diff --git a/archive/tar/writer.go b/archive/tar/writer.go
index bc1253d3d..0e91ba9b0 100644
--- a/archive/tar/writer.go
+++ b/archive/tar/writer.go
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@ func (w *Writer) writeFile(nd *mdag.ProtoNode, fsNode *ft.FSNode, fpath string)
 		return err
 	}
 
-	dagr := uio.NewPBFileReader(w.ctx, nd, fsNode, w.Dag)
+	dagr, err := uio.NewDagReader(w.ctx, nd, w.Dag)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	if _, err := dagr.WriteTo(w.TarW); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/io/bufdagreader.go b/io/bufdagreader.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 48efe98ad..000000000
--- a/io/bufdagreader.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-package io
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"context"
-)
-
-// BufDagReader implements a DagReader that reads from a byte slice
-// using a bytes.Reader. It is used for RawNodes.
-type BufDagReader struct {
-	*bytes.Reader
-}
-
-// NewBufDagReader returns a DAG reader for the given byte slice.
-// BufDagReader is used to read RawNodes.
-func NewBufDagReader(b []byte) *BufDagReader {
-	return &BufDagReader{bytes.NewReader(b)}
-}
-
-var _ DagReader = (*BufDagReader)(nil)
-
-// Close is a nop.
-func (*BufDagReader) Close() error {
-	return nil
-}
-
-// CtxReadFull reads the slice onto b.
-func (rd *BufDagReader) CtxReadFull(ctx context.Context, b []byte) (int, error) {
-	return rd.Read(b)
-}
-
-// Size returns the size of the buffer.
-func (rd *BufDagReader) Size() uint64 {
-	s := rd.Reader.Size()
-	if s < 0 {
-		panic("size smaller than 0 (impossible!!)")
-	}
-	return uint64(s)
-}
diff --git a/io/dagreader.go b/io/dagreader.go
index cf980d2be..d5de73661 100644
--- a/io/dagreader.go
+++ b/io/dagreader.go
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 package io
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"io"
 
 	ipld "github.com/ipfs/go-ipld-format"
 	mdag "github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag"
-	ft "github.com/ipfs/go-unixfs"
+	unixfs "github.com/ipfs/go-unixfs"
 )
 
 // Common errors
@@ -17,6 +18,10 @@ var (
 	ErrUnkownNodeType   = errors.New("unknown node type")
 )
 
+// TODO: Rename the `DagReader` interface, this doesn't read *any* DAG, just
+// DAGs with UnixFS node (and it *belongs* to the `unixfs` package). Some
+// alternatives: `FileReader`, `UnixFSFileReader`, `UnixFSReader`.
+
 // A DagReader provides read-only read and seek acess to a unixfs file.
 // Different implementations of readers are used for the different
 // types of unixfs/protobuf-encoded nodes.
@@ -35,24 +40,29 @@ type ReadSeekCloser interface {
 }
 
 // NewDagReader creates a new reader object that reads the data represented by
-// the given node, using the passed in DAGService for data retrieval
+// the given node, using the passed in DAGService for data retrieval.
 func NewDagReader(ctx context.Context, n ipld.Node, serv ipld.NodeGetter) (DagReader, error) {
+	var size uint64
+
 	switch n := n.(type) {
 	case *mdag.RawNode:
-		return NewBufDagReader(n.RawData()), nil
+		size = uint64(len(n.RawData()))
+
 	case *mdag.ProtoNode:
-		fsNode, err := ft.FSNodeFromBytes(n.Data())
+		fsNode, err := unixfs.FSNodeFromBytes(n.Data())
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
 		switch fsNode.Type() {
-		case ft.TDirectory, ft.THAMTShard:
+		case unixfs.TFile, unixfs.TRaw:
+			size = fsNode.FileSize()
+
+		case unixfs.TDirectory, unixfs.THAMTShard:
 			// Dont allow reading directories
 			return nil, ErrIsDir
-		case ft.TFile, ft.TRaw:
-			return NewPBFileReader(ctx, n, fsNode, serv), nil
-		case ft.TMetadata:
+
+		case unixfs.TMetadata:
 			if len(n.Links()) == 0 {
 				return nil, errors.New("incorrectly formatted metadata object")
 			}
@@ -66,12 +76,421 @@ func NewDagReader(ctx context.Context, n ipld.Node, serv ipld.NodeGetter) (DagRe
 				return nil, mdag.ErrNotProtobuf
 			}
 			return NewDagReader(ctx, childpb, serv)
-		case ft.TSymlink:
+		case unixfs.TSymlink:
 			return nil, ErrCantReadSymlinks
 		default:
-			return nil, ft.ErrUnrecognizedType
+			return nil, unixfs.ErrUnrecognizedType
 		}
 	default:
 		return nil, ErrUnkownNodeType
 	}
+
+	ctxWithCancel, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+
+	return &dagReader{
+		ctx:       ctxWithCancel,
+		cancel:    cancel,
+		serv:      serv,
+		size:      size,
+		rootNode:  n,
+		dagWalker: ipld.NewWalker(ctxWithCancel, ipld.NewNavigableIPLDNode(n, serv)),
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// dagReader provides a way to easily read the data contained in a dag.
