diff --git a/src/borg/_chunker.c b/src/borg/_chunker.c
deleted file mode 100644
index e5d9b54f8..000000000
--- a/src/borg/_chunker.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,318 +0,0 @@
-#include <Python.h>
-#include <fcntl.h>
-#if !defined(_MSC_VER)
-#   include <unistd.h>
-#endif
-
-/* Cyclic polynomial / buzhash
-
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_hash
-
-http://www.serve.net/buz/Notes.1st.year/HTML/C6/rand.012.html (by "BUZ", the inventor)
-
-http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~hamer/cakes-talk.pdf (see buzhash slide)
-
-Some properties of buzhash / of this implementation:
-
-(1) the hash is designed for inputs <= 32 bytes, but the chunker uses it on a 4095 byte window;
-    any repeating bytes at distance 32 within those 4095 bytes can cause cancellation within
-    the hash function, e.g. in "X <any 31 bytes> X", the last X would cancel out the influence
-    of the first X on the hash value.
-
-(2) the hash table is supposed to have (according to the BUZ) exactly a 50% distribution of
-    0/1 bit values per position, but the hard coded table below doesn't fit that property.
-
-(3) if you would use a window size divisible by 64, the seed would cancel itself out completely.
-    this is why we use a window size of 4095 bytes.
-
-Another quirk is that, even with the 4095 byte window, XORing the entire table by a constant
-is equivalent to XORing the hash output with a different constant. but since the seed is stored
-encrypted, i think it still serves its purpose.
-*/
-
-static uint32_t table_base[] =
-{
-    0xe7f831ec, 0xf4026465, 0xafb50cae, 0x6d553c7a, 0xd639efe3, 0x19a7b895, 0x9aba5b21, 0x5417d6d4,
-    0x35fd2b84, 0xd1f6a159, 0x3f8e323f, 0xb419551c, 0xf444cebf, 0x21dc3b80, 0xde8d1e36, 0x84a32436,
-    0xbeb35a9d, 0xa36f24aa, 0xa4e60186, 0x98d18ffe, 0x3f042f9e, 0xdb228bcd, 0x096474b7, 0x5c20c2f7,
-    0xf9eec872, 0xe8625275, 0xb9d38f80, 0xd48eb716, 0x22a950b4, 0x3cbaaeaa, 0xc37cddd3, 0x8fea6f6a,
-    0x1d55d526, 0x7fd6d3b3, 0xdaa072ee, 0x4345ac40, 0xa077c642, 0x8f2bd45b, 0x28509110, 0x55557613,
-    0xffc17311, 0xd961ffef, 0xe532c287, 0xaab95937, 0x46d38365, 0xb065c703, 0xf2d91d0f, 0x92cd4bb0,
-    0x4007c712, 0xf35509dd, 0x505b2f69, 0x557ead81, 0x310f4563, 0xbddc5be8, 0x9760f38c, 0x701e0205,
-    0x00157244, 0x14912826, 0xdc4ca32b, 0x67b196de, 0x5db292e8, 0x8c1b406b, 0x01f34075, 0xfa2520f7,
-    0x73bc37ab, 0x1e18bc30, 0xfe2c6cb3, 0x20c522d0, 0x5639e3db, 0x942bda35, 0x899af9d1, 0xced44035,
-    0x98cc025b, 0x255f5771, 0x70fefa24, 0xe928fa4d, 0x2c030405, 0xb9325590, 0x20cb63bd, 0xa166305d,
-    0x80e52c0a, 0xa8fafe2f, 0x1ad13f7d, 0xcfaf3685, 0x6c83a199, 0x7d26718a, 0xde5dfcd9, 0x79cf7355,
-    0x8979d7fb, 0xebf8c55e, 0xebe408e4, 0xcd2affba, 0xe483be6e, 0xe239d6de, 0x5dc1e9e0, 0x0473931f,
-    0x851b097c, 0xac5db249, 0x09c0f9f2, 0xd8d2f134, 0xe6f38e41, 0xb1c71bf1, 0x52b6e4db, 0x07224424,
-    0x6cf73e85, 0x4f25d89c, 0x782a7d74, 0x10a68dcd, 0x3a868189, 0xd570d2dc, 0x69630745, 0x9542ed86,
-    0x331cd6b2, 0xa84b5b28, 0x07879c9d, 0x38372f64, 0x7185db11, 0x25ba7c83, 0x01061523, 0xe6792f9f,
-    0xe5df07d1, 0x4321b47f, 0x7d2469d8, 0x1a3a4f90, 0x48be29a3, 0x669071af, 0x8ec8dd31, 0x0810bfbf,
