diff --git a/lib/mqtt/client.rb b/lib/mqtt/client.rb
index e0833fb..daef851 100644
--- a/lib/mqtt/client.rb
+++ b/lib/mqtt/client.rb
@@ -167,6 +167,14 @@ def initialize(*args)
       @read_thread = nil
       @write_semaphore = Mutex.new
       @pubacks_semaphore = Mutex.new
+
+      @wait_for_read_func = method(
+        if OpenSSL::SSL::SSLSocket.method_defined?(:read_nonblock)
+          :nonblocking_read_before_select
+        else
+          :select_without_nonblocking_read
+        end
+      )
     end
 
     # Get the OpenSSL context, that is used if SSL/TLS is enabled
@@ -438,14 +446,37 @@ def unsubscribe(*topics)
 
     private
 
+    def select_without_nonblocking_read
+      # Poll socket - is there data waiting?
+      [nil, !IO.select([@socket], [], [], SELECT_TIMEOUT).nil?]
+    end
+
+    def nonblocking_read_before_select
+      first_byte_in_packet = nil
+      data_available_to_read = false
+      begin
+        # Poll socket - is there data waiting?
+        result = @socket.read_nonblock(1)
+        if result && result.length == 1
+          first_byte_in_packet = result.unpack('C').first
+          data_available_to_read = true
+        end
+      rescue IO::WaitReadable
+        # Wait for data to be available
+        data_available_to_read = !IO.select(
+          [@socket], [], [], SELECT_TIMEOUT
+        ).nil?
+      end
+      [first_byte_in_packet, data_available_to_read]
+    end
+
     # Try to read a packet from the server
     # Also sends keep-alive ping packets.
     def receive_packet
-      # Poll socket - is there data waiting?
-      result = IO.select([@socket], [], [], SELECT_TIMEOUT)
-      unless result.nil?
+      first_byte_in_packet, data_available_to_read = @wait_for_read_func.call
+      if data_available_to_read
         # Yes - read in the packet
-        packet = MQTT::Packet.read(@socket)
+        packet = MQTT::Packet.read(@socket, first_byte_in_packet)
         handle_packet packet
       end
       keep_alive!
diff --git a/lib/mqtt/packet.rb b/lib/mqtt/packet.rb
index bfd4354..efb8538 100644
--- a/lib/mqtt/packet.rb
+++ b/lib/mqtt/packet.rb
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@ class Packet
     }
 
     # Read in a packet from a socket
-    def self.read(socket)
+    def self.read(socket, first_byte_in_packet = nil)
       # Read in the packet header and create a new packet object
       packet = create_from_header(
-        read_byte(socket)
+        first_byte_in_packet || read_byte(socket)
       )
       packet.validate_flags
 
diff --git a/spec/mqtt_client_spec.rb b/spec/mqtt_client_spec.rb
index 2f8e929..240cda8 100644
--- a/spec/mqtt_client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mqtt_client_spec.rb
@@ -838,7 +838,16 @@
       allow(@parent_thread).to receive(:raise)
     end
 
-    it "should put PUBLISH messages on to the read queue" do
+    it "should put PUBLISH messages on to the read queue when data can be immediately read" do
+      socket.write("\x30\x0e\x00\x05topicpayload")
+      socket.rewind
+      client.send(:receive_packet)
+      expect(@read_queue.size).to eq(1)
+    end
+
+    it "should put PUBLISH messages on to the read queue following an IO::WaitReadable exception",
+      :if => OpenSSL::SSL::SSLSocket.respond_to?(:read_nonblock) do
+      allow(socket).to receive(:read_nonblock).and_raise(IO::WaitReadable)
       socket.write("\x30\x0e\x00\x05topicpayload")
       socket.rewind
       client.send(:receive_packet)
@@ -853,18 +862,24 @@
     end
 
     it "should close the socket if there is an exception" do
+      socket.write("\x20")
+      socket.rewind
       expect(socket).to receive(:close).once
       allow(MQTT::Packet).to receive(:read).and_raise(MQTT::Exception)
       client.send(:receive_packet)
     end
 
     it "should pass exceptions up to parent thread" do
+      socket.write("\x20")
+      socket.rewind
       expect(@parent_thread).to receive(:raise).once
       allow(MQTT::Packet).to receive(:read).and_raise(MQTT::Exception)
       client.send(:receive_packet)
     end
 
     it "should update last_ping_response when receiving a Pingresp" do
+      socket.write("\x20")
+      socket.rewind
       allow(MQTT::Packet).to receive(:read).and_return MQTT::Packet::Pingresp.new
       client.instance_variable_set '@last_ping_response', Time.at(0)
       client.send :receive_packet
diff --git a/spec/mqtt_packet_spec.rb b/spec/mqtt_packet_spec.rb
index f787eae..40bce39 100644
--- a/spec/mqtt_packet_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mqtt_packet_spec.rb
@@ -434,6 +434,20 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe "reading a packet from a socket with a separate first byte parameter" do
+    let(:socket) { StringIO.new("\x11\x00\x04testhello world") }
+    let(:packet) { MQTT::Packet.read(socket, 48) }
+
+    it "should correctly create the right type of packet object" do
+      expect(packet.class).to eq(MQTT::Packet::Publish)
+    end
+
+    it "should set the payload correctly" do
+      expect(packet.payload).to eq('hello world')
+      expect(packet.payload.encoding.to_s).to eq('ASCII-8BIT')
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "when calling the inspect method" do
     it "should output the payload, if it is less than 16 bytes" do
       packet = MQTT::Packet::Publish.new( :topic => "topic", :payload => "payload" )