diff --git a/kitty/shm.py b/kitty/shm.py
index ff1d09b27..f82e62ff0 100644
--- a/kitty/shm.py
+++ b/kitty/shm.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class SharedMemory:
         self._name = name
         try:
             if flags & os.O_CREAT and size:
-                os.ftruncate(self._fd, size)
+                os.posix_fallocate(self._fd, 0, size)
             self.stats = os.fstat(self._fd)
             size = self.stats.st_size
             self._mmap = mmap.mmap(self._fd, size, access=mmap.ACCESS_READ if readonly else mmap.ACCESS_WRITE)
diff --git a/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_darwin.go b/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_darwin.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..62b748bc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_darwin.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+// License: GPLv3 Copyright: 2023, Kovid Goyal, <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+package shm
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"syscall"
+	"unsafe"
+)
+
+var _ = fmt.Print
+
+func Fallocate_simple(fd int, size int64) (err error) {
+	store := &syscall.Fstore_t{
+		Flags:   syscall.F_ALLOCATEALL,
+		Posmode: syscall.F_PEOFPOSMODE,
+		Offset:  0,
+		Length:  int64(size),
+	}
+
+	for {
+		if _, _, err = syscall.Syscall(syscall.SYS_FCNTL, uintptr(out.f.Fd()), syscall.F_PREALLOCATE, uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(store))); !errors.Is(err, unix.EINTR) {
+			if err != 0 {
+				return err
+			}
+			return nil
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_linux.go b/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8cd91b68d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// License: GPLv3 Copyright: 2023, Kovid Goyal, <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+package shm
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+var _ = fmt.Print
+
+func Fallocate_simple(fd int, size int64) (err error) {
+	for {
+		if err = unix.Fallocate(fd, 0, 0, size); !errors.Is(err, unix.EINTR) {
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_other.go b/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_other.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4481a592a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/utils/shm/fallocate_other.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// License: GPLv3 Copyright: 2023, Kovid Goyal, <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+//go:build !darwin && !linux
+
+package shm
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+var _ = fmt.Print
+
+func Fallocate_simple(fd int, size int64) (err error) {
+	return unix.ENOSYS
+}
diff --git a/tools/utils/shm/shm.go b/tools/utils/shm/shm.go
index 3c512c217..36f0931e4 100644
--- a/tools/utils/shm/shm.go
+++ b/tools/utils/shm/shm.go
@@ -92,11 +92,19 @@ func CreateTemp(pattern string, size uint64) (MMap, error) {
 	return create_temp(pattern, size)
 }
 
+var force_use_of_fallocate bool = false
+
 func truncate_or_unlink(ans *os.File, size uint64) (err error) {
-	for {
-		err = unix.Ftruncate(int(ans.Fd()), int64(size))
-		if !errors.Is(err, unix.EINTR) {
-			break
+	fd := int(ans.Fd())
+	if err = Fallocate_simple(fd, int64(size)); err != nil {
+		if force_use_of_fallocate {
+			return err
+		}
+		for {
+			err = unix.Ftruncate(fd, int64(size))
+			if !errors.Is(err, unix.EINTR) {
+				break
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	if err != nil {
@@ -152,7 +160,7 @@ func ReadWithSizeAndUnlink(name string, file_callback ...func(fs.FileInfo) error
 	}
 	defer func() {
 		mmap.Close()
-		mmap.Unlink()
+		_ = mmap.Unlink()
 	}()
 	slice, err := ReadWithSize(mmap, 0)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -164,7 +172,10 @@ func ReadWithSizeAndUnlink(name string, file_callback ...func(fs.FileInfo) error
 }
 
 func Read(self MMap, b []byte) (n int, err error) {
-	pos, _ := self.Seek(0, io.SeekCurrent)
+	pos, err := self.Seek(0, io.SeekCurrent)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
 	if pos < 0 {
 		pos = 0
 	}
@@ -174,7 +185,7 @@ func Read(self MMap, b []byte) (n int, err error) {
 		return 0, io.EOF
 	}
 	n = copy(b, s[pos:])
-	self.Seek(int64(n), io.SeekCurrent)
+	_, err = self.Seek(int64(n), io.SeekCurrent)
 	return
 }
 
@@ -191,7 +202,9 @@ func Write(self MMap, b []byte) (n int, err error) {
 		return 0, io.ErrShortWrite
 	}
 	n = copy(s[pos:], b)
-	self.Seek(int64(n), io.SeekCurrent)
+	if _, err = self.Seek(int64(n), io.SeekCurrent); err != nil {
+		return n, err
+	}
 	if n < len(b) {
 		return n, io.ErrShortWrite
 	}
@@ -220,7 +233,9 @@ func test_integration_with_python(args []string) (rc int, err error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return 1, err
 		}
-		WriteWithSize(mmap, data, 0)
+		if err = WriteWithSize(mmap, data, 0); err != nil {
+			return 1, err
+		}
 		mmap.Close()
 		fmt.Println(mmap.Name())
 	}
diff --git a/tools/utils/shm/shm_test.go b/tools/utils/shm/shm_test.go
index 086731f8e..5115bdb74 100644
--- a/tools/utils/shm/shm_test.go
+++ b/tools/utils/shm/shm_test.go
@@ -9,14 +9,17 @@ import (
 	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
+	"runtime"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 var _ = fmt.Print
 
 func TestSHM(t *testing.T) {
+	force_use_of_fallocate = runtime.GOOS == "darwin" || runtime.GOOS == "linux"
+	defer func() { force_use_of_fallocate = false }()
 	data := make([]byte, 13347)
-	rand.Read(data)
+	_, _ = rand.Read(data)
 	mm, err := CreateTemp("test-kitty-shm-", uint64(len(data)))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)