-    0x813a06b4, 0x68538345, 0x65865ddc, 0x43a71b8e, 0x78619a56, 0x5a34451d, 0x5bdaa3ed, 0x71edc7e9,
-    0x17ac9a20, 0x78d10bfa, 0x6c1e7f35, 0xd51839d9, 0x240cbc51, 0x33513cc1, 0xd2b4f795, 0xccaa8186,
-    0x0babe682, 0xa33cf164, 0x18c643ea, 0xc1ca105f, 0x9959147a, 0x6d3d94de, 0x0b654fbe, 0xed902ca0,
-    0x7d835cb5, 0x99ba1509, 0x6445c922, 0x495e76c2, 0xf07194bc, 0xa1631d7e, 0x677076a5, 0x89fffe35,
-    0x1a49bcf3, 0x8e6c948a, 0x0144c917, 0x8d93aea1, 0x16f87ddf, 0xc8f25d49, 0x1fb11297, 0x27e750cd,
-    0x2f422da1, 0xdee89a77, 0x1534c643, 0x457b7b8b, 0xaf172f7a, 0x6b9b09d6, 0x33573f7f, 0xf14e15c4,
-    0x526467d5, 0xaf488241, 0x87c3ee0d, 0x33be490c, 0x95aa6e52, 0x43ec242e, 0xd77de99b, 0xd018334f,
-    0x5b78d407, 0x498eb66b, 0xb1279fa8, 0xb38b0ea6, 0x90718376, 0xe325dee2, 0x8e2f2cba, 0xcaa5bdec,
-    0x9d652c56, 0xad68f5cb, 0xa77591af, 0x88e37ee8, 0xf8faa221, 0xfcbbbe47, 0x4f407786, 0xaf393889,
-    0xf444a1d9, 0x15ae1a2f, 0x40aa7097, 0x6f9486ac, 0x29d232a3, 0xe47609e9, 0xe8b631ff, 0xba8565f4,
-    0x11288749, 0x46c9a838, 0xeb1b7cd8, 0xf516bbb1, 0xfb74fda0, 0x010996e6, 0x4c994653, 0x1d889512,
-    0x53dcd9a3, 0xdd074697, 0x1e78e17c, 0x637c98bf, 0x930bb219, 0xcf7f75b0, 0xcb9355fb, 0x9e623009,
-    0xe466d82c, 0x28f968d3, 0xfeb385d9, 0x238e026c, 0xb8ed0560, 0x0c6a027a, 0x3d6fec4b, 0xbb4b2ec2,
-    0xe715031c, 0xeded011d, 0xcdc4d3b9, 0xc456fc96, 0xdd0eea20, 0xb3df8ec9, 0x12351993, 0xd9cbb01c,
-    0x603147a2, 0xcf37d17d, 0xf7fcd9dc, 0xd8556fa3, 0x104c8131, 0x13152774, 0xb4715811, 0x6a72c2c9,
-    0xc5ae37bb, 0xa76ce12a, 0x8150d8f3, 0x2ec29218, 0xa35f0984, 0x48c0647e, 0x0b5ff98c, 0x71893f7b
-};
-
-#define BARREL_SHIFT(v, shift) ( ((v) << (shift)) | ((v) >> ((32 - (shift)) & 0x1f)) )
-
-size_t pagemask;
-
-static uint32_t *
-buzhash_init_table(uint32_t seed)
-{
-    int i;
-    uint32_t *table = malloc(1024);
-    for(i = 0; i < 256; i++)
-    {
-        table[i] = table_base[i] ^ seed;
-    }
-    return table;
-}
-
-static uint32_t
-buzhash(const unsigned char *data, size_t len, const uint32_t *h)
-{
-    uint32_t i;
-    uint32_t sum = 0, imod;
-    for(i = len - 1; i > 0; i--)
-    {
-        imod = i & 0x1f;
-        sum ^= BARREL_SHIFT(h[*data], imod);
-        data++;
-    }
-    return sum ^ h[*data];
-}
-
-static uint32_t
-buzhash_update(uint32_t sum, unsigned char remove, unsigned char add, size_t len, const uint32_t *h)
-{
-    uint32_t lenmod = len & 0x1f;  /* Note: replace by constant to get small speedup */
-    return BARREL_SHIFT(sum, 1) ^ BARREL_SHIFT(h[remove], lenmod) ^ h[add];
-}
-
-typedef struct {
-    uint32_t chunk_mask;
-    uint32_t *table;
-    uint8_t *data;
-    PyObject *fd;
-    int fh;
-    int done, eof;
-    size_t min_size, buf_size, window_size, remaining, position, last;
-    off_t bytes_read, bytes_yielded;
-} Chunker;
-
-static Chunker *
-chunker_init(size_t window_size, uint32_t chunk_mask, size_t min_size, size_t max_size, uint32_t seed)
-{
-    Chunker *c = calloc(sizeof(Chunker), 1);
-    c->window_size = window_size;
-    c->chunk_mask = chunk_mask;
-    c->min_size = min_size;
-    c->table = buzhash_init_table(seed);
-    c->buf_size = max_size;
-    c->data = malloc(c->buf_size);
-    c->fh = -1;
-    return c;
-}
-
