diff --git a/include/zmq.h b/include/zmq.h
index 6f8e766c..cd1bc903 100644
--- a/include/zmq.h
+++ b/include/zmq.h
@@ -216,8 +216,10 @@ ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_getsockopt (void *s, int option, void *optval,
     size_t *optvallen);
 ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_bind (void *s, const char *addr);
 ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_connect (void *s, const char *addr);
-ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_send (void *s, zmq_msg_t *msg, int flags);
-ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_recv (void *s, zmq_msg_t *msg, int flags);
+ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_send (void *s, const void *buf, size_t len, int flags);
+ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_recv (void *s, void *buf, size_t len, int flags);
+ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_sendmsg (void *s, zmq_msg_t *msg, int flags);
+ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_recvmsg (void *s, zmq_msg_t *msg, int flags);
 
 /******************************************************************************/
 /*  I/O multiplexing.                                                         */
diff --git a/perf/local_lat.cpp b/perf/local_lat.cpp
index 8d51662b..999e7991 100644
--- a/perf/local_lat.cpp
+++ b/perf/local_lat.cpp
@@ -68,18 +68,18 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv [])
     }
 
     for (i = 0; i != roundtrip_count; i++) {
-        rc = zmq_recv (s, &msg, 0);
-        if (rc != 0) {
-            printf ("error in zmq_recv: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
+        rc = zmq_recvmsg (s, &msg, 0);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            printf ("error in zmq_recvmsg: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
             return -1;
         }
         if (zmq_msg_size (&msg) != message_size) {
             printf ("message of incorrect size received\n");
             return -1;
         }
-        rc = zmq_send (s, &msg, 0);
-        if (rc != 0) {
-            printf ("error in zmq_send: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
+        rc = zmq_sendmsg (s, &msg, 0);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            printf ("error in zmq_sendmsg: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
             return -1;
         }
     }
diff --git a/perf/local_thr.cpp b/perf/local_thr.cpp
index 0dea8c6e..b5379d88 100644
--- a/perf/local_thr.cpp
+++ b/perf/local_thr.cpp
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv [])
         return -1;
     }
 
-    rc = zmq_recv (s, &msg, 0);
-    if (rc != 0) {
-        printf ("error in zmq_recv: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
+    rc = zmq_recvmsg (s, &msg, 0);
+    if (rc < 0) {
+        printf ("error in zmq_recvmsg: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
         return -1;
     }
     if (zmq_msg_size (&msg) != message_size) {
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv [])
     watch = zmq_stopwatch_start ();
 
     for (i = 0; i != message_count - 1; i++) {
-        rc = zmq_recv (s, &msg, 0);
-        if (rc != 0) {
-            printf ("error in zmq_recv: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
+        rc = zmq_recvmsg (s, &msg, 0);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            printf ("error in zmq_recvmsg: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
             return -1;
         }
         if (zmq_msg_size (&msg) != message_size) {
diff --git a/perf/remote_lat.cpp b/perf/remote_lat.cpp
index f353ed6b..0d438e90 100644
--- a/perf/remote_lat.cpp
+++ b/perf/remote_lat.cpp
@@ -75,14 +75,14 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv [])
     watch = zmq_stopwatch_start ();
 
     for (i = 0; i != roundtrip_count; i++) {
-        rc = zmq_send (s, &msg, 0);
-        if (rc != 0) {
-            printf ("error in zmq_send: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
+        rc = zmq_sendmsg (s, &msg, 0);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            printf ("error in zmq_sendmsg: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
             return -1;
         }
-        rc = zmq_recv (s, &msg, 0);
-        if (rc != 0) {
-            printf ("error in zmq_recv: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
+        rc = zmq_recvmsg (s, &msg, 0);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            printf ("error in zmq_recvmsg: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
             return -1;
         }
         if (zmq_msg_size (&msg) != message_size) {
diff --git a/perf/remote_thr.cpp b/perf/remote_thr.cpp
index 78b8f721..ba36b984 100644
--- a/perf/remote_thr.cpp
+++ b/perf/remote_thr.cpp
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv [])
         memset (zmq_msg_data (&msg), 0, message_size);
 #endif
 
-        rc = zmq_send (s, &msg, 0);
-        if (rc != 0) {
-            printf ("error in zmq_send: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
+        rc = zmq_sendmsg (s, &msg, 0);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            printf ("error in zmq_sendmsg: %s\n", zmq_strerror (errno));
             return -1;
         }
         rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg);
diff --git a/src/zmq.cpp b/src/zmq.cpp
index 89848e7a..b533d23e 100644
--- a/src/zmq.cpp
+++ b/src/zmq.cpp
@@ -343,22 +343,73 @@ int zmq_connect (void *s_, const char *addr_)
     return (((zmq::socket_base_t*) s_)->connect (addr_));
 }
 
-int zmq_send (void *s_, zmq_msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
+int zmq_send (void *s_, const void *buf_, size_t len_, int flags_)
 {
-    if (!s_) {
-        errno = EFAULT;
+    zmq_msg_t msg;
+    int rc = zmq_msg_init_size (&msg, len_);
+    if (rc != 0)
+        return -1;
+    memcpy (zmq_msg_data (&msg), buf_, len_);
+
+    rc = zmq_sendmsg (s_, &msg, flags_);
+    if (unlikely (rc < 0)) {
+        int err = errno;
+        int rc2 = zmq_msg_close (&msg);
+        errno_assert (rc2 == 0);
+        errno = err;
         return -1;
     }
-    return (((zmq::socket_base_t*) s_)->send (msg_, flags_));
+    
+    //  Note the optimisation here. We don't close the msg object as it is
+    //  empty anyway. This may change when implementation of zmq_msg_t changes.
+    return rc;
 }
 
