diff --git a/conn.go b/conn.go
index 6bfe515d..d49eb436 100644
--- a/conn.go
+++ b/conn.go
@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@ type Conn struct {
 
 	wbuf             []byte
 	preallocatedRows []connRows
-	int16SlicePool   int16SlicePool
-	paramValues      [][]byte
+	eqb              extendedQueryBuilder
 }
 
 // PreparedStatement is a description of a prepared statement
@@ -159,7 +158,6 @@ func connect(ctx context.Context, config *ConnConfig) (c *Conn, err error) {
 	c.doneChan = make(chan struct{})
 	c.closedChan = make(chan error)
 	c.wbuf = make([]byte, 0, 1024)
-	c.paramValues = make([][]byte, 0, 16)
 
 	// Replication connections can't execute the queries to
 	// populate the c.PgTypes and c.pgsqlAfInet
@@ -610,6 +608,7 @@ optionLoop:
 		}
 	}
 
+	c.eqb.Reset()
 	rows := c.getRows(sql, args)
 
 	ps, ok := c.preparedStatements[sql]
@@ -648,18 +647,8 @@ optionLoop:
 		return rows, rows.err
 	}
 
-	paramFormats := c.int16SlicePool.get(len(args))
-
-	var paramValues [][]byte
-	if len(args) > cap(c.paramValues) {
-		paramValues = make([][]byte, len(args))
-	} else {
-		paramValues = c.paramValues[:len(args)]
-	}
-
 	for i := range args {
-		paramFormats[i] = chooseParameterFormatCode(c.ConnInfo, ps.ParameterOIDs[i], args[i])
-		paramValues[i], err = newencodePreparedStatementArgument(c.ConnInfo, ps.ParameterOIDs[i], args[i])
+		err = c.eqb.AppendParam(c.ConnInfo, ps.ParameterOIDs[i], args[i])
 		if err != nil {
 			rows.fatal(err)
 			return rows, rows.err
@@ -674,22 +663,20 @@ optionLoop:
 	}
 
 	if resultFormats == nil {
-		resultFormats = c.int16SlicePool.get(len(ps.FieldDescriptions))
-
-		for i := range resultFormats {
+		for i := range ps.FieldDescriptions {
 			if dt, ok := c.ConnInfo.DataTypeForOID(ps.FieldDescriptions[i].DataType); ok {
 				if _, ok := dt.Value.(pgtype.BinaryDecoder); ok {
-					resultFormats[i] = BinaryFormatCode
+					c.eqb.AppendResultFormat(BinaryFormatCode)
 				} else {
-					resultFormats[i] = TextFormatCode
+					c.eqb.AppendResultFormat(TextFormatCode)
 				}
 			}
 		}
+
+		resultFormats = c.eqb.resultFormats
 	}
 
-	rows.resultReader = c.pgConn.ExecPrepared(ctx, ps.Name, paramValues, paramFormats, resultFormats)
-
-	c.int16SlicePool.reset()
+	rows.resultReader = c.pgConn.ExecPrepared(ctx, ps.Name, c.eqb.paramValues, c.eqb.paramFormats, resultFormats)
 
 	return rows, rows.err
 }
diff --git a/extended_query_builder.go b/extended_query_builder.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b41ba6be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extended_query_builder.go
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+package pgx
+
+import (
+	"database/sql/driver"
+	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
+
+	"github.com/jackc/pgtype"
+)
+
+type extendedQueryBuilder struct {
+	paramValues     [][]byte
+	paramValueBytes []byte
+	paramFormats    []int16
+	resultFormats   []int16
+
+	resetCount int
+}
+
+func (eqb *extendedQueryBuilder) AppendParam(ci *pgtype.ConnInfo, oid pgtype.OID, arg interface{}) error {
+	f := chooseParameterFormatCode(ci, oid, arg)
+	eqb.paramFormats = append(eqb.paramFormats, f)
+
+	v, err := eqb.encodeExtendedParamValue(ci, oid, arg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	eqb.paramValues = append(eqb.paramValues, v)
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (eqb *extendedQueryBuilder) AppendResultFormat(f int16) {
+	eqb.resultFormats = append(eqb.resultFormats, f)
+}
+
+func (eqb *extendedQueryBuilder) Reset() {
+	eqb.paramValues = eqb.paramValues[0:0]
+	eqb.paramValueBytes = eqb.paramValueBytes[0:0]
+	eqb.paramFormats = eqb.paramFormats[0:0]
+	eqb.resultFormats = eqb.resultFormats[0:0]
+
+	eqb.resetCount += 1
+
+	// Every so often shrink our reserved memory if it is abnormally high
+	if eqb.resetCount%128 == 0 {
+		if cap(eqb.paramValues) > 64 {
+			eqb.paramValues = make([][]byte, 0, cap(eqb.paramValues)/2)
+		}
+
+		if cap(eqb.paramValueBytes) > 256 {
+			eqb.paramValueBytes = make([]byte, 0, cap(eqb.paramValueBytes)/2)
+		}
+
+		if cap(eqb.paramFormats) > 64 {
+			eqb.paramFormats = make([]int16, 0, cap(eqb.paramFormats)/2)
+		}
+		if cap(eqb.resultFormats) > 64 {
+			eqb.resultFormats = make([]int16, 0, cap(eqb.resultFormats)/2)
+		}
+	}
+
+}
+
+func (eqb *extendedQueryBuilder) encodeExtendedParamValue(ci *pgtype.ConnInfo, oid pgtype.OID, arg interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
+	if arg == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	if eqb.paramValueBytes == nil {
+		eqb.paramValueBytes = make([]byte, 0, 128)
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	pos := len(eqb.paramValueBytes)
+
+	switch arg := arg.(type) {
+	case pgtype.BinaryEncoder:
+		eqb.paramValueBytes, err = arg.EncodeBinary(ci, eqb.paramValueBytes)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return eqb.paramValueBytes[pos:], nil
+	case pgtype.TextEncoder:
+		eqb.paramValueBytes, err = arg.EncodeText(ci, eqb.paramValueBytes)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return eqb.paramValueBytes[pos:], nil
+	case string:
+		return []byte(arg), nil
+	}
+
+	refVal := reflect.ValueOf(arg)
+
+	if refVal.Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
+		if refVal.IsNil() {
+			return nil, nil
+		}
+		arg = refVal.Elem().Interface()
+		return eqb.encodeExtendedParamValue(ci, oid, arg)
+	}
+
+	if dt, ok := ci.DataTypeForOID(oid); ok {
+		value := dt.Value
+		err := value.Set(arg)
+		if err != nil {
+			{
+				if arg, ok := arg.(driver.Valuer); ok {
+					v, err := callValuerValue(arg)
+					if err != nil {
+						return nil, err
+					}
+					return eqb.encodeExtendedParamValue(ci, oid, v)
+				}
+			}
+
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		return eqb.encodeExtendedParamValue(ci, oid, value)
+	}
+
+	if strippedArg, ok := stripNamedType(&refVal); ok {
+		return eqb.encodeExtendedParamValue(ci, oid, strippedArg)
+	}
+	return nil, SerializationError(fmt.Sprintf("Cannot encode %T into oid %v - %T must implement Encoder or be converted to a string", arg, oid, arg))
+}