-static void
-chunker_set_fd(Chunker *c, PyObject *fd, int fh)
-{
-    Py_XDECREF(c->fd);
-    c->fd = fd;
-    Py_INCREF(fd);
-    c->fh = fh;
-    c->done = 0;
-    c->remaining = 0;
-    c->bytes_read = 0;
-    c->bytes_yielded = 0;
-    c->position = 0;
-    c->last = 0;
-    c->eof = 0;
-}
-
-static void
-chunker_free(Chunker *c)
-{
-    Py_XDECREF(c->fd);
-    free(c->table);
-    free(c->data);
-    free(c);
-}
-
-static int
-chunker_fill(Chunker *c)
-{
-    ssize_t n;
-    PyObject *data;
-    PyThreadState *thread_state;
-
-    memmove(c->data, c->data + c->last, c->position + c->remaining - c->last);
-    c->position -= c->last;
-    c->last = 0;
-    n = c->buf_size - c->position - c->remaining;
-    if(c->eof || n == 0) {
-        return 1;
-    }
-    if(c->fh >= 0) {
-        thread_state = PyEval_SaveThread();
-
-        #if ( ( _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 600 || _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200112L ) && defined(POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED) )
-        off_t offset = c->bytes_read;
-        #endif
-
-        // if we have a os-level file descriptor, use os-level API
-        n = read(c->fh, c->data + c->position + c->remaining, n);
-        if(n > 0) {
-            c->remaining += n;
-            c->bytes_read += n;
-        }
-        else
-        if(n == 0) {
-            c->eof = 1;
-        }
-        else {
-            PyEval_RestoreThread(thread_state);
-            // some error happened
-            PyErr_SetFromErrno(PyExc_OSError);
-            return 0;
-        }
-        #if ( ( _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 600 || _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200112L ) && defined(POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED) )
-        off_t length = c->bytes_read - offset;
-
-        // Only do it once per run.
-        if (pagemask == 0)
-            pagemask = getpagesize() - 1;
-
-        // We tell the OS that we do not need the data that we just have read any
-        // more (that it maybe has in the cache). This avoids that we spoil the
-        // complete cache with data that we only read once and (due to cache
-        // size limit) kick out data from the cache that might be still useful
-        // for the OS or other processes.
-        // We rollback the initial offset back to the start of the page,
-        // to avoid it not being truncated as a partial page request.
-        int overshoot;
-        if (length > 0) {
-            // All Linux kernels (at least up to and including 4.6(.0)) have a bug where
-            // they truncate last partial page of POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED request, so we need
-            // to page-align it ourselves. We'll need the rest of this page on the next
-            // read (assuming this was not EOF).
-            overshoot = (offset + length) & pagemask;
-        } else {
-            // For length == 0 we set overshoot 0, so the below
-            // length - overshoot is 0, which means till end of file for
-            // fadvise. This will cancel the final page and is not part
-            // of the above workaround.
