diff --git a/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImpl.java b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImpl.java
index d7fbb10..0f969c8 100644
--- a/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImpl.java
+++ b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImpl.java
@@ -112,13 +112,14 @@
     private Open _open;
     private SaslImpl _sasl;
     private SslImpl _ssl;
-    private final Ref<ProtocolTracer> _protocolTracer = new Ref(null);
+    private final Ref<ProtocolTracer> _protocolTracer = new Ref<>(null);
 
     private TransportResult _lastTransportResult = TransportResultFactory.ok();
 
     private boolean _init;
     private boolean _processingStarted;
     private boolean _emitFlowEventOnSend = true;
+    private boolean _useReadOnlyOutputBuffer = true;
 
     private FrameHandler _frameHandler = this;
     private boolean _head_closed = false;
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@
             _init = true;
             _frameParser = new FrameParser(_frameHandler , _decoder, _maxFrameSize);
             _inputProcessor = _frameParser;
-            _outputProcessor = new TransportOutputAdaptor(this, _maxFrameSize);
+            _outputProcessor = new TransportOutputAdaptor(this, _maxFrameSize, isUseReadOnlyOutputBuffer());
         }
     }
 
@@ -1746,6 +1747,18 @@
         return _emitFlowEventOnSend;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void setUseReadOnlyOutputBuffer(boolean value)
+    {
+        this._useReadOnlyOutputBuffer = value;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isUseReadOnlyOutputBuffer()
+    {
+        return _useReadOnlyOutputBuffer;
+    }
+
     // From TransportInternal
     @Override
     public void addTransportLayer(TransportLayer layer)
diff --git a/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportInternal.java b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportInternal.java
index 73b4d44..f270ef6 100644
--- a/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportInternal.java
+++ b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportInternal.java
@@ -37,4 +37,9 @@
      * @throws IllegalStateException if processing has already started.
      */
     void addTransportLayer(TransportLayer layer) throws IllegalStateException;
+
+    void setUseReadOnlyOutputBuffer(boolean value);
+
+    boolean isUseReadOnlyOutputBuffer();
+
 }
diff --git a/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptor.java b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptor.java
index 2c43bfe..c427a9a 100644
--- a/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptor.java
+++ b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptor.java
@@ -35,11 +35,13 @@
     private ByteBuffer _head = null;
     private boolean _output_done = false;
     private boolean _head_closed = false;
+    private boolean _readOnlyHead = true;
 
-    TransportOutputAdaptor(TransportOutputWriter transportOutputWriter, int maxFrameSize)
+    TransportOutputAdaptor(TransportOutputWriter transportOutputWriter, int maxFrameSize, boolean readOnlyHead)
     {
         _transportOutputWriter = transportOutputWriter;
         _maxFrameSize = maxFrameSize > 0 ? maxFrameSize : 4*1024;
+        _readOnlyHead = readOnlyHead;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -104,7 +106,11 @@
 
     private void init_buffers() {
         _outputBuffer = newWriteableBuffer(_maxFrameSize);
-        _head = _outputBuffer.asReadOnlyBuffer();
+        if (_readOnlyHead) {
+            _head = _outputBuffer.asReadOnlyBuffer();
+        } else {
+            _head = _outputBuffer.duplicate();
+        }
         _head.limit(0);
     }
 
diff --git a/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImplTest.java b/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImplTest.java
index b474802..ddff6b3 100644
--- a/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImplTest.java
+++ b/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportImplTest.java
@@ -164,6 +164,73 @@
     }
 
     @Test
+    public void testOutputBufferIsReadOnly()
+    {
+        doTestTransportBufferReadability(true, false);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testOutputBufferNotReadOnlyWhenConfigured()
+    {
+        doTestTransportBufferReadability(false, false);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHeadIsReadOnly()
+    {
+        doTestTransportBufferReadability(true, true);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHeadNotReadOnlyWhenConfigured()
+    {
+        doTestTransportBufferReadability(false, true);
+    }
+
+    private void doTestTransportBufferReadability(boolean readOnly, boolean headOrOutput)
+    {
+        TransportImpl transport = new TransportImpl();
+
+        // Default should be Read-Only
+        if (!readOnly) {
+            transport.setUseReadOnlyOutputBuffer(readOnly);
+        }
+
+        final ByteBuffer outputBuffer;
+        if (headOrOutput) {
+            outputBuffer = transport.head();
+        } else {
+            outputBuffer = transport.getOutputBuffer();
+        }
+
+        assertTrue(outputBuffer.hasRemaining());
+        if (readOnly) {
+            assertTrue(outputBuffer.isReadOnly());
+        } else {
+            assertFalse(outputBuffer.isReadOnly());
+        }
+
+        byte[] outputBytes = new byte[outputBuffer.remaining()];
+        outputBuffer.get(outputBytes);
+
+        transport.outputConsumed();
+
+        final ByteBuffer emptyBuffer;
+        if (headOrOutput) {
+            emptyBuffer = transport.head();
+        } else {
+            emptyBuffer = transport.getOutputBuffer();
+        }
+
+        assertFalse(emptyBuffer.hasRemaining());
+        if (readOnly) {
+            assertTrue(emptyBuffer.isReadOnly());
+        } else {
+            assertFalse(emptyBuffer.isReadOnly());
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
     public void testTransportInitiallyHandlesFrames()
     {
         assertTrue(_transport.isHandlingFrames());
diff --git a/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptorTest.java b/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptorTest.java
index 19c2f7b..6e26527 100644
--- a/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptorTest.java
+++ b/proton-j/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/engine/impl/TransportOutputAdaptorTest.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import static org.apache.qpid.proton.engine.impl.TransportTestHelper.assertByteArrayContentEquals;
 import static org.apache.qpid.proton.engine.impl.TransportTestHelper.assertByteBufferContentEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@
 public class TransportOutputAdaptorTest
 {
     private final CannedTransportOutputWriter _transportOutputWriter = new CannedTransportOutputWriter();
-    private final TransportOutput _transportOutput = new TransportOutputAdaptor(_transportOutputWriter, 1024);
+    private final TransportOutput _transportOutput = new TransportOutputAdaptor(_transportOutputWriter, 1024, true);
 
     @Test
     public void testThatOutputBufferIsReadOnly()
@@ -43,6 +44,15 @@
     }
 
     @Test
+    public void testThatOutputBufferCanBeMadeNotReadOnly()
+    {
+        final TransportOutput _transportOutput =
+            new TransportOutputAdaptor(_transportOutputWriter, 1024, false);
+
+        assertFalse(_transportOutput.head().isReadOnly());
+    }
+
+    @Test
     public void testGetOutputBuffer_containsCorrectBytes()
     {
         byte[] testBytes = "testbytes".getBytes();