diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 2e07fea9..207a2453 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           go test -v '-race' '-covermode=atomic' '-coverprofile=coverage.out' -parallel 10
 
+      - name: benchmark
+        run: |
+          go test -run '^$' -bench .
+
       - name: Send coverage
         uses: shogo82148/actions-goveralls@v1
         with:
diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 510b869b..ec346e20 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ Asta Xie <xiemengjun at gmail.com>
 B Lamarche <blam413 at gmail.com>
 Bes Dollma <bdollma@thousandeyes.com>
 Bogdan Constantinescu <bog.con.bc at gmail.com>
+Brad Higgins <brad at defined.net>
 Brian Hendriks <brian at dolthub.com>
 Bulat Gaifullin <gaifullinbf at gmail.com>
 Caine Jette <jette at alum.mit.edu>
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ Daniel Montoya <dsmontoyam at gmail.com>
 Daniel Nichter <nil at codenode.com>
 Daniël van Eeden <git at myname.nl>
 Dave Protasowski <dprotaso at gmail.com>
+Diego Dupin <diego.dupin at gmail.com>
 Dirkjan Bussink <d.bussink at gmail.com>
 DisposaBoy <disposaboy at dby.me>
 Egor Smolyakov <egorsmkv at gmail.com>
@@ -133,6 +135,7 @@ Ziheng Lyu <zihenglv at gmail.com>
 
 Barracuda Networks, Inc.
 Counting Ltd.
+Defined Networking Inc.
 DigitalOcean Inc.
 Dolthub Inc.
 dyves labs AG
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66189eda..75674b60 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v1.9.3 (2025-06-13)
+
+* `tx.Commit()` and `tx.Rollback()` returned `ErrInvalidConn` always.
+  Now they return cached real error if present. (#1690)
+
+* Optimize reading small resultsets to fix performance regression
+  introduced by compression protocol support. (#1707)
+
+* Fix `db.Ping()` on compressed connection. (#1723)
+
+
 ## v1.9.2 (2025-04-07)
 
 v1.9.2 is a re-release of v1.9.1 due to a release process issue; no changes were made to the content.
diff --git a/benchmark_test.go b/benchmark_test.go
index 5c9a046b..1c3f64d3 100644
--- a/benchmark_test.go
+++ b/benchmark_test.go
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ func (tb *TB) checkStmt(stmt *sql.Stmt, err error) *sql.Stmt {
 	return stmt
 }
 
-func initDB(b *testing.B, useCompression bool, queries ...string) *sql.DB {
+func initDB(b *testing.B, compress bool, queries ...string) *sql.DB {
 	tb := (*TB)(b)
 	comprStr := ""
-	if useCompression {
+	if compress {
 		comprStr = "&compress=1"
 	}
 	db := tb.checkDB(sql.Open(driverNameTest, dsn+comprStr))
@@ -64,16 +64,15 @@ func initDB(b *testing.B, useCompression bool, queries ...string) *sql.DB {
 const concurrencyLevel = 10
 
 func BenchmarkQuery(b *testing.B) {
-	benchmarkQueryHelper(b, false)
+	benchmarkQuery(b, false)
 }
 
-func BenchmarkQueryCompression(b *testing.B) {
-	benchmarkQueryHelper(b, true)
+func BenchmarkQueryCompressed(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkQuery(b, true)
 }
 
-func benchmarkQueryHelper(b *testing.B, compr bool) {
+func benchmarkQuery(b *testing.B, compr bool) {
 	tb := (*TB)(b)
-	b.StopTimer()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	db := initDB(b, compr,
 		"DROP TABLE IF EXISTS foo",
@@ -115,8 +114,6 @@ func benchmarkQueryHelper(b *testing.B, compr bool) {
 
 func BenchmarkExec(b *testing.B) {
 	tb := (*TB)(b)
-	b.StopTimer()
-	b.ReportAllocs()
 	db := tb.checkDB(sql.Open(driverNameTest, dsn))
 	db.SetMaxIdleConns(concurrencyLevel)
 	defer db.Close()
@@ -128,9 +125,11 @@ func BenchmarkExec(b *testing.B) {
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	wg.Add(concurrencyLevel)
 	defer wg.Wait()
-	b.StartTimer()
 
