diff --git a/src/connector.c b/src/connector.c
index 6e3451d4..281a4a87 100644
--- a/src/connector.c
+++ b/src/connector.c
@@ -167,6 +167,14 @@ struct connector_data {
 
 typedef struct connector_data cdata_t;
 
+void connector_upstream_msg(ckpool_t *ckp, char *msg)
+{
+	cdata_t *cdata = ckp->cdata;
+
+	LOGDEBUG("Upstreaming %s", msg);
+	ckmsgq_add(cdata->upstream_sends, msg);
+}
+
 /* Increase the reference count of instance */
 static void __inc_instance_ref(client_instance_t *client)
 {
@@ -1374,12 +1382,6 @@ retry:
 		json_t *val = json_loads(buf, JSON_DISABLE_EOF_CHECK, NULL);
 
 		ckmsgq_add(cdata->cmpq, val);
-	} else if (cmdmatch(buf, "upstream=")) {
-		char *msg = strdup(buf + 9);
-
-		LOGDEBUG("Upstreaming %s", msg);
-		ckmsgq_add(cdata->upstream_sends, msg);
-		goto retry;
 	} else if (cmdmatch(buf, "dropclient")) {
 		client_instance_t *client;
 
diff --git a/src/connector.h b/src/connector.h
index 6a3be5f1..03146e63 100644
--- a/src/connector.h
+++ b/src/connector.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #ifndef CONNECTOR_H
 #define CONNECTOR_H
 
+void connector_upstream_msg(ckpool_t *ckp, char *msg);
 void connector_add_message(ckpool_t *ckp, json_t *val);
 void *connector(void *arg);
 
diff --git a/src/stratifier.c b/src/stratifier.c
index a5379af1..251d474c 100644
--- a/src/stratifier.c
+++ b/src/stratifier.c
@@ -891,13 +891,13 @@ static void stratum_add_send(sdata_t *sdata, json_t *val, const int64_t client_i
 static void upstream_msgtype(ckpool_t *ckp, const json_t *val, const int msg_type)
 {
 	json_t *json_msg = json_deep_copy(val);
-	char *buf;
+	char *msg;
 
 	json_set_string(json_msg, "method", stratum_msgs[msg_type]);
-	ASPRINTF(&buf, "upstream=%s", json_dumps(json_msg, JSON_EOL));
+	msg = json_dumps(json_msg, JSON_NO_UTF8 | JSON_PRESERVE_ORDER | JSON_COMPACT | JSON_EOL);
 	json_decref(json_msg);
-	send_proc(ckp->connector, buf);
-	free(buf);
+	/* Connector absorbs and frees msg */
+	connector_upstream_msg(ckp, msg);
 }
 
 static void send_node_workinfo(ckpool_t *ckp, sdata_t *sdata, const workbase_t *wb)
@@ -3322,11 +3322,11 @@ static json_t *user_stats(const user_instance_t *user)
 static void upstream_block(ckpool_t *ckp, const int height, const char *workername,
 			   const double diff)
 {
-	char buf[512];
+	char *msg;
 
-	snprintf(buf, 511, "upstream={\"method\":\"block\",\"workername\":\"%s\",\"diff\":%lf,\"height\":%d,\"name\":\"%s\"}\n",
+	ASPRINTF(&msg, "{\"method\":\"block\",\"workername\":\"%s\",\"diff\":%lf,\"height\":%d,\"name\":\"%s\"}\n",
 		 workername, diff, height, ckp->name);
-	send_proc(ckp->connector, buf);
+	connector_upstream_msg(ckp, msg);
 }
 
 static void block_solve(ckpool_t *ckp, const char *blockhash)
@@ -5358,11 +5358,11 @@ static double time_bias(const double tdiff, const double period)
 static void upstream_shares(ckpool_t *ckp, const char *workername, const int64_t diff,
 			    const double sdiff)
 {
-	char buf[512];
+	char *msg;
 
-	snprintf(buf, 511, "upstream={\"method\":\"shares\",\"workername\":\"%s\",\"diff\":%"PRId64",\"sdiff\":%lf}\n",
-		workername, diff, sdiff);
-	send_proc(ckp->connector, buf);
+	ASPRINTF(&msg, "{\"method\":\"shares\",\"workername\":\"%s\",\"diff\":%"PRId64",\"sdiff\":%lf}\n",
+		 workername, diff, sdiff);
+	connector_upstream_msg(ckp, msg);
 }
 
 /* Needs to be entered with client holding a ref count. */
@@ -7323,11 +7323,11 @@ static void dump_log_entries(log_entry_t **entries)
 
 static void upstream_workers(ckpool_t *ckp, user_instance_t *user)
 {
-	char buf[256];
+	char *msg;
 
-	snprintf(buf, 255, "upstream={\"method\":\"workers\",\"username\":\"%s\",\"workers\":%d}\n",
-		user->username, user->workers);
-	send_proc(ckp->connector, buf);
+	ASPRINTF(&msg, "{\"method\":\"workers\",\"username\":\"%s\",\"workers\":%d}\n",
+		 user->username, user->workers);
+	connector_upstream_msg(ckp, msg);
 }