diff --git a/h2o-core/src/main/java/water/AutoBuffer.java b/h2o-core/src/main/java/water/AutoBuffer.java
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/h2o-core/src/main/java/water/AutoBuffer.java
+++ b/h2o-core/src/main/java/water/AutoBuffer.java
@@ -519,6 +519,8 @@ public /* final */ class AutoBuffer {
     assert !_read;
     _read = true;
     _bb.flip();
+    if(_firstPage)
+      _bb.position(2);
     _firstPage = true;
     return this;
   }
Fix auto serial test - auto buffer now leaves 2 bytes of the first buffer of data empty to leave space for message size (if the message is small), fixed flipForReading to account for that