-	for i := 0; i < concurrencyLevel; i++ {
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i <  concurrencyLevel; i++ {
 		go func() {
 			for {
 				if atomic.AddInt64(&remain, -1) < 0 {
@@ -158,14 +157,15 @@ func initRoundtripBenchmarks() ([]byte, int, int) {
 }
 
 func BenchmarkRoundtripTxt(b *testing.B) {
-	b.StopTimer()
 	sample, min, max := initRoundtripBenchmarks()
 	sampleString := string(sample)
-	b.ReportAllocs()
 	tb := (*TB)(b)
 	db := tb.checkDB(sql.Open(driverNameTest, dsn))
 	defer db.Close()
-	b.StartTimer()
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+
 	var result string
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 		length := min + i
@@ -192,15 +192,15 @@ func BenchmarkRoundtripTxt(b *testing.B) {
 }
 
 func BenchmarkRoundtripBin(b *testing.B) {
-	b.StopTimer()
 	sample, min, max := initRoundtripBenchmarks()
-	b.ReportAllocs()
 	tb := (*TB)(b)
 	db := tb.checkDB(sql.Open(driverNameTest, dsn))
 	defer db.Close()
 	stmt := tb.checkStmt(db.Prepare("SELECT ?"))
 	defer stmt.Close()
-	b.StartTimer()
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
 	var result sql.RawBytes
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 		length := min + i
@@ -385,10 +385,9 @@ func BenchmarkQueryRawBytes(b *testing.B) {
 	}
 }
 
-// BenchmarkReceiveMassiveRows measures performance of receiving large number of rows.
-func BenchmarkReceiveMassiveRows(b *testing.B) {
+func benchmark10kRows(b *testing.B, compress bool) {
 	// Setup -- prepare 10000 rows.
-	db := initDB(b, false,
+	db := initDB(b, compress,
 		"DROP TABLE IF EXISTS foo",
 		"CREATE TABLE foo (id INT PRIMARY KEY, val TEXT)")
 	defer db.Close()
@@ -399,11 +398,14 @@ func BenchmarkReceiveMassiveRows(b *testing.B) {
 		b.Errorf("failed to prepare query: %v", err)
 		return
 	}
+
+	args := make([]any, 200)
+	for i := 1; i < 200; i+=2 {
+		args[i] = sval
+	}
 	for i := 0; i < 10000; i += 100 {
-		args := make([]any, 200)
 		for j := 0; j < 100; j++ {
 			args[j*2] = i + j
-			args[j*2+1] = sval
 		}
 		_, err := stmt.Exec(args...)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -413,30 +415,43 @@ func BenchmarkReceiveMassiveRows(b *testing.B) {
 	}
 	stmt.Close()
 
-	// Use b.Run() to skip expensive setup.
+	// benchmark function called several times with different b.N.
+	// it means heavy setup is called multiple times.
+	// Use b.Run() to run expensive setup only once.
+	// Go 1.24 introduced b.Loop() for this purpose. But we keep this
+	// benchmark compatible with Go 1.20.
 	b.Run("query", func(b *testing.B) {
 		b.ReportAllocs()
-
 		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 			rows, err := db.Query(`SELECT id, val FROM foo`)
 			if err != nil {
 				b.Errorf("failed to select: %v", err)
 				return
 			}
+			// rows.Scan() escapes arguments. So these variables must be defined
+			// before loop.
+			var i int
+			var s sql.RawBytes
 			for rows.Next() {
-				var i int
-				var s sql.RawBytes
-				err = rows.Scan(&i, &s)
-				if err != nil {
+				if err := rows.Scan(&i, &s); err != nil {
 					b.Errorf("failed to scan: %v", err)
-					_ = rows.Close()
+					rows.Close()
 					return
 				}
 			}
 			if err = rows.Err(); err != nil {
 				b.Errorf("failed to read rows: %v", err)
 			}
-			_ = rows.Close()
+			rows.Close()
 		}
 	})
 }
+
+// BenchmarkReceive10kRows measures performance of receiving large number of rows.
+func BenchmarkReceive10kRows(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmark10kRows(b, false)
+}
+
+func BenchmarkReceive10kRowsCompressed(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmark10kRows(b, true)
+}
diff --git a/buffer.go b/buffer.go
index a6532431..f895e87b 100644
--- a/buffer.go
+++ b/buffer.go
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ func (b *buffer) busy() bool {
 	return len(b.buf) > 0
 }
 
+// len returns how many bytes in the read buffer.
+func (b *buffer) len() int {
+	return len(b.buf)
+}
+
 // fill reads into the read buffer until at least _need_ bytes are in it.
 func (b *buffer) fill(need int, r readerFunc) error {
 	// we'll move the contents of the current buffer to dest before filling it.
@@ -86,17 +91,10 @@ func (b *buffer) fill(need int, r readerFunc) error {
 