-            overshoot = 0;
-        }
-
-        posix_fadvise(c->fh, offset & ~pagemask, length - overshoot, POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED);
-        #endif
-
-        PyEval_RestoreThread(thread_state);
-    }
-    else {
-        // no os-level file descriptor, use Python file object API
-        data = PyObject_CallMethod(c->fd, "read", "i", n);
-        if(!data) {
-            return 0;
-        }
-        n = PyBytes_Size(data);
-        if(PyErr_Occurred()) {
-            // we wanted bytes(), but got something else
-            return 0;
-        }
-        if(n) {
-            memcpy(c->data + c->position + c->remaining, PyBytes_AsString(data), n);
-            c->remaining += n;
-            c->bytes_read += n;
-        }
-        else {
-            c->eof = 1;
-        }
-        Py_DECREF(data);
-    }
-    return 1;
-}
-
-static PyObject *
-chunker_process(Chunker *c)
-{
-    uint32_t sum, chunk_mask = c->chunk_mask;
-    size_t n, old_last, min_size = c->min_size, window_size = c->window_size;
-
-    if(c->done) {
-        if(c->bytes_read == c->bytes_yielded)
-            PyErr_SetNone(PyExc_StopIteration);
-        else
-            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_Exception, "chunkifier byte count mismatch");
-        return NULL;
-    }
-    while(c->remaining < min_size + window_size + 1 && !c->eof) {  /* see assert in Chunker init */
-        if(!chunker_fill(c)) {
-            return NULL;
-        }
-    }
-    /* here we either are at eof ... */
-    if(c->eof) {
-        c->done = 1;
-        if(c->remaining) {
-            c->bytes_yielded += c->remaining;
-            return PyMemoryView_FromMemory((char *)(c->data + c->position), c->remaining, PyBUF_READ);
-        }
-        else {
-            if(c->bytes_read == c->bytes_yielded)
-                PyErr_SetNone(PyExc_StopIteration);
-            else
-                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_Exception, "chunkifier byte count mismatch");
-            return NULL;
-        }
-    }
-    /* ... or we have at least min_size + window_size + 1 bytes remaining.
-     * We do not want to "cut" a chunk smaller than min_size and the hash
-     * window starts at the potential cutting place.
-     */
-    c->position += min_size;
-    c->remaining -= min_size;
-    sum = buzhash(c->data + c->position, window_size, c->table);
-    while(c->remaining > c->window_size && (sum & chunk_mask)) {
-        uint8_t *p = c->data + c->position;
-        uint8_t *stop_at = p + c->remaining - window_size;
-        size_t did_bytes;
-        while (p < stop_at && (sum & chunk_mask)) {
-            sum = buzhash_update(sum, p[0], p[window_size],
-                                 window_size, c->table);
-            p++;
-        }
-        did_bytes = p - (c->data + c->position);
-        c->position += did_bytes;
-        c->remaining -= did_bytes;
-        if(c->remaining <= window_size) {
-            if(!chunker_fill(c)) {
-                return NULL;
-            }
-        }
-    }
-    if(c->remaining <= window_size) {
-        c->position += c->remaining;
-        c->remaining = 0;
-    }
-    old_last = c->last;
-    c->last = c->position;
-    n = c->last - old_last;
-    c->bytes_yielded += n;
-    return PyMemoryView_FromMemory((char *)(c->data + old_last), n, PyBUF_READ);
-}
diff --git a/src/borg/chunker.pyx b/src/borg/chunker.pyx
index d69976afd..fde9d7bfa 100644
--- a/src/borg/chunker.pyx
+++ b/src/borg/chunker.pyx
@@ -1,27 +1,22 @@
+# cython: language_level=3
+# cython: cdivision=True
+# cython: boundscheck=False
+# cython: wraparound=False
+
 API_VERSION = '1.2_01'
 
-import errno
 import os
+import errno
 import time
 from collections import namedtuple
+from cpython.bytes cimport PyBytes_AsString
+from libc.stdint cimport uint8_t, uint32_t
+from libc.stdlib cimport malloc, free
+from libc.string cimport memcpy, memmove
+from posix.unistd cimport read
 
 from .constants import CH_DATA, CH_ALLOC, CH_HOLE, zeros
 
-from libc.stdlib cimport free
-
-cdef extern from "_chunker.c":
-    ctypedef int uint32_t
-    ctypedef struct _Chunker "Chunker":
-        pass
-    _Chunker *chunker_init(int window_size, int chunk_mask, int min_size, int max_size, uint32_t seed)
-    void chunker_set_fd(_Chunker *chunker, object f, int fd)
-    void chunker_free(_Chunker *chunker)
-    object chunker_process(_Chunker *chunker)
-    uint32_t *buzhash_init_table(uint32_t seed)
-    uint32_t c_buzhash "buzhash"(unsigned char *data, size_t len, uint32_t *h)
-    uint32_t c_buzhash_update  "buzhash_update"(uint32_t sum, unsigned char remove, unsigned char add, size_t len, uint32_t *h)