+type dagReader struct {
+
+	// Structure to perform the DAG iteration and search, the reader
+	// just needs to add logic to the `Visitor` callback passed to
+	// `Iterate` and `Seek`.
+	dagWalker *ipld.Walker
+
+	// Buffer with the data extracted from the current node being visited.
+	// To avoid revisiting a node to complete a (potential) partial read
+	// (or read after seek) the node's data is fully extracted in a single
+	// `readNodeDataBuffer` operation.
+	currentNodeData *bytes.Reader
+
+	// Implements the `Size()` API.
+	size uint64
+
+	// Current offset for the read head within the DAG file.
+	offset int64
+
+	// Root node of the DAG, stored to re-create the `dagWalker` (effectively
+	// re-setting the position of the reader, used during `Seek`).
+	rootNode ipld.Node
+
+	// Context passed to the `dagWalker`, the `cancel` function is used to
+	// cancel read operations (cancelling requested child node promises,
+	// see `ipld.NavigableIPLDNode.FetchChild` for details).
+	ctx    context.Context
+	cancel func()
+
+	// Passed to the `dagWalker` that will use it to request nodes.
+	// TODO: Revisit name.
+	serv ipld.NodeGetter
+}
+
+// Size returns the total size of the data from the DAG structured file.
+func (dr *dagReader) Size() uint64 {
+	return dr.size
+}
+
+// Read implements the `io.Reader` interface through the `CtxReadFull`
+// method using the DAG reader's internal context.
+func (dr *dagReader) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
+	return dr.CtxReadFull(dr.ctx, b)
+}
+
+// CtxReadFull reads data from the DAG structured file. It always
+// attempts a full read of the DAG until the `out` buffer is full.
+// It uses the `Walker` structure to iterate the file DAG and read
+// every node's data into the `out` buffer.
+func (dr *dagReader) CtxReadFull(ctx context.Context, out []byte) (n int, err error) {
+	// Set the `dagWalker`'s context to the `ctx` argument, it will be used
+	// to fetch the child node promises (see
+	// `ipld.NavigableIPLDNode.FetchChild` for details).
+	dr.dagWalker.SetContext(ctx)
+
+	// If there was a partially read buffer from the last visited
+	// node read it before visiting a new one.
+	if dr.currentNodeData != nil {
+		// TODO: Move this check inside `readNodeDataBuffer`?
+		n = dr.readNodeDataBuffer(out)
+
+		if n == len(out) {
+			return n, nil
+			// Output buffer full, no need to traverse the DAG.
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Iterate the DAG calling the passed `Visitor` function on every node
+	// to read its data into the `out` buffer, stop if there is an error or
+	// if the entire DAG is traversed (`EndOfDag`).
+	err = dr.dagWalker.Iterate(func(visitedNode ipld.NavigableNode) error {
+		node := ipld.ExtractIPLDNode(visitedNode)
+
+		// Skip internal nodes, they shouldn't have any file data
+		// (see the `balanced` package for more details).
+		if len(node.Links()) > 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		err = dr.saveNodeData(node)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		// Save the leaf node file data in a buffer in case it is only
+		// partially read now and future `CtxReadFull` calls reclaim the
+		// rest (as each node is visited only once during `Iterate`).