-int zmq_recv (void *s_, zmq_msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
+int zmq_recv (void *s_, void *buf_, size_t len_, int flags_)
+{
+    zmq_msg_t msg;
+    int rc = zmq_msg_init (&msg);
+    errno_assert (rc == 0);
+
+    rc = zmq_recvmsg (s_, &msg, flags_);
+    if (unlikely (rc < 0)) {
+        int err = errno;
+        int rc2 = zmq_msg_close (&msg);
+        errno_assert (rc2 == 0);
+        errno = err;
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    //  At the moment an oversized message is silently truncated.
+    //  TODO: Build in a notification mechanism to report the overflows.
+    size_t to_copy = size_t (rc) < len_ ? size_t (rc) : len_;
+    memcpy (buf_, zmq_msg_data (&msg), to_copy);
+    return (int) to_copy;    
+}
+
+int zmq_sendmsg (void *s_, zmq_msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
 {
     if (!s_) {
         errno = EFAULT;
         return -1;
     }
-    return (((zmq::socket_base_t*) s_)->recv (msg_, flags_));
+    int sz = (int) zmq_msg_size (msg_);
+    int rc = (((zmq::socket_base_t*) s_)->send (msg_, flags_));
+    if (unlikely (rc < 0))
+        return -1;
+    return sz;
+}
+
+int zmq_recvmsg (void *s_, zmq_msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
+{
+    if (!s_) {
+        errno = EFAULT;
+        return -1;
+    }
+    int rc = (((zmq::socket_base_t*) s_)->recv (msg_, flags_));
+    if (unlikely (rc < 0))
+        return -1;
+    return (int) zmq_msg_size (msg_);
 }
 
 #if defined ZMQ_FORCE_SELECT
diff --git a/tests/test_hwm.cpp b/tests/test_hwm.cpp
index 58d3a829..d579f9dd 100644
--- a/tests/test_hwm.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_hwm.cpp
@@ -49,49 +49,25 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv [])
     //  Try to send 10 messages. Only 4 should succeed.
     for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
     {
-        zmq_msg_t msg;
-        rc = zmq_msg_init (&msg);
-        assert (rc == 0);
-
-        int rc = zmq_send (sc, &msg, ZMQ_NOBLOCK);
+        int rc = zmq_send (sc, NULL, 0, ZMQ_NOBLOCK);
         if (i < 4)
             assert (rc == 0);
         else
-            assert (rc != 0 && errno == EAGAIN);
-
-        rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg);
-        assert (rc == 0);
+            assert (rc < 0 && errno == EAGAIN);
     }
 
     // There should be now 4 messages pending, consume them.
     for (int i = 0; i != 4; i++) {
-
-        zmq_msg_t msg;
-        rc = zmq_msg_init (&msg);
-        assert (rc == 0);
-
-        rc = zmq_recv (sb, &msg, 0);
-        assert (rc == 0);
-
-        rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg);
+        rc = zmq_recv (sb, NULL, 0, 0);
         assert (rc == 0);
     }
 
     // Now it should be possible to send one more.
-    zmq_msg_t msg;
-    rc = zmq_msg_init (&msg);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_send (sc, &msg, 0);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg);
+    rc = zmq_send (sc, NULL, 0, 0);
     assert (rc == 0);
 
     //  Consume the remaining message.
-    rc = zmq_msg_init (&msg);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_recv (sb, &msg, 0);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg);
+    rc = zmq_recv (sb, NULL, 0, 0);
     assert (rc == 0);
 
     rc = zmq_close (sc);
diff --git a/tests/testutil.hpp b/tests/testutil.hpp
index 6879dffb..1fbf1f36 100644
--- a/tests/testutil.hpp
+++ b/tests/testutil.hpp
@@ -31,39 +31,23 @@ inline void bounce (void *sb, void *sc)
     const char *content = "12345678ABCDEFGH12345678abcdefgh";
 
     //  Send the message.
-    zmq_msg_t msg1;
-    int rc = zmq_msg_init_size (&msg1, 32);
-    memcpy (zmq_msg_data (&msg1), content, 32);
-    rc = zmq_send (sc, &msg1, 0);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg1);
-    assert (rc == 0);
+    int rc = zmq_send (sc, content, 32, 0);
+    assert (rc == 32);
 
     //  Bounce the message back.
-    zmq_msg_t msg2;
-    rc = zmq_msg_init (&msg2);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_recv (sb, &msg2, 0);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_send (sb, &msg2, 0);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg2);
-    assert (rc == 0);
+    char buf1 [32];
+    rc = zmq_recv (sb, buf1, 32, 0);
+    assert (rc == 32);
+    rc = zmq_send (sb, buf1, 32, 0);
+    assert (rc == 32);
 
     //  Receive the bounced message.
-    zmq_msg_t msg3;
-    rc = zmq_msg_init (&msg3);
-    assert (rc == 0);
-    rc = zmq_recv (sc, &msg3, 0);
-    assert (rc == 0);
+    char buf2 [32];
+    rc = zmq_recv (sc, buf2, 32, 0);
+    assert (rc == 32);
 
     //  Check whether the message is still the same.
-    assert (zmq_msg_size (&msg3) == 32);
-    assert (memcmp (zmq_msg_data (&msg3), content, 32) == 0);
-
-    rc = zmq_msg_close (&msg3);
-    assert (rc == 0);
+    assert (memcmp (buf2, content, 32) == 0);
 }
 
-
 #endif