-
-
 # this will be True if Python's seek implementation supports data/holes seeking.
 # this does not imply that it will actually work on the filesystem,
 # because the FS also needs to support this.
@@ -274,6 +269,96 @@ class ChunkerFixed:
                     return
 
 
+# Cyclic polynomial / buzhash
+#
+# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_hash
+#
+# http://www.serve.net/buz/Notes.1st.year/HTML/C6/rand.012.html (by "BUZ", the inventor)
+#
+# http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~hamer/cakes-talk.pdf (see buzhash slide)
+#
+# Some properties of buzhash / of this implementation:
+#
+# (1) the hash is designed for inputs <= 32 bytes, but the chunker uses it on a 4095 byte window;
+#     any repeating bytes at distance 32 within those 4095 bytes can cause cancellation within
+#     the hash function, e.g. in "X <any 31 bytes> X", the last X would cancel out the influence
+#     of the first X on the hash value.
+#
+# (2) the hash table is supposed to have (according to the BUZ) exactly a 50% distribution of
+#     0/1 bit values per position, but the hard coded table below doesn't fit that property.
+#
+# (3) if you would use a window size divisible by 64, the seed would cancel itself out completely.
+#     this is why we use a window size of 4095 bytes.
+#
+# Another quirk is that, even with the 4095 byte window, XORing the entire table by a constant
+# is equivalent to XORing the hash output with a different constant. but since the seed is stored
+# encrypted, i think it still serves its purpose.
+
+cdef uint32_t table_base[256]
+table_base = [
+    0xe7f831ec, 0xf4026465, 0xafb50cae, 0x6d553c7a, 0xd639efe3, 0x19a7b895, 0x9aba5b21, 0x5417d6d4,
+    0x35fd2b84, 0xd1f6a159, 0x3f8e323f, 0xb419551c, 0xf444cebf, 0x21dc3b80, 0xde8d1e36, 0x84a32436,
+    0xbeb35a9d, 0xa36f24aa, 0xa4e60186, 0x98d18ffe, 0x3f042f9e, 0xdb228bcd, 0x096474b7, 0x5c20c2f7,
+    0xf9eec872, 0xe8625275, 0xb9d38f80, 0xd48eb716, 0x22a950b4, 0x3cbaaeaa, 0xc37cddd3, 0x8fea6f6a,
+    0x1d55d526, 0x7fd6d3b3, 0xdaa072ee, 0x4345ac40, 0xa077c642, 0x8f2bd45b, 0x28509110, 0x55557613,
+    0xffc17311, 0xd961ffef, 0xe532c287, 0xaab95937, 0x46d38365, 0xb065c703, 0xf2d91d0f, 0x92cd4bb0,
+    0x4007c712, 0xf35509dd, 0x505b2f69, 0x557ead81, 0x310f4563, 0xbddc5be8, 0x9760f38c, 0x701e0205,
+    0x00157244, 0x14912826, 0xdc4ca32b, 0x67b196de, 0x5db292e8, 0x8c1b406b, 0x01f34075, 0xfa2520f7,
+    0x73bc37ab, 0x1e18bc30, 0xfe2c6cb3, 0x20c522d0, 0x5639e3db, 0x942bda35, 0x899af9d1, 0xced44035,
+    0x98cc025b, 0x255f5771, 0x70fefa24, 0xe928fa4d, 0x2c030405, 0xb9325590, 0x20cb63bd, 0xa166305d,
+    0x80e52c0a, 0xa8fafe2f, 0x1ad13f7d, 0xcfaf3685, 0x6c83a199, 0x7d26718a, 0xde5dfcd9, 0x79cf7355,
+    0x8979d7fb, 0xebf8c55e, 0xebe408e4, 0xcd2affba, 0xe483be6e, 0xe239d6de, 0x5dc1e9e0, 0x0473931f,
+    0x851b097c, 0xac5db249, 0x09c0f9f2, 0xd8d2f134, 0xe6f38e41, 0xb1c71bf1, 0x52b6e4db, 0x07224424,
+    0x6cf73e85, 0x4f25d89c, 0x782a7d74, 0x10a68dcd, 0x3a868189, 0xd570d2dc, 0x69630745, 0x9542ed86,
+    0x331cd6b2, 0xa84b5b28, 0x07879c9d, 0x38372f64, 0x7185db11, 0x25ba7c83, 0x01061523, 0xe6792f9f,
+    0xe5df07d1, 0x4321b47f, 0x7d2469d8, 0x1a3a4f90, 0x48be29a3, 0x669071af, 0x8ec8dd31, 0x0810bfbf,
+    0x813a06b4, 0x68538345, 0x65865ddc, 0x43a71b8e, 0x78619a56, 0x5a34451d, 0x5bdaa3ed, 0x71edc7e9,
+    0x17ac9a20, 0x78d10bfa, 0x6c1e7f35, 0xd51839d9, 0x240cbc51, 0x33513cc1, 0xd2b4f795, 0xccaa8186,
+    0x0babe682, 0xa33cf164, 0x18c643ea, 0xc1ca105f, 0x9959147a, 0x6d3d94de, 0x0b654fbe, 0xed902ca0,
+    0x7d835cb5, 0x99ba1509, 0x6445c922, 0x495e76c2, 0xf07194bc, 0xa1631d7e, 0x677076a5, 0x89fffe35,
+    0x1a49bcf3, 0x8e6c948a, 0x0144c917, 0x8d93aea1, 0x16f87ddf, 0xc8f25d49, 0x1fb11297, 0x27e750cd,
+    0x2f422da1, 0xdee89a77, 0x1534c643, 0x457b7b8b, 0xaf172f7a, 0x6b9b09d6, 0x33573f7f, 0xf14e15c4,
+    0x526467d5, 0xaf488241, 0x87c3ee0d, 0x33be490c, 0x95aa6e52, 0x43ec242e, 0xd77de99b, 0xd018334f,
+    0x5b78d407, 0x498eb66b, 0xb1279fa8, 0xb38b0ea6, 0x90718376, 0xe325dee2, 0x8e2f2cba, 0xcaa5bdec,
+    0x9d652c56, 0xad68f5cb, 0xa77591af, 0x88e37ee8, 0xf8faa221, 0xfcbbbe47, 0x4f407786, 0xaf393889,
+    0xf444a1d9, 0x15ae1a2f, 0x40aa7097, 0x6f9486ac, 0x29d232a3, 0xe47609e9, 0xe8b631ff, 0xba8565f4,
+    0x11288749, 0x46c9a838, 0xeb1b7cd8, 0xf516bbb1, 0xfb74fda0, 0x010996e6, 0x4c994653, 0x1d889512,
+    0x53dcd9a3, 0xdd074697, 0x1e78e17c, 0x637c98bf, 0x930bb219, 0xcf7f75b0, 0xcb9355fb, 0x9e623009,
+    0xe466d82c, 0x28f968d3, 0xfeb385d9, 0x238e026c, 0xb8ed0560, 0x0c6a027a, 0x3d6fec4b, 0xbb4b2ec2,
+    0xe715031c, 0xeded011d, 0xcdc4d3b9, 0xc456fc96, 0xdd0eea20, 0xb3df8ec9, 0x12351993, 0xd9cbb01c,
+    0x603147a2, 0xcf37d17d, 0xf7fcd9dc, 0xd8556fa3, 0x104c8131, 0x13152774, 0xb4715811, 0x6a72c2c9,
+    0xc5ae37bb, 0xa76ce12a, 0x8150d8f3, 0x2ec29218, 0xa35f0984, 0x48c0647e, 0x0b5ff98c, 0x71893f7b
+]
+
+# Barrel shift macro from C
+cdef inline uint32_t BARREL_SHIFT(uint32_t v, uint32_t shift):
+    return ((v << shift) | (v >> ((32 - shift) & 0x1f)))
+
+
+cdef uint32_t* buzhash_init_table(uint32_t seed):
+    """Initialize the buzhash table with the given seed."""
+    cdef int i
+    cdef uint32_t* table = <uint32_t*>malloc(1024)  # 256 * sizeof(uint32_t)
+    for i in range(256):
+        table[i] = table_base[i] ^ seed
+    return table
+
+cdef uint32_t _buzhash(const unsigned char* data, size_t len, const uint32_t* h):
+    """Calculate the buzhash of the given data."""
+    cdef uint32_t i
+    cdef uint32_t sum = 0, imod
+    for i in range(len - 1, 0, -1):
+        imod = i & 0x1f
+        sum ^= BARREL_SHIFT(h[data[0]], imod)
+        data += 1
+    return sum ^ h[data[0]]
+
+cdef uint32_t _buzhash_update(uint32_t sum, unsigned char remove, unsigned char add, size_t len, const uint32_t* h):
+    """Update the buzhash with a new byte."""
+    cdef uint32_t lenmod = len & 0x1f  # Note: replace by constant to get small speedup
+    return BARREL_SHIFT(sum, 1) ^ BARREL_SHIFT(h[remove], lenmod) ^ h[add]
+
+
 cdef class Chunker:
     """
     Content-Defined Chunker, variable chunk sizes.
@@ -286,7 +371,14 @@ cdef class Chunker:
     Additionally it obeys some more criteria, like a minimum and maximum chunk size.
     It also uses a per-repo random seed to avoid some chunk length fingerprinting attacks.
     """
-    cdef _Chunker *chunker
+    cdef uint32_t chunk_mask
+    cdef uint32_t* table
+    cdef uint8_t* data
+    cdef object _fd  # Python object for file descriptor
+    cdef int fh
+    cdef int done, eof
+    cdef size_t min_size, buf_size, window_size, remaining, position, last
+    cdef long long bytes_read, bytes_yielded  # off_t in C, using long long for compatibility
     cdef readonly float chunking_time
 
     def __cinit__(self, int seed, int chunk_min_exp, int chunk_max_exp, int hash_mask_bits, int hash_window_size):
@@ -295,10 +387,141 @@ cdef class Chunker:
         assert max_size <= len(zeros)
         # see chunker_process, first while loop condition, first term must be able to get True:
         assert hash_window_size + min_size + 1 <= max_size, "too small max_size"
-        hash_mask = (1 << hash_mask_bits) - 1
-        self.chunker = chunker_init(hash_window_size, hash_mask, min_size, max_size, seed & 0xffffffff)
+
+        self.window_size = hash_window_size
+        self.chunk_mask = (1 << hash_mask_bits) - 1
+        self.min_size = min_size
+        self.table = buzhash_init_table(seed & 0xffffffff)
+        self.buf_size = max_size
+        self.data = <uint8_t*>malloc(self.buf_size)
+        self.fh = -1
+        self.done = 0
+        self.eof = 0
+        self.remaining = 0
+        self.position = 0
+        self.last = 0
+        self.bytes_read = 0
+        self.bytes_yielded = 0
+        self._fd = None
         self.chunking_time = 0.0
 
+    def __dealloc__(self):
+        """Free the chunker's resources."""
+        if self.table != NULL:
+            free(self.table)
+            self.table = NULL
+        if self.data != NULL:
+            free(self.data)
+            self.data = NULL
+
+    cdef int fill(self) except 0:
+        """Fill the chunker's buffer with more data."""
+        cdef ssize_t n
+        cdef object data_py
+
+        # Move remaining data to the beginning of the buffer
+        memmove(self.data, self.data + self.last, self.position + self.remaining - self.last)
+        self.position -= self.last
+        self.last = 0
+        n = self.buf_size - self.position - self.remaining
+
+        if self.eof or n == 0:
+            return 1
+
+        if self.fh >= 0:
+            # Use OS-level file descriptor
+            with nogil:
+                n = read(self.fh, self.data + self.position + self.remaining, n)
+
+            if n > 0:
+                self.remaining += n
+                self.bytes_read += n
+            elif n == 0:
+                self.eof = 1
+            else:
+                # Error occurred
+                raise OSError(errno.errno, os.strerror(errno.errno))
+
+        else:
+            # Use Python file object
+            data_py = self._fd.read(n)
+            n = len(data_py)
+
+            if n:
+                # Copy data from Python bytes to our buffer
+                memcpy(self.data + self.position + self.remaining, <const unsigned char*>PyBytes_AsString(data_py), n)
+                self.remaining += n
+                self.bytes_read += n
+            else:
+                self.eof = 1
+
+        return 1
+
+    cdef object process(self) except *:
+        """Process the chunker's buffer and return the next chunk."""
+        cdef uint32_t sum, chunk_mask = self.chunk_mask
+        cdef size_t n, old_last, min_size = self.min_size, window_size = self.window_size
+        cdef uint8_t* p
+        cdef uint8_t* stop_at
+        cdef size_t did_bytes
+
+        if self.done:
+            if self.bytes_read == self.bytes_yielded:
+                raise StopIteration
+            else:
+                raise Exception("chunkifier byte count mismatch")
+
+        while self.remaining < min_size + window_size + 1 and not self.eof:  # see assert in Chunker init
+            if not self.fill():
+                return None
+
+        # Here we either are at eof...
+        if self.eof:
+            self.done = 1
+            if self.remaining:
+                self.bytes_yielded += self.remaining
+                # Return a memory view of the remaining data
+                return memoryview((self.data + self.position)[:self.remaining])
+            else:
+                if self.bytes_read == self.bytes_yielded:
+                    raise StopIteration
+                else:
+                    raise Exception("chunkifier byte count mismatch")
+
+        # ... or we have at least min_size + window_size + 1 bytes remaining.
+        # We do not want to "cut" a chunk smaller than min_size and the hash
+        # window starts at the potential cutting place.
+        self.position += min_size
+        self.remaining -= min_size
+        sum = _buzhash(self.data + self.position, window_size, self.table)
+
+        while self.remaining > self.window_size and (sum & chunk_mask):
+            p = self.data + self.position
+            stop_at = p + self.remaining - window_size
+
+            while p < stop_at and (sum & chunk_mask):
+                sum = _buzhash_update(sum, p[0], p[window_size], window_size, self.table)
+                p += 1
+
+            did_bytes = p - (self.data + self.position)
+            self.position += did_bytes
+            self.remaining -= did_bytes
+
+            if self.remaining <= window_size:
+                if not self.fill():
+                    return None
+
+        if self.remaining <= window_size:
+            self.position += self.remaining
+            self.remaining = 0
+
+        old_last = self.last
+        self.last = self.position
+        n = self.last - old_last
+        self.bytes_yielded += n
+
+        # Return a memory view of the chunk
+        return memoryview((self.data + old_last)[:n])
 
     def chunkify(self, fd, fh=-1):
         """
@@ -308,19 +531,23 @@ cdef class Chunker:
         :param fh: OS-level file handle (if available),
                    defaults to -1 which means not to use OS-level fd.
         """
-        chunker_set_fd(self.chunker, fd, fh)
+        self._fd = fd
+        self.fh = fh
+        self.done = 0
+        self.remaining = 0
+        self.bytes_read = 0
+        self.bytes_yielded = 0
+        self.position = 0
+        self.last = 0
+        self.eof = 0
         return self
 
-    def __dealloc__(self):
-        if self.chunker:
-            chunker_free(self.chunker)
-
     def __iter__(self):
         return self
 
     def __next__(self):
         started_chunking = time.monotonic()
-        data = chunker_process(self.chunker)
+        data = self.process()
         got = len(data)
         # we do not have SEEK_DATA/SEEK_HOLE support in chunker_process C code,
         # but we can just check if data was all-zero (and either came from a hole
@@ -334,6 +561,23 @@ cdef class Chunker:
         return Chunk(data, size=got, allocation=allocation)
 
 
+def buzhash(data, unsigned long seed):
+    cdef uint32_t *table
+    cdef uint32_t sum
+    table = buzhash_init_table(seed & 0xffffffff)
+    sum = _buzhash(<const unsigned char *> data, len(data), table)
+    free(table)
+    return sum
+
+
+def buzhash_update(uint32_t sum, unsigned char remove, unsigned char add, size_t len, unsigned long seed):
+    cdef uint32_t *table
+    table = buzhash_init_table(seed & 0xffffffff)
+    sum = _buzhash_update(sum, remove, add, len, table)
+    free(table)
+    return sum
+
+
 def get_chunker(algo, *params, **kw):
     if algo == 'buzhash':
         seed = kw['seed']
@@ -344,20 +588,3 @@ def get_chunker(algo, *params, **kw):
     if algo == 'fail':
         return ChunkerFailing(*params)
     raise TypeError('unsupported chunker algo %r' % algo)
-
-
-def buzhash(data, unsigned long seed):
-    cdef uint32_t *table
-    cdef uint32_t sum
-    table = buzhash_init_table(seed & 0xffffffff)
-    sum = c_buzhash(<const unsigned char *> data, len(data), table)
-    free(table)
-    return sum
-
-
-def buzhash_update(uint32_t sum, unsigned char remove, unsigned char add, size_t len, unsigned long seed):
-    cdef uint32_t *table
-    table = buzhash_init_table(seed & 0xffffffff)
-    sum = c_buzhash_update(sum, remove, add, len, table)
-    free(table)
-    return sum