+		//
+		// TODO: We could check if the entire node's data can fit in the
+		// remaining `out` buffer free space to skip this intermediary step.
+
+		n += dr.readNodeDataBuffer(out[n:])
+
+		if n == len(out) {
+			// Output buffer full, no need to keep traversing the DAG,
+			// signal the `Walker` to pause the iteration.
+			dr.dagWalker.Pause()
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	if err == ipld.EndOfDag {
+		return n, io.EOF
+		// Reached the end of the (DAG) file, no more data to read.
+	} else if err != nil {
+		return n, err
+		// Pass along any other errors from the `Visitor`.
+	}
+
+	return n, nil
+}
+
+// Save the UnixFS `node`'s data into the internal `currentNodeData` buffer to
+// later move it to the output buffer (`Read`) or seek into it (`Seek`).
+func (dr *dagReader) saveNodeData(node ipld.Node) error {
+	extractedNodeData, err := unixfs.ReadUnixFSNodeData(node)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	dr.currentNodeData = bytes.NewReader(extractedNodeData)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Read the `currentNodeData` buffer into `out`. This function can't have
+// any errors as it's always reading from a `bytes.Reader` and asking only
+// the available data in it.
+func (dr *dagReader) readNodeDataBuffer(out []byte) int {
+
+	n, _ := dr.currentNodeData.Read(out)
+	// Ignore the error as the EOF may not be returned in the first
+	// `Read` call, explicitly ask for an empty buffer below to check
+	// if we've reached the end.
+
+	if dr.currentNodeData.Len() == 0 {
+		dr.currentNodeData = nil
+		// Signal that the buffer was consumed (for later `Read` calls).
+		// This shouldn't return an EOF error as it's just the end of a
+		// single node's data, not the entire DAG.
+	}
+
+	dr.offset += int64(n)
+	// TODO: Should `offset` be incremented here or in the calling function?
+	// (Doing it here saves LoC but may be confusing as it's more hidden).
+
+	return n
+}
+
+// Similar to `readNodeDataBuffer` but it writes the contents to
+// an `io.Writer` argument.
+//
+// TODO: Check what part of the logic between the two functions
+// can be extracted away.
+func (dr *dagReader) writeNodeDataBuffer(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
+
+	n, err := dr.currentNodeData.WriteTo(w)
+	if err != nil {
+		return n, err
+	}
+
+	if dr.currentNodeData.Len() == 0 {
+		dr.currentNodeData = nil
+		// Signal that the buffer was consumed (for later `Read` calls).
+		// This shouldn't return an EOF error as it's just the end of a
+		// single node's data, not the entire DAG.
+	}
+
+	dr.offset += int64(n)
+	return n, nil
+}
+
+// WriteTo writes to the given writer.
+// This follows the `bytes.Reader.WriteTo` implementation
+// where it starts from the internal index that may have
+// been modified by other `Read` calls.
+//
+// TODO: This implementation is very similar to `CtxReadFull`,
+// the common parts should be abstracted away.
+func (dr *dagReader) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (n int64, err error) {
+	// Use the internal reader's context to fetch the child node promises
+	// (see `ipld.NavigableIPLDNode.FetchChild` for details).
+	dr.dagWalker.SetContext(dr.ctx)
+
+	// If there was a partially read buffer from the last visited
+	// node read it before visiting a new one.
+	if dr.currentNodeData != nil {
+		n, err = dr.writeNodeDataBuffer(w)
+		if err != nil {
+			return n, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Iterate the DAG calling the passed `Visitor` function on every node
+	// to read its data into the `out` buffer, stop if there is an error or
+	// if the entire DAG is traversed (`EndOfDag`).
+	err = dr.dagWalker.Iterate(func(visitedNode ipld.NavigableNode) error {
+		node := ipld.ExtractIPLDNode(visitedNode)
+
+		// Skip internal nodes, they shouldn't have any file data
+		// (see the `balanced` package for more details).
+		if len(node.Links()) > 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		err = dr.saveNodeData(node)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		// Save the leaf node file data in a buffer in case it is only
+		// partially read now and future `CtxReadFull` calls reclaim the
+		// rest (as each node is visited only once during `Iterate`).
+
+		written, err := dr.writeNodeDataBuffer(w)
+		n += written
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	if err == ipld.EndOfDag {
+		return n, io.EOF
+		// Reached the end of the (DAG) file, no more data to read.
+		// TODO: Is this a correct return error for `WriteTo`?
+	} else if err != nil {
+		return n, err
+		// Pass along any other errors from the `Visitor`.
+	}
+
+	return n, nil
+}
+
+// Close the reader (cancelling fetch node operations requested with
+// the internal context, that is, `Read` calls but not `CtxReadFull`
+// with user-supplied contexts).
+func (dr *dagReader) Close() error {
+	dr.cancel()
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Seek implements `io.Seeker` seeking to a given offset in the DAG file,
+// it matches the standard unix `seek`. It moves the position of the internal
+// `dagWalker` and may also leave a `currentNodeData` buffer loaded in case
+// the seek is performed to the middle of the data in a node.
+//
+// TODO: Support seeking from the current position (relative seek)
+// through the `dagWalker` in `io.SeekCurrent`.
+func (dr *dagReader) Seek(offset int64, whence int) (int64, error) {
+	switch whence {
+	case io.SeekStart:
+		if offset < 0 {
+			return -1, errors.New("invalid offset")
+		}
+
+		if offset == dr.offset {
+			return offset, nil
+			// Already at the requested `offset`, nothing to do.
+		}
+
+		left := offset
+		// Amount left to seek.
+
+		// Seek from the beginning of the DAG.
+		dr.resetPosition()
+
+		// Use the internal reader's context to fetch the child node promises
+		// (see `ipld.NavigableIPLDNode.FetchChild` for details).
+		dr.dagWalker.SetContext(dr.ctx)
+		// TODO: Performance: we could adjust here `preloadSize` of
+		// `ipld.NavigableIPLDNode` also, when seeking we only want
+		// to fetch one child at a time.
+
+		// Seek the DAG by calling the provided `Visitor` function on every
+		// node the `dagWalker` descends to while searching which can be
+		// either an internal or leaf node. In the internal node case, check
+		// the child node sizes and set the corresponding child index to go
+		// down to next. In the leaf case (last visit of the search), if there
+		// is still an amount `left` to seek do it inside the node's data
+		// saved in the `currentNodeData` buffer, leaving it ready for a `Read`
+		// call.
+		err := dr.dagWalker.Seek(func(visitedNode ipld.NavigableNode) error {
+			node := ipld.ExtractIPLDNode(visitedNode)
+
+			if len(node.Links()) > 0 {
+				// Internal node, should be a `mdag.ProtoNode` containing a
+				// `unixfs.FSNode` (see the `balanced` package for more details).
+				fsNode, err := unixfs.ExtractFSNode(node)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+
+				// If there aren't enough size hints don't seek
+				// (see the `io.EOF` handling error comment below).
+				if fsNode.NumChildren() != len(node.Links()) {
+					return io.EOF
+				}
+
+				// Internal nodes have no data, so just iterate through the
+				// sizes of its children (advancing the child index of the
+				// `dagWalker`) to find where we need to go down to next in
+				// the search.
+				for {
+					childSize := fsNode.BlockSize(int(dr.dagWalker.ActiveChildIndex()))
+
+					if childSize > uint64(left) {
+						// This child's data contains the position requested
+						// in `offset`, go down this child.
+						return nil
+					}
+
+					// Else, skip this child.
+					left -= int64(childSize)
+					err := dr.dagWalker.NextChild()
+					if err == ipld.ErrNextNoChild {
+						// No more child nodes available, nothing to do,
+						// the `Seek` will stop on its own.
+						return nil
+					} else if err != nil {
+						return err
+						// Pass along any other errors (that may in future
+						// implementations be returned by `Next`) to stop
+						// the search.
+					}
+				}
+
+			} else {
+				// Leaf node, seek inside its data.
