diff --git a/openair2/LAYER2/nr_pdcp/nr_pdcp_oai_api.c b/openair2/LAYER2/nr_pdcp/nr_pdcp_oai_api.c
index 5427af19bc..e62d79e23b 100644
--- a/openair2/LAYER2/nr_pdcp/nr_pdcp_oai_api.c
+++ b/openair2/LAYER2/nr_pdcp/nr_pdcp_oai_api.c
@@ -470,18 +470,21 @@ static void deliver_sdu_drb(void *_ue, nr_pdcp_entity_t *entity,
       int offset=0;
       if (entity->has_sdap == 1 && entity->has_sdapULheader == 1) offset = 1; // this is the offset of the SDAP header in bytes
 
-      gtpu_buffer_p = itti_malloc(TASK_PDCP_ENB, TASK_GTPV1_U,
-                                  size + GTPU_HEADER_OVERHEAD_MAX - offset);
-      AssertFatal(gtpu_buffer_p != NULL, "OUT OF MEMORY");
-      memcpy(&gtpu_buffer_p[GTPU_HEADER_OVERHEAD_MAX], buf+offset, size-offset);
-      message_p = itti_alloc_new_message(TASK_PDCP_ENB, 0, GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ);
+      message_p = itti_alloc_new_message_sized(TASK_PDCP_ENB, 0,
+					       GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ,
+					       sizeof(gtpv1u_gnb_tunnel_data_req_t) + size
+					       + GTPU_HEADER_OVERHEAD_MAX - offset);
       AssertFatal(message_p != NULL, "OUT OF MEMORY");
-      GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p).buffer              = gtpu_buffer_p;
-      GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p).length              = size-offset;
-      GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p).offset              = GTPU_HEADER_OVERHEAD_MAX;
-      GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p).rnti                = ue->rnti;
-      GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p).pdusession_id       = entity->pdusession_id;
-      if (offset==1) LOG_I(PDCP, "%s() (drb %d) SDAP header %2x\n",__func__, rb_id, buf[0]);
+      gtpv1u_gnb_tunnel_data_req_t *req=&GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p);
+      gtpu_buffer_p = (uint8_t*)(req+1);
+      memcpy(gtpu_buffer_p+GTPU_HEADER_OVERHEAD_MAX, buf+offset, size-offset);
+      req->buffer              = gtpu_buffer_p;
+      req->length              = size-offset;
+      req->offset              = GTPU_HEADER_OVERHEAD_MAX;
+      req->rnti                = ue->rnti;
+      req->pdusession_id       = entity->pdusession_id;
+      if (offset==1)
+	LOG_I(PDCP, "%s() (drb %d) SDAP header %2x\n",__func__, rb_id, buf[0]);
       LOG_D(PDCP, "%s() (drb %d) sending message to gtp size %d\n", __func__, rb_id, size-offset);
       itti_send_msg_to_task(TASK_VARIABLE, INSTANCE_DEFAULT, message_p);
    }
diff --git a/openair2/LAYER2/nr_rlc/nr_rlc_oai_api.c b/openair2/LAYER2/nr_rlc/nr_rlc_oai_api.c
index 2f485894c6..8c8067e7de 100644
--- a/openair2/LAYER2/nr_rlc/nr_rlc_oai_api.c
+++ b/openair2/LAYER2/nr_rlc/nr_rlc_oai_api.c
@@ -456,13 +456,6 @@ rb_found:
   LOG_D(RLC, "%s:%d:%s: delivering SDU (rnti %d is_srb %d rb_id %d) size %d\n",
         __FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__, ue->rnti, is_srb, rb_id, size);
 
-  memblock = get_free_mem_block(size, __func__);
-  if (memblock == NULL) {
-    LOG_E(RLC, "%s:%d:%s: ERROR: get_free_mem_block failed\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__);
-    exit(1);
-  }
-  memcpy(memblock->data, buf, size);
-
   /* unused fields? */
   ctx.instance = 0;
   ctx.frame = 0;
@@ -506,11 +499,26 @@ rb_found:
       return;
     }
     else if(NODE_IS_DU(type) && is_srb == 0) {
-      LOG_W(RLC, "Received uplink user-plane traffic at RLC-DU to be sent to the CU, but F1-U implementation is not in place yet \n");
+      MessageDef *msg = itti_alloc_new_message_sized(TASK_RLC_ENB, 0, GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ, sizeof(gtpv1u_gnb_tunnel_data_req_t) + size);
+      gtpv1u_gnb_tunnel_data_req_t *req=&GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(msg);
+      req->buffer=(uint8_t*)(req+1);
+      memcpy(req->buffer,buf,size);
+      req->length=size;
+      req->offset=0;
+      req->rnti=ue->rnti;
+      req->pdusession_id=rb_id;
+      LOG_D(RLC, "Received uplink user-plane traffic at RLC-DU to be sent to the CU, size %d \n", size);
+      itti_send_msg_to_task(OCP_GTPV1_U, 0, msg);
       return;
     }
   }
 
+  memblock = get_free_mem_block(size, __func__);
+  if (memblock == NULL) {
+    LOG_E(RLC, "%s:%d:%s: ERROR: get_free_mem_block failed\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__);
+    exit(1);
+  }
+  memcpy(memblock->data, buf, size);
   if (!pdcp_data_ind(&ctx, is_srb, 0, rb_id, size, memblock)) {
     LOG_E(RLC, "%s:%d:%s: ERROR: pdcp_data_ind failed\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__);
     /* what to do in case of failure? for the moment: nothing */
diff --git a/openair3/ocp-gtpu/gtp_itf.cpp b/openair3/ocp-gtpu/gtp_itf.cpp
index c367374436..25d3d7489d 100644
--- a/openair3/ocp-gtpu/gtp_itf.cpp
+++ b/openair3/ocp-gtpu/gtp_itf.cpp
@@ -841,8 +841,7 @@ void *ocp_gtpv1uTask(void *args)  {
         case GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ: {
           gtpv1uSend2(compatInst(ITTI_MSG_DESTINATION_INSTANCE(message_p)),
                       &GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p), false, false);
-          itti_free(OCP_GTPV1_U, GTPV1U_GNB_TUNNEL_DATA_REQ(message_p).buffer);
-        }
+	}
         break;
 
         case TERMINATE_MESSAGE: