_u.ptr);
         }
     }
 
     managed_bytes(const managed_bytes& o) : managed_bytes(static_cast<bytes_view>(o)) {}
 
     managed_bytes(managed_bytes&& o) noexcept
-        : _ptr(o._ptr)
+        : _u(o._u)
     {
-        o._ptr = nullptr;
-        if (_ptr) {
-            _ptr->backref = &_ptr;
+        if (external()) {
+            if (_u.ptr) {
+                _u.ptr->backref = &_u.ptr;
+            }
         }
+        o._u.small.size = 0;
     }
 
     managed_bytes& operator=(managed_bytes&& o) {
@@ -92,40 +111,56 @@ public:
     }
 
     operator bytes_view() const {
-        return { _ptr->data, _ptr->size };
+        return { data(), size() };
     }
 
     bytes_view::value_type& operator[](size_type index) {
-        return _ptr->data[index];
+        return data()[index];
     }
 
     const bytes_view::value_type& operator[](size_type index) const {
-        return _ptr->data[index];
+        return data()[index];
     }
 
     size_type size() const {
-        return _ptr->size;
+        if (external()) {
+            return _u.ptr->size;
+        } else {
+            return _u.small.size;
+        }
     }
 
     const blob_storage::char_type* begin() const {
-        return _ptr->data;
+        return data();
     }
 
     const blob_storage::char_type* end() const {
-        return _ptr->data + _ptr->size;
+        return data() + size();
     }
 
     blob_storage::char_type* begin() {
-        return _ptr->data;
+        return data();
     }
 
     blob_storage::char_type* end() {
-        return _ptr->data + _ptr->size;
+        return data() + size();
     }
 
     bool empty() const {
         return size() == 0;
     }
+
+    blob_storage::char_type* data() {
+        if (external()) {
+            return _u.ptr->data;
+        } else {
+            return _u.small.data;
+        }
+    }
+
+    const blob_storage::char_type* data() const {
+        return const_cast<managed_bytes*>(this)->data();
+    }
 };
 
 namespace std {