+				err := dr.saveNodeData(node)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+
+				_, err = dr.currentNodeData.Seek(left, io.SeekStart)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				// The corner case of a DAG consisting only of a single (leaf)
+				// node should make no difference here. In that case, where the
+				// node doesn't have a parent UnixFS node with size hints, this
+				// implementation would allow this `Seek` to be called with an
+				// argument larger than the buffer size which normally wouldn't
+				// happen (because we would skip the node based on the size
+				// hint) but that would just mean that a future `CtxReadFull`
+				// call would read no data from the `currentNodeData` buffer.
+				// TODO: Re-check this reasoning.
+
+				return nil
+				// In the leaf node case the search will stop here.
+			}
+		})
+
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			// TODO: Taken from https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/pull/4320,
+			// check if still valid.
+			//   Return negative number if we can't figure out the file size. Using io.EOF
+			//   for this seems to be good(-enough) solution as it's only returned by
+			//   precalcNextBuf when we step out of file range.
+			//   This is needed for gateway to function properly
+			return -1, nil
+		}
+
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, err
+		}
+
+		dr.offset = offset
+		return dr.offset, nil
+
+	case io.SeekCurrent:
+		if offset == 0 {
+			return dr.offset, nil
+		}
+
+		return dr.Seek(dr.offset+offset, io.SeekStart)
+		// TODO: Performance. This can be improved supporting relative
+		// searches in the `Walker` (see `Walker.Seek`).
+
+	case io.SeekEnd:
+		return dr.Seek(int64(dr.Size())-offset, io.SeekStart)
+
+	default:
+		return 0, errors.New("invalid whence")
+	}
+}
+
+// Reset the reader position by resetting the `dagWalker` and discarding
+// any partially used node's data in the `currentNodeData` buffer, used
+// in the `SeekStart` case.
+func (dr *dagReader) resetPosition() {
+	dr.currentNodeData = nil
+
+	dr.dagWalker = ipld.NewWalker(dr.ctx, ipld.NewNavigableIPLDNode(dr.rootNode, dr.serv))
+	// TODO: This could be avoided (along with storing the `dr.rootNode` and
+	// `dr.serv` just for this call) if `Reset` is supported in the `Walker`.
 }
diff --git a/io/dagreader_test.go b/io/dagreader_test.go
index 6e1fef8d0..d79d2d1f5 100644
--- a/io/dagreader_test.go
+++ b/io/dagreader_test.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
-	"math/rand"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -73,90 +72,6 @@ func TestSeekAndRead(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestSeekAndReadLarge(t *testing.T) {
-	dserv := testu.GetDAGServ()
-	inbuf := make([]byte, 20000)
-	rand.Read(inbuf)
-
-	node := testu.GetNode(t, dserv, inbuf, testu.UseProtoBufLeaves)
-	ctx, closer := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer closer()
-
-	reader, err := NewDagReader(ctx, node, dserv)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	_, err = reader.Seek(10000, io.SeekStart)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	buf := make([]byte, 100)
-	_, err = io.ReadFull(reader, buf)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if !bytes.Equal(buf, inbuf[10000:10100]) {
-		t.Fatal("seeked read failed")
-	}
-
-	pbdr := reader.(*PBDagReader)
-	var count int
-	for i, p := range pbdr.promises {
-		if i > 20 && i < 30 {
-			if p == nil {
-				t.Fatal("expected index to be not nil: ", i)
-			}
-			count++
-		} else {
-			if p != nil {
-				t.Fatal("expected index to be nil: ", i)
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	// -1 because we read some and it cleared one
-	if count != preloadSize-1 {
-		t.Fatalf("expected %d preloaded promises, got %d", preloadSize-1, count)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestReadAndCancel(t *testing.T) {
-	dserv := testu.GetDAGServ()
-	inbuf := make([]byte, 20000)
-	rand.Read(inbuf)
-
-	node := testu.GetNode(t, dserv, inbuf, testu.UseProtoBufLeaves)
-	ctx, closer := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer closer()
-
-	reader, err := NewDagReader(ctx, node, dserv)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	buf := make([]byte, 100)
-	_, err = reader.CtxReadFull(ctx, buf)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !bytes.Equal(buf, inbuf[0:100]) {
-		t.Fatal("read failed")
-	}
-	cancel()
-
-	b, err := ioutil.ReadAll(reader)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if !bytes.Equal(inbuf[100:], b) {
-		t.Fatal("buffers not equal")
-	}
-}
-
 func TestRelativeSeek(t *testing.T) {
 	dserv := testu.GetDAGServ()
 	ctx, closer := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
diff --git a/io/pbdagreader.go b/io/pbdagreader.go
deleted file mode 100644
index bea5f496e..000000000
--- a/io/pbdagreader.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,326 +0,0 @@
-package io
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"errors"
-	"fmt"
-	"io"
-
-	cid "github.com/ipfs/go-cid"
-	ipld "github.com/ipfs/go-ipld-format"
-	mdag "github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag"
-	ft "github.com/ipfs/go-unixfs"
-)
-
-// PBDagReader provides a way to easily read the data contained in a dag.
-type PBDagReader struct {
-	serv ipld.NodeGetter
-
-	// UnixFS file (it should be of type `Data_File` or `Data_Raw` only).
-	file *ft.FSNode
-
-	// the current data buffer to be read from
-	// will either be a bytes.Reader or a child DagReader
-	buf ReadSeekCloser
-
-	// NodePromises for each of 'nodes' child links
-	promises []*ipld.NodePromise
-
-	// the cid of each child of the current node
-	links []cid.Cid
-
-	// the index of the child link currently being read from
-	linkPosition int
-
-	// current offset for the read head within the 'file'
-	offset int64
-
-	// Our context
-	ctx context.Context
-
-	// context cancel for children
-	cancel func()
-}
-
-var _ DagReader = (*PBDagReader)(nil)
-
-// NewPBFileReader constructs a new PBFileReader.
-func NewPBFileReader(ctx context.Context, n *mdag.ProtoNode, file *ft.FSNode, serv ipld.NodeGetter) *PBDagReader {
-	fctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
-	curLinks := getLinkCids(n)
-	return &PBDagReader{
-		serv:     serv,
-		buf:      NewBufDagReader(file.Data()),
-		promises: make([]*ipld.NodePromise, len(curLinks)),
-		links:    curLinks,
-		ctx:      fctx,
-		cancel:   cancel,
-		file:     file,
-	}
-}
-
-const preloadSize = 10
-
-func (dr *PBDagReader) preload(ctx context.Context, beg int) {
-	end := beg + preloadSize
-	if end >= len(dr.links) {
-		end = len(dr.links)
-	}
-
-	copy(dr.promises[beg:], ipld.GetNodes(ctx, dr.serv, dr.links[beg:end]))
-}
-
-// precalcNextBuf follows the next link in line and loads it from the
-// DAGService, setting the next buffer to read from
-func (dr *PBDagReader) precalcNextBuf(ctx context.Context) error {
-	if dr.buf != nil {
-		dr.buf.Close() // Just to make sure
-		dr.buf = nil
-	}
-
-	if dr.linkPosition >= len(dr.promises) {
-		return io.EOF
-	}
-
-	// If we drop to <= preloadSize/2 preloading nodes, preload the next 10.
-	for i := dr.linkPosition; i < dr.linkPosition+preloadSize/2 && i < len(dr.promises); i++ {
-		// TODO: check if canceled.
-		if dr.promises[i] == nil {
-			dr.preload(ctx, i)
-			break
-		}
-	}
-
-	nxt, err := dr.promises[dr.linkPosition].Get(ctx)
-	dr.promises[dr.linkPosition] = nil
-	switch err {
-	case nil:
-	case context.DeadlineExceeded, context.Canceled:
-		err = ctx.Err()
-		if err != nil {
-			return ctx.Err()
-		}
-		// In this case, the context used to *preload* the node has been canceled.
-		// We need to retry the load with our context and we might as
-		// well preload some extra nodes while we're at it.
-		//
-		// Note: When using `Read`, this code will never execute as
-		// `Read` will use the global context. It only runs if the user
-		// explicitly reads with a custom context (e.g., by calling
-		// `CtxReadFull`).
-		dr.preload(ctx, dr.linkPosition)
-		nxt, err = dr.promises[dr.linkPosition].Get(ctx)
-		dr.promises[dr.linkPosition] = nil
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	default:
-		return err
-	}
-
-	dr.linkPosition++
-
-	return dr.loadBufNode(nxt)
-}
-
-func (dr *PBDagReader) loadBufNode(node ipld.Node) error {
-	switch node := node.(type) {
-	case *mdag.ProtoNode:
-		fsNode, err := ft.FSNodeFromBytes(node.Data())
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("incorrectly formatted protobuf: %s", err)
-		}
-
-		switch fsNode.Type() {
-		case ft.TFile:
-			dr.buf = NewPBFileReader(dr.ctx, node, fsNode, dr.serv)
-			return nil
-		case ft.TRaw:
-			dr.buf = NewBufDagReader(fsNode.Data())
-			return nil
-		default:
-			return fmt.Errorf("found %s node in unexpected place", fsNode.Type().String())
-		}
-	case *mdag.RawNode:
-		dr.buf = NewBufDagReader(node.RawData())
-		return nil
-	default:
-		return ErrUnkownNodeType
-	}
-}
-
-func getLinkCids(n ipld.Node) []cid.Cid {
-	links := n.Links()
-	out := make([]cid.Cid, 0, len(links))
-	for _, l := range links {
-		out = append(out, l.Cid)
-	}
-	return out
-}
-
-// Size return the total length of the data from the DAG structured file.
-func (dr *PBDagReader) Size() uint64 {
-	return dr.file.FileSize()
-}
-
-// Read reads data from the DAG structured file
-func (dr *PBDagReader) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
-	return dr.CtxReadFull(dr.ctx, b)
-}
-
-// CtxReadFull reads data from the DAG structured file
-func (dr *PBDagReader) CtxReadFull(ctx context.Context, b []byte) (int, error) {
-	if dr.buf == nil {
-		if err := dr.precalcNextBuf(ctx); err != nil {
-			return 0, err
-		}
-	}
-
-	// If no cached buffer, load one
-	total := 0
-	for {
-		// Attempt to fill bytes from cached buffer
-		n, err := io.ReadFull(dr.buf, b[total:])
-		total += n
-		dr.offset += int64(n)
-		switch err {
-		// io.EOF will happen is dr.buf had noting more to read (n == 0)
-		case io.EOF, io.ErrUnexpectedEOF:
-			// do nothing
-		case nil:
-			return total, nil
-		default:
-			return total, err
-		}
-
-		// if we are not done with the output buffer load next block
-		err = dr.precalcNextBuf(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			return total, err
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-// WriteTo writes to the given writer.
-func (dr *PBDagReader) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
-	if dr.buf == nil {
-		if err := dr.precalcNextBuf(dr.ctx); err != nil {
-			return 0, err
-		}
-	}
-
-	// If no cached buffer, load one
-	total := int64(0)
-	for {
-		// Attempt to write bytes from cached buffer
-		n, err := dr.buf.WriteTo(w)
-		total += n
-		dr.offset += n
-		if err != nil {
-			if err != io.EOF {
-				return total, err
-			}
-		}
-
-		// Otherwise, load up the next block
-		err = dr.precalcNextBuf(dr.ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			if err == io.EOF {
-				return total, nil
-			}
-			return total, err
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-// Close closes the reader.
-func (dr *PBDagReader) Close() error {
-	dr.cancel()
-	return nil
-}
-
-// Seek implements io.Seeker, and will seek to a given offset in the file
-// interface matches standard unix seek
-// TODO: check if we can do relative seeks, to reduce the amount of dagreader
-// recreations that need to happen.
-func (dr *PBDagReader) Seek(offset int64, whence int) (int64, error) {
-	switch whence {
-	case io.SeekStart:
-		if offset < 0 {
-			return -1, errors.New("invalid offset")
-		}
-		if offset == dr.offset {
-			return offset, nil
-		}
-
-		// left represents the number of bytes remaining to seek to (from beginning)
-		left := offset
-		if int64(len(dr.file.Data())) >= offset {
-			// Close current buf to close potential child dagreader
-			if dr.buf != nil {
-				dr.buf.Close()
-			}
-			dr.buf = NewBufDagReader(dr.file.Data()[offset:])
-
-			// start reading links from the beginning
-			dr.linkPosition = 0
-			dr.offset = offset
-			return offset, nil
-		}
-
-		// skip past root block data
-		left -= int64(len(dr.file.Data()))
-
-		// iterate through links and find where we need to be
-		for i := 0; i < dr.file.NumChildren(); i++ {
-			if dr.file.BlockSize(i) > uint64(left) {
-				dr.linkPosition = i
-				break
-			} else {
-				left -= int64(dr.file.BlockSize(i))
-			}
-		}
-
-		// start sub-block request
-		err := dr.precalcNextBuf(dr.ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, err
-		}
-
-		// set proper offset within child readseeker
-		n, err := dr.buf.Seek(left, io.SeekStart)
-		if err != nil {
-			return -1, err
-		}
-
-		// sanity
-		left -= n
-		if left != 0 {
-			return -1, errors.New("failed to seek properly")
-		}
-		dr.offset = offset
-		return offset, nil
-	case io.SeekCurrent:
-		// TODO: be smarter here
-		if offset == 0 {
-			return dr.offset, nil
-		}
-
-		noffset := dr.offset + offset
-		return dr.Seek(noffset, io.SeekStart)
-	case io.SeekEnd:
-		noffset := int64(dr.file.FileSize()) - offset
-		n, err := dr.Seek(noffset, io.SeekStart)
-
-		// Return negative number if we can't figure out the file size. Using io.EOF
-		// for this seems to be good(-enough) solution as it's only returned by
-		// precalcNextBuf when we step out of file range.
-		// This is needed for gateway to function properly
-		if err == io.EOF && dr.file.Type() == ft.TFile {
-			return -1, nil
-		}
-		return n, err
-	default:
-		return 0, errors.New("invalid whence")
-	}
-}
diff --git a/mod/dagmodifier_test.go b/mod/dagmodifier_test.go
index b61369362..9870b2022 100644
--- a/mod/dagmodifier_test.go
+++ b/mod/dagmodifier_test.go
@@ -453,6 +453,11 @@ func TestDagSync(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
+	_, err = dagmod.Seek(0, io.SeekStart)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
 	out, err := ioutil.ReadAll(dagmod)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/unixfs.go b/unixfs.go
index 4ee755186..84caf6f44 100644
--- a/unixfs.go
+++ b/unixfs.go
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ package unixfs
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 
 	proto "github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
-
 	dag "github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag"
 
 	ipld "github.com/ipfs/go-ipld-format"
@@ -355,3 +355,54 @@ func BytesForMetadata(m *Metadata) ([]byte, error) {
 func EmptyDirNode() *dag.ProtoNode {
 	return dag.NodeWithData(FolderPBData())
 }
+
+// ReadUnixFSNodeData extracts the UnixFS data from an IPLD node.
+// Raw nodes are (also) processed because they are used as leaf
+// nodes containing (only) UnixFS data.
+func ReadUnixFSNodeData(node ipld.Node) (data []byte, err error) {
+	switch node := node.(type) {
+
+	case *dag.ProtoNode:
+		fsNode, err := FSNodeFromBytes(node.Data())
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("incorrectly formatted protobuf: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		switch fsNode.Type() {
+		case pb.Data_File, pb.Data_Raw:
+			return fsNode.Data(), nil
+			// Only leaf nodes (of type `Data_Raw`) contain data but due to a
+			// bug the `Data_File` type (normally used for internal nodes) is
+			// also used for leaf nodes, so both types are accepted here
+			// (see the `balanced` package for more details).
+		default:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("found %s node in unexpected place",
+				fsNode.Type().String())
+		}
+
+	case *dag.RawNode:
+		return node.RawData(), nil
+
+	default:
+		return nil, ErrUnrecognizedType
+		// TODO: To avoid rewriting the error message, but a different error from
+		// `unixfs.ErrUnrecognizedType` should be used (defining it in the
+		// `merkledag` or `go-ipld-format` packages).
+	}
+}
+
+// Extract the `unixfs.FSNode` from the `ipld.Node` (assuming this
+// was implemented by a `mdag.ProtoNode`).
+func ExtractFSNode(node ipld.Node) (*FSNode, error) {
+	protoNode, ok := node.(*dag.ProtoNode)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, errors.New("expected a ProtoNode as internal node")
+	}
+
+	fsNode, err := FSNodeFromBytes(protoNode.Data())
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return fsNode, nil
+}