 // returns next N bytes from buffer.
 // The returned slice is only guaranteed to be valid until the next read
-func (b *buffer) readNext(need int, r readerFunc) ([]byte, error) {
-	if len(b.buf) < need {
-		// refill
-		if err := b.fill(need, r); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-	}
-
-	data := b.buf[:need]
+func (b *buffer) readNext(need int) []byte {
+	data := b.buf[:need:need]
 	b.buf = b.buf[need:]
-	return data, nil
+	return data
 }
 
 // takeBuffer returns a buffer with the requested size.
diff --git a/compress.go b/compress.go
index fa42772a..38bfa000 100644
--- a/compress.go
+++ b/compress.go
@@ -84,9 +84,9 @@ func (c *compIO) reset() {
 	c.buff.Reset()
 }
 
-func (c *compIO) readNext(need int, r readerFunc) ([]byte, error) {
+func (c *compIO) readNext(need int) ([]byte, error) {
 	for c.buff.Len() < need {
-		if err := c.readCompressedPacket(r); err != nil {
+		if err := c.readCompressedPacket(); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ func (c *compIO) readNext(need int, r readerFunc) ([]byte, error) {
 	return data[:need:need], nil // prevent caller writes into c.buff
 }
 
-func (c *compIO) readCompressedPacket(r readerFunc) error {
-	header, err := c.mc.buf.readNext(7, r) // size of compressed header
+func (c *compIO) readCompressedPacket() error {
+	header, err := c.mc.readNext(7)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (c *compIO) readCompressedPacket(r readerFunc) error {
 
 	// compressed header structure
 	comprLength := getUint24(header[0:3])
-	compressionSequence := uint8(header[3])
+	compressionSequence := header[3]
 	uncompressedLength := getUint24(header[4:7])
 	if debug {
 		fmt.Printf("uncompress cmplen=%v uncomplen=%v pkt_cmp_seq=%v expected_cmp_seq=%v\n",
@@ -113,14 +113,13 @@ func (c *compIO) readCompressedPacket(r readerFunc) error {
 	// Server may return error packet (e.g. 1153 Got a packet bigger than 'max_allowed_packet' bytes)
 	// before receiving all packets from client. In this case, seqnr is younger than expected.
 	// NOTE: Both of mariadbclient and mysqlclient do not check seqnr. Only server checks it.
-	if debug && compressionSequence != c.mc.sequence {
+	if debug && compressionSequence != c.mc.compressSequence {
 		fmt.Printf("WARN: unexpected cmpress seq nr: expected %v, got %v",
-			c.mc.sequence, compressionSequence)
+			c.mc.compressSequence, compressionSequence)
 	}
-	c.mc.sequence = compressionSequence + 1
-	c.mc.compressSequence = c.mc.sequence
+	c.mc.compressSequence = compressionSequence + 1
 
-	comprData, err := c.mc.buf.readNext(comprLength, r)
+	comprData, err := c.mc.readNext(comprLength)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -200,7 +199,7 @@ func (c *compIO) writeCompressedPacket(data []byte, uncompressedLen int) (int, e
 	comprLength := len(data) - 7
 	if debug {
 		fmt.Printf(
-			"writeCompressedPacket: comprLength=%v, uncompressedLen=%v, seq=%v",
+			"writeCompressedPacket: comprLength=%v, uncompressedLen=%v, seq=%v\n",
 			comprLength, uncompressedLen, mc.compressSequence)
 	}
 
diff --git a/driver_test.go b/driver_test.go
index 00e82865..46caa0e2 100644
--- a/driver_test.go
+++ b/driver_test.go
@@ -1609,10 +1609,12 @@ func TestCollation(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Skipf("MySQL server not running on %s", netAddr)
 	}
 
-	defaultCollation := "utf8mb4_general_ci"
+	// MariaDB may override collation specified by handshake with `character_set_collations` variable.
+	// https://mariadb.com/kb/en/setting-character-sets-and-collations/#changing-default-collation
+	// https://mariadb.com/kb/en/server-system-variables/#character_set_collations
+	// utf8mb4_general_ci, utf8mb3_general_ci will be overridden by default MariaDB.
+	// Collations other than charasets default are not overridden. So utf8mb4_unicode_ci is safe.
 	testCollations := []string{
-		"",               // do not set
-		defaultCollation, // driver default
 		"latin1_general_ci",
 		"binary",
 		"utf8mb4_unicode_ci",
@@ -1620,24 +1622,19 @@ func TestCollation(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, collation := range testCollations {
-		var expected, tdsn string
-		if collation != "" {
-			tdsn = dsn + "&collation=" + collation
-			expected = collation
-		} else {
-			tdsn = dsn
-			expected = defaultCollation
-		}
-
-		runTests(t, tdsn, func(dbt *DBTest) {
-			var got string
-			if err := dbt.db.QueryRow("SELECT @@collation_connection").Scan(&got); err != nil {
-				dbt.Fatal(err)
-			}
+		t.Run(collation, func(t *testing.T) {
+			tdsn := dsn + "&collation=" + collation
+			expected := collation
 
