diff --git a/src/blob.c b/src/blob.c
index bbdf2873d0..ad2b02bbbc 100644
--- a/src/blob.c
+++ b/src/blob.c
@@ -263,33 +263,47 @@ write_blob(FILE *fd, blob_T *blob)
  * Convert a blob to a readable form: "0z00112233.44556677.8899"
  */
     char_u *
-blob2string(blob_T *blob, char_u **tofree, char_u *numbuf)
+blob2string(blob_T *blob, char_u **tofree, char_u *numbuf UNUSED)
 {
-    int		i;
-    garray_T    ga;
+    static const char hex_chars[] = "0123456789ABCDEF";
+    int		blen;
+    size_t	total;
+    char_u	*buf;
+    char_u	*p;
+    char_u	*src;
 
-    if (blob == NULL)
+    if (blob == NULL || (blen = blob_len(blob)) == 0)
     {
 	*tofree = NULL;
 	return (char_u *)"0z";
     }
 
-    // Store bytes in the growarray.
-    ga_init2(&ga, 1, 4000);
-    GA_CONCAT_LITERAL(&ga, "0z");
-    for (i = 0; i < blob_len(blob); i++)
+    // 2 ("0z") + 2 hex per byte + one '.' every 4 bytes + NUL terminator.
+    total = 2 + (size_t)blen * 2 + (size_t)((blen - 1) / 4) + 1;
+    buf = alloc(total);
+    if (buf == NULL)
     {
-	size_t	numbuflen;
+	*tofree = NULL;
+	return (char_u *)"0z";
+    }
+
+    p = buf;
+    *p++ = '0';
+    *p++ = 'z';
+    src = (char_u *)blob->bv_ga.ga_data;
+    for (int i = 0; i < blen; i++)
+    {
+	unsigned b;
 
 	if (i > 0 && (i & 3) == 0)
-	    GA_CONCAT_LITERAL(&ga, ".");
-	numbuflen = vim_snprintf_safelen((char *)numbuf, NUMBUFLEN,
-	    "%02X", blob_get(blob, i));
-	ga_concat_len(&ga, numbuf, numbuflen);
+	    *p++ = '.';
+	b = src[i];
+	*p++ = hex_chars[b >> 4];
+	*p++ = hex_chars[b & 0xf];
     }
-    ga_append(&ga, NUL);		// append a NUL at the end
-    *tofree = ga.ga_data;
-    return *tofree;
+    *p = NUL;
+    *tofree = buf;
+    return buf;
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/strings.c b/src/strings.c
index ec81ee469a..ff63a3ef40 100644
--- a/src/strings.c
+++ b/src/strings.c
@@ -1262,43 +1262,42 @@ blob_from_string(char_u *str, blob_T *blob)
     static int
 string_from_blob(blob_T *blob, long *start_idx, string_T *ret)
 {
-    garray_T	str_ga;
-    long	blen;
-    int		idx;
+    long	blen = blob_len(blob);
+    long	start = *start_idx;
+    char_u	*src;
+    char_u	*nl;
+    long	line_len;
 
-    ga_init2(&str_ga, sizeof(char), 80);
-
-    blen = blob_len(blob);
-
-    for (idx = *start_idx; idx < blen; idx++)
-    {
-	char_u byte = (char_u)blob_get(blob, idx);
-	if (byte == NL)
-	{
-	    idx++;
-	    break;
-	}
-
-	if (byte == NUL)
-	    byte = NL;
-
-	ga_append(&str_ga, byte);
-    }
-
-    if (str_ga.ga_data != NULL)
-    {
-	ret->string = vim_strnsave(str_ga.ga_data, str_ga.ga_len);
-	ret->length = str_ga.ga_len;
-    }
-    else
+    if (start >= blen)
     {
 	ret->string = vim_strsave((char_u *)"");
 	ret->length = 0;
+	*start_idx = blen;
+	return (ret->string == NULL) ? FAIL : OK;
     }
-    *start_idx = idx;
 
-    ga_clear(&str_ga);
-    return (ret->string == NULL) ? FAIL : OK;
+    src = (char_u *)blob->bv_ga.ga_data + start;
+    nl = (char_u *)memchr(src, NL, (size_t)(blen - start));
+    line_len = (nl == NULL) ? (blen - start) : (long)(nl - src);
+
+    ret->string = alloc(line_len + 1);
+    if (ret->string == NULL)
+    {
+	ret->length = 0;
+	return FAIL;
+    }
+    if (line_len > 0)
+	mch_memmove(ret->string, src, (size_t)line_len);
+    ret->string[line_len] = NUL;
+    ret->length = (size_t)line_len;
+
+    // A NUL byte in the blob represents a NL in the resulting string.
+    for (long i = 0; i < line_len; i++)
+	if (ret->string[i] == NUL)
+	    ret->string[i] = NL;
+
+    *start_idx = start + line_len + (nl != NULL ? 1 : 0);
+    return OK;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -1486,11 +1485,14 @@ f_blob2str(typval_T *argvars, typval_T *rettv)
 	garray_T blob_ga;
 	int nul_size = (from_prop & ENC_4BYTE) ? 4 : 2;
 	ga_init2(&blob_ga, 1, blen + nul_size);
-	for (long i = 0; i < blen; i++)
-	    ga_append(&blob_ga, (int)(unsigned char)blob_get(blob, i));
-	// Add NUL terminator (2 bytes for UTF-16/UCS-2, 4 bytes for UTF-32/UCS-4)
-	for (int i = 0; i < nul_size; i++)
-	    ga_append(&blob_ga, NUL);
+	if (ga_grow(&blob_ga, blen + nul_size) == OK)
+	{
+	    if (blen > 0)
+		mch_memmove(blob_ga.ga_data, blob->bv_ga.ga_data, (size_t)blen);
+	    // NUL terminator (2 bytes for UTF-16/UCS-2, 4 bytes for UTF-32/UCS-4)
+	    vim_memset((char_u *)blob_ga.ga_data + blen, 0, (size_t)nul_size);
+	    blob_ga.ga_len = blen + nul_size;
+	}
 
 	// Convert the entire blob at once
 	vimconv_T vimconv;
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index 9208a50785..c75dd6a65f 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -729,6 +729,8 @@ static char *(features[]) =
 
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
+/**/
+    432,
 /**/
     431,
 /**/