diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_test.yml b/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
index ec13929..166f6bb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@
       if: ${{ matrix.build_system == 'bazel' }}
       run: |
         cd ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${{ matrix.bazel_project }}
-        bazelisk build -c opt ...:all
+        bazelisk build -c opt ...:all --java_runtime_version=remotejdk_21
 
     - name: Fix symlinks for Bazel (Windows)
       if: ${{ matrix.build_system == 'bazel' && runner.os == 'Windows' && matrix.bazel_project == 'java' }}
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@
       run: |
         cd ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${{ matrix.bazel_project }}
         bazelisk query "tests(...)" --output=label > ${RUNNER_TEMP}/tests.lst
-        [ -s ${RUNNER_TEMP}/tests.lst ] && bazelisk test -c opt ...:all
+        [ -s ${RUNNER_TEMP}/tests.lst ] && bazelisk test -c opt ...:all --java_runtime_version=remotejdk_21
         bazelisk clean
 
     - name: Build / Test with Maven
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@
         # cd integration
         # mvn -B verify
 
-    - uses: actions/setup-python@0a5c61591373683505ea898e09a3ea4f39ef2b9c # v5.0.0
+    - uses: actions/setup-python@0b93645e9fea7318ecaed2b359559ac225c90a2b # v5.3.0
       if: ${{ matrix.build_system == 'python' }}
       with:
         python-version: ${{ matrix.python_version }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml b/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml
index a1720bf..bebc560 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
         fuzz-seconds: 600
         dry-run: false
     - name: Upload Crash
-      uses: actions/upload-artifact@c7d193f32edcb7bfad88892161225aeda64e9392 # v4.0.0
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@b4b15b8c7c6ac21ea08fcf65892d2ee8f75cf882 # v4.4.3
       if: failure()
       with:
         name: artifacts
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index c99cc12..08b8a0e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         submodules: false
         fetch-depth: 1
 
-    - uses: actions/cache@704facf57e6136b1bc63b828d79edcd491f0ee84 # v3.3.2
+    - uses: actions/cache@6849a6489940f00c2f30c0fb92c6274307ccb58a # v4.1.2
       id: cache-vcpkg
       with:
         path: vcpkg
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
         cmake --build out --config Release --target install
         cp LICENSE prefix/bin/LICENSE.brotli
     - name: Upload artifacts
-      uses: actions/upload-artifact@c7d193f32edcb7bfad88892161225aeda64e9392 # v4.0.0
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@b4b15b8c7c6ac21ea08fcf65892d2ee8f75cf882 # v4.4.3
       with:
         name: brotli-${{matrix.triplet}}
         path: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml b/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
index 950ff0b..e217e0a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
       # Upload the results as artifacts (optional). Commenting out will disable uploads of run results in SARIF
       # format to the repository Actions tab.
       - name: "Upload artifact"
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@c7d193f32edcb7bfad88892161225aeda64e9392 # v4.0.0
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b4b15b8c7c6ac21ea08fcf65892d2ee8f75cf882 # v4.4.3
         with:
           name: SARIF file
           path: results.sarif
diff --git a/c/dec/decode.c b/c/dec/decode.c
index 220c7e8..921aa4a 100644
--- a/c/dec/decode.c
+++ b/c/dec/decode.c
@@ -466,6 +466,53 @@
   return result;
 }
 
+/* Reads up to limit symbols from br and copies them into ringbuffer,
+   starting from pos. Caller must ensure that there is enough space
+   for the write. Returns the amount of symbols actually copied. */
+static BROTLI_INLINE int BrotliCopyPreloadedSymbolsToU8(const HuffmanCode* table,
+                                                        BrotliBitReader* br,
+                                                        brotli_reg_t* bits,
+                                                        brotli_reg_t* value,
+                                                        uint8_t* ringbuffer,
+                                                        int pos,
+                                                        const int limit) {
+  /* Calculate range where CheckInputAmount is always true.
+     Start with the number of bytes we can read. */
+  int64_t new_lim = br->guard_in - br->next_in;
+  /* Convert to bits, since sybmols use variable number of bits. */
+  new_lim *= 8;
+  /* At most 15 bits per symbol, so this is safe. */
+  new_lim /= 15;
+  const int kMaximalOverread = 4;
+  int pos_limit = limit;
+  int copies = 0;
+  if ((new_lim - kMaximalOverread) <= limit) {
+    // Safe cast, since new_lim is already < num_steps
+    pos_limit = (int)(new_lim - kMaximalOverread);
+  }
+  if (pos_limit < 0) {
+    pos_limit = 0;
+  }
+  copies = pos_limit;
+  pos_limit += pos;
+  /* Fast path, caller made sure it is safe to write,
+     we verified that is is safe to read. */
+  for (; pos < pos_limit; pos++) {
+    BROTLI_DCHECK(BrotliCheckInputAmount(br));
+    ringbuffer[pos] = (uint8_t)ReadPreloadedSymbol(table, br, bits, value);
+    BROTLI_LOG_ARRAY_INDEX(ringbuffer, pos);
+  }
+  /* Do the remainder, caller made sure it is safe to write,
+     we need to bverify that it is safe to read. */
+  while (BrotliCheckInputAmount(br) && copies < limit) {
+    ringbuffer[pos] = (uint8_t)ReadPreloadedSymbol(table, br, bits, value);
+    BROTLI_LOG_ARRAY_INDEX(ringbuffer, pos);
+    pos++;
+    copies++;
+  }
+  return copies;
+}
+
 static BROTLI_INLINE brotli_reg_t Log2Floor(brotli_reg_t x) {
   brotli_reg_t result = 0;
   while (x) {
@@ -1959,35 +2006,72 @@
     brotli_reg_t bits;
     brotli_reg_t value;
     PreloadSymbol(safe, s->literal_htree, br, &bits, &value);
-    do {
-      if (!CheckInputAmount(safe, br)) {
-        s->state = BROTLI_STATE_COMMAND_INNER;
-        result = BROTLI_DECODER_NEEDS_MORE_INPUT;
-        goto saveStateAndReturn;
+    if (!safe) {
+      // This is a hottest part of the decode, so we copy the loop below
+      // and optimize it by calculating the number of steps where all checks
+      // evaluate to false (ringbuffer size/block size/input size).
+      // Since all checks are loop invariant, we just need to find
+      // minimal number of iterations for a simple loop, and run
+      // the full version for the remainder.
+      int num_steps = i - 1;
+      if (num_steps > 0 && ((brotli_reg_t)(num_steps) > s->block_length[0])) {
+        // Safe cast, since block_length < steps
+        num_steps = (int)s->block_length[0];
       }
-      if (BROTLI_PREDICT_FALSE(s->block_length[0] == 0)) {
-        goto NextLiteralBlock;
+      if (s->ringbuffer_size >= pos &&
+          (s->ringbuffer_size - pos) <= num_steps) {
+        num_steps = s->ringbuffer_size - pos - 1;
       }
-      if (!safe) {
-        s->ringbuffer[pos] =
-            (uint8_t)ReadPreloadedSymbol(s->literal_htree, br, &bits, &value);
-      } else {
+      if (num_steps < 0) {
+        num_steps = 0;
+      }
+      num_steps = BrotliCopyPreloadedSymbolsToU8(s->literal_htree, br, &bits,
+                                                 &value, s->ringbuffer, pos,
+                                                 num_steps);
+      pos += num_steps;
+      s->block_length[0] -= (brotli_reg_t)num_steps;
+      i -= num_steps;
+      do {
+        if (!CheckInputAmount(safe, br)) {
+          s->state = BROTLI_STATE_COMMAND_INNER;
+          result = BROTLI_DECODER_NEEDS_MORE_INPUT;
+          goto saveStateAndReturn;
+        }
+        if (BROTLI_PREDICT_FALSE(s->block_length[0] == 0)) {
+          goto NextLiteralBlock;
+        }
+        BrotliCopyPreloadedSymbolsToU8(s->literal_htree, br, &bits, &value,
+                                       s->ringbuffer, pos, 1);
+        --s->block_length[0];
+        BROTLI_LOG_ARRAY_INDEX(s->ringbuffer, pos);
+        ++pos;
+        if (BROTLI_PREDICT_FALSE(pos == s->ringbuffer_size)) {
+          s->state = BROTLI_STATE_COMMAND_INNER_WRITE;
+          --i;
+          goto saveStateAndReturn;
+        }
+      } while (--i != 0);
+    } else { /* safe */
+      do {
+        if (BROTLI_PREDICT_FALSE(s->block_length[0] == 0)) {
+          goto NextLiteralBlock;
+        }
         brotli_reg_t literal;
         if (!SafeReadSymbol(s->literal_htree, br, &literal)) {
           result = BROTLI_DECODER_NEEDS_MORE_INPUT;
           goto saveStateAndReturn;
         }
         s->ringbuffer[pos] = (uint8_t)literal;
-      }
-      --s->block_length[0];
-      BROTLI_LOG_ARRAY_INDEX(s->ringbuffer, pos);
-      ++pos;
-      if (BROTLI_PREDICT_FALSE(pos == s->ringbuffer_size)) {
-        s->state = BROTLI_STATE_COMMAND_INNER_WRITE;
-        --i;
-        goto saveStateAndReturn;
-      }
-    } while (--i != 0);
+        --s->block_length[0];
+        BROTLI_LOG_ARRAY_INDEX(s->ringbuffer, pos);
+        ++pos;
+        if (BROTLI_PREDICT_FALSE(pos == s->ringbuffer_size)) {
+          s->state = BROTLI_STATE_COMMAND_INNER_WRITE;
+          --i;
+          goto saveStateAndReturn;
+        }
+      } while (--i != 0);
+    }
   } else {
     uint8_t p1 = s->ringbuffer[(pos - 1) & s->ringbuffer_mask];
     uint8_t p2 = s->ringbuffer[(pos - 2) & s->ringbuffer_mask];
diff --git a/java/WORKSPACE.bazel b/java/WORKSPACE.bazel
index 0b23445..9e9ef28 100644
--- a/java/WORKSPACE.bazel
+++ b/java/WORKSPACE.bazel
@@ -7,15 +7,29 @@
 
 load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive", "http_file")
 
+RULES_JAVA_VERSION = "8.3.2"
+RULES_JAVA_SHA = "9b9614f8a7f7b7ed93cb7975d227ece30fe7daed2c0a76f03a5ee37f69e437de"
 RULES_JVM_EXTERNAL_TAG = "4.0"
 RULES_JVM_EXTERNAL_SHA = "31701ad93dbfe544d597dbe62c9a1fdd76d81d8a9150c2bf1ecf928ecdf97169"
 RULES_KOTLIN_VERSION = "1.9.0"
 RULES_KOTLIN_SHA = "5766f1e599acf551aa56f49dab9ab9108269b03c557496c54acaf41f98e2b8d6"
 
 http_archive(
+    name = "rules_java",
+    sha256 = RULES_JAVA_SHA,
+    urls = [
+        "https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_java/releases/download/%s/rules_java-%s.tar.gz" % (RULES_JAVA_VERSION, RULES_JAVA_VERSION),
+    ],
+)
+
+load("@rules_java//java:repositories.bzl", "rules_java_dependencies", "rules_java_toolchains")
+rules_java_dependencies()
+rules_java_toolchains()
+
+http_archive(
     name = "rules_jvm_external",
-    strip_prefix = "rules_jvm_external-%s" % RULES_JVM_EXTERNAL_TAG,
     sha256 = RULES_JVM_EXTERNAL_SHA,
+    strip_prefix = "rules_jvm_external-%s" % RULES_JVM_EXTERNAL_TAG,
     url = "https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_jvm_external/archive/%s.zip" % RULES_JVM_EXTERNAL_TAG,
 )
 