-			if got != expected {
-				dbt.Fatalf("expected connection collation %s but got %s", expected, got)
-			}
+			runTests(t, tdsn, func(dbt *DBTest) {
+				var got string
+				if err := dbt.db.QueryRow("SELECT @@collation_connection").Scan(&got); err != nil {
+					dbt.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				if got != expected {
+					dbt.Fatalf("expected connection collation %s but got %s", expected, got)
+				}
+			})
 		})
 	}
 }
@@ -1685,7 +1682,7 @@ func TestRawBytesResultExceedsBuffer(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestTimezoneConversion(t *testing.T) {
-	zones := []string{"UTC", "US/Central", "US/Pacific", "Local"}
+	zones := []string{"UTC", "America/New_York", "Asia/Hong_Kong", "Local"}
 
 	// Regression test for timezone handling
 	tzTest := func(dbt *DBTest) {
@@ -1693,8 +1690,8 @@ func TestTimezoneConversion(t *testing.T) {
 		dbt.mustExec("CREATE TABLE test (ts TIMESTAMP)")
 
 		// Insert local time into database (should be converted)
-		usCentral, _ := time.LoadLocation("US/Central")
-		reftime := time.Date(2014, 05, 30, 18, 03, 17, 0, time.UTC).In(usCentral)
+		newYorkTz, _ := time.LoadLocation("America/New_York")
+		reftime := time.Date(2014, 05, 30, 18, 03, 17, 0, time.UTC).In(newYorkTz)
 		dbt.mustExec("INSERT INTO test VALUE (?)", reftime)
 
 		// Retrieve time from DB
@@ -1713,7 +1710,7 @@ func TestTimezoneConversion(t *testing.T) {
 		// Check that dates match
 		if reftime.Unix() != dbTime.Unix() {
 			dbt.Errorf("times do not match.\n")
-			dbt.Errorf(" Now(%v)=%v\n", usCentral, reftime)
+			dbt.Errorf(" Now(%v)=%v\n", newYorkTz, reftime)
 			dbt.Errorf(" Now(UTC)=%v\n", dbTime)
 		}
 	}
@@ -3541,6 +3538,15 @@ func TestConnectionAttributes(t *testing.T) {
 
 	dbt := &DBTest{t, db}
 
+	var varName string
+	var varValue string
+	err := dbt.db.QueryRow("SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'performance_schema'").Scan(&varName, &varValue)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error: %s", err.Error())
+	}
+	if varValue != "ON" {
+		t.Skipf("Performance schema is not enabled. skipping")
+	}
 	queryString := "SELECT ATTR_NAME, ATTR_VALUE FROM performance_schema.session_account_connect_attrs WHERE PROCESSLIST_ID = CONNECTION_ID()"
 	rows := dbt.mustQuery(queryString)
 	defer rows.Close()
diff --git a/packets.go b/packets.go
index 4b836216..831fca6c 100644
--- a/packets.go
+++ b/packets.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"math"
+	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -25,19 +26,30 @@ import (
 // https://dev.mysql.com/doc/dev/mysql-server/latest/PAGE_PROTOCOL.html
 // https://mariadb.com/kb/en/clientserver-protocol/
 
+// read n bytes from mc.buf
+func (mc *mysqlConn) readNext(n int) ([]byte, error) {
+	if mc.buf.len() < n {
+		err := mc.buf.fill(n, mc.readWithTimeout)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return mc.buf.readNext(n), nil
+}
+
 // Read packet to buffer 'data'
 func (mc *mysqlConn) readPacket() ([]byte, error) {
 	var prevData []byte
 	invalidSequence := false
 
-	readNext := mc.buf.readNext
+	readNext := mc.readNext
 	if mc.compress {
 		readNext = mc.compIO.readNext
 	}
 
 	for {
 		// read packet header
-		data, err := readNext(4, mc.readWithTimeout)
+		data, err := readNext(4)
 		if err != nil {
 			mc.close()
 			if cerr := mc.canceled.Value(); cerr != nil {
@@ -51,17 +63,11 @@ func (mc *mysqlConn) readPacket() ([]byte, error) {
 		pktLen := getUint24(data[:3])
 		seq := data[3]
 
-		if mc.compress {
+		// check packet sync [8 bit]
+		if seq != mc.sequence {
+			mc.log(fmt.Sprintf("[warn] unexpected sequence nr: expected %v, got %v", mc.sequence, seq))
 			// MySQL and MariaDB doesn't check packet nr in compressed packet.
-			if debug && seq != mc.compressSequence {
-				fmt.Printf("[debug] mismatched compression sequence nr: expected: %v, got %v",
-					mc.compressSequence, seq)
-			}
-			mc.compressSequence = seq + 1
-		} else {
-			// check packet sync [8 bit]
-			if seq != mc.sequence {
-				mc.log(fmt.Sprintf("[warn] unexpected seq nr: expected %v, got %v", mc.sequence, seq))
+			if !mc.compress {
 				// For large packets, we stop reading as soon as sync error.
 				if len(prevData) > 0 {
 					mc.close()
@@ -69,8 +75,8 @@ func (mc *mysqlConn) readPacket() ([]byte, error) {
 				}
 				invalidSequence = true
 			}
-			mc.sequence++
 		}
+		mc.sequence = seq + 1
 
 		// packets with length 0 terminate a previous packet which is a
 		// multiple of (2^24)-1 bytes long
@@ -85,7 +91,7 @@ func (mc *mysqlConn) readPacket() ([]byte, error) {
 		}
 
 		// read packet body [pktLen bytes]
-		data, err = readNext(pktLen, mc.readWithTimeout)
+		data, err = readNext(pktLen)
 		if err != nil {
 			mc.close()
 			if cerr := mc.canceled.Value(); cerr != nil {
@@ -135,7 +141,7 @@ func (mc *mysqlConn) writePacket(data []byte) error {
 
 		// Write packet
 		if debug {
-			fmt.Printf("writePacket: size=%v seq=%v", size, mc.sequence)
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "writePacket: size=%v seq=%v\n", size, mc.sequence)
 		}
 
 		n, err := writeFunc(data[:4+size])
@@ -434,7 +440,9 @@ func (mc *mysqlConn) writeCommandPacket(command byte) error {
 	data[4] = command
 
 	// Send CMD packet
-	return mc.writePacket(data)
+	err = mc.writePacket(data)
+	mc.syncSequence()
+	return err
 }
 
 func (mc *mysqlConn) writeCommandPacketStr(command byte, arg string) error {
@@ -475,7 +483,9 @@ func (mc *mysqlConn) writeCommandPacketUint32(command byte, arg uint32) error {
 	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(data[5:], arg)
 
 	// Send CMD packet
-	return mc.writePacket(data)
+	err = mc.writePacket(data)
+	mc.syncSequence()
+	return err
 }
 
 /******************************************************************************
@@ -945,7 +955,6 @@ func (stmt *mysqlStmt) writeCommandLongData(paramID int, arg []byte) error {
 			pktLen = dataOffset + argLen
 		}
 
-		stmt.mc.resetSequence()
 		// Add command byte [1 byte]
 		data[4] = comStmtSendLongData
 
@@ -957,6 +966,8 @@ func (stmt *mysqlStmt) writeCommandLongData(paramID int, arg []byte) error {
 
 		// Send CMD packet
 		err := stmt.mc.writePacket(data[:4+pktLen])
+		// Every COM_LONG_DATA packet reset Packet Sequence
+		stmt.mc.resetSequence()
 		if err == nil {
 			data = data[pktLen-dataOffset:]
 			continue
@@ -964,8 +975,6 @@ func (stmt *mysqlStmt) writeCommandLongData(paramID int, arg []byte) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// Reset Packet Sequence
-	stmt.mc.resetSequence()
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/transaction.go b/transaction.go
index 4a4b6100..8c502f49 100644
--- a/transaction.go
+++ b/transaction.go
@@ -13,18 +13,32 @@ type mysqlTx struct {
 }
 
 func (tx *mysqlTx) Commit() (err error) {
-	if tx.mc == nil || tx.mc.closed.Load() {
+	if tx.mc == nil {
 		return ErrInvalidConn
 	}
+	if tx.mc.closed.Load() {
+		err = tx.mc.error()
+		if err == nil {
+			err = ErrInvalidConn
+		}
+		return
+	}
 	err = tx.mc.exec("COMMIT")
 	tx.mc = nil
 	return
 }
 
 func (tx *mysqlTx) Rollback() (err error) {
-	if tx.mc == nil || tx.mc.closed.Load() {
+	if tx.mc == nil {
 		return ErrInvalidConn
 	}
+	if tx.mc.closed.Load() {
+		err = tx.mc.error()
+		if err == nil {
+			err = ErrInvalidConn
+		}
+		return
+	}
 	err = tx.mc.exec("ROLLBACK")
 	tx.mc = nil
 	return