@@ -23,15 +37,15 @@
 
 http_archive(
     name = "rules_kotlin",
-    urls = ["https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/releases/download/v%s/rules_kotlin-v%s.tar.gz" % (RULES_KOTLIN_VERSION, RULES_KOTLIN_VERSION)],
     sha256 = RULES_KOTLIN_SHA,
+    urls = ["https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_kotlin/releases/download/v%s/rules_kotlin-v%s.tar.gz" % (RULES_KOTLIN_VERSION, RULES_KOTLIN_VERSION)],
 )
 
 load("@rules_kotlin//kotlin:repositories.bzl", "kotlin_repositories")
-kotlin_repositories() # if you want the default. Otherwise see custom kotlinc distribution below
 
+kotlin_repositories()  # if you want the default. Otherwise see custom kotlinc distribution below
 load("@rules_kotlin//kotlin:core.bzl", "kt_register_toolchains")
-kt_register_toolchains() # to use the default toolchain, otherwise see toolchains below
+kt_register_toolchains()  # to use the default toolchain, otherwise see toolchains below
 
 maven_install(
     artifacts = ["junit:junit:4.12"],
@@ -43,37 +57,37 @@
 
 http_archive(
     name = "platforms",
+    sha256 = "8150406605389ececb6da07cbcb509d5637a3ab9a24bc69b1101531367d89d74",
     urls = [
         "https://mirror.bazel.build/github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/releases/download/0.0.8/platforms-0.0.8.tar.gz",
         "https://github.com/bazelbuild/platforms/releases/download/0.0.8/platforms-0.0.8.tar.gz",
     ],
-    sha256 = "8150406605389ececb6da07cbcb509d5637a3ab9a24bc69b1101531367d89d74",
 )
 
 http_file(
     name = "openjdk_jni_h",
     downloaded_file_path = "jni.h",
-    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/share/javavm/export/jni.h"],
     sha256 = "ed99792df48670072b78028faf704a8dcb6868fe140ccc7eced9b01dfa62fef4",
+    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/share/javavm/export/jni.h"],
 )
 
 http_file(
     name = "openjdk_solaris_jni_md_h",
     downloaded_file_path = "jni_md.h",
-    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/solaris/javavm/export/jni_md.h"],
     sha256 = "b6cf7b06e5bba38d2daa2ff0789f99d396b3cb3bcc37d0367c8360fdccdef294",
+    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/solaris/javavm/export/jni_md.h"],
 )
 
 http_file(
     name = "openjdk_macosx_jni_md_h",
     downloaded_file_path = "jni_md.h",
-    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/macosx/javavm/export/jni_md.h"],
     sha256 = "8f718071022e7e7f2fc9a229984b7e83582db91ed83861b49ce1461436fe8dc4",
+    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/macosx/javavm/export/jni_md.h"],
 )
 
 http_file(
     name = "openjdk_windows_jni_md_h",
     downloaded_file_path = "jni_md.h",
-    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/windows/javavm/export/jni_md.h"],
     sha256 = "5479fb385ea1e11619f5c0cdfd9ccb3ea3a3fea0f5bc6176fb3ce62be29d759b",
+    urls = ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjdk/jdk/jdk8-b120/jdk/src/windows/javavm/export/jni_md.h"],
 )
diff --git a/java/org/brotli/dec/build_defs.bzl b/java/org/brotli/dec/build_defs.bzl
index 40ccbd1..e25f40f 100644
--- a/java/org/brotli/dec/build_defs.bzl
+++ b/java/org/brotli/dec/build_defs.bzl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 """Utilities for Java brotli tests."""
 
-load("//third_party/bazel_rules/rules_java/java:java_test.bzl", "java_test")
+load("@rules_java//java:java_test.bzl", "java_test")
 
 _TEST_JVM_FLAGS = [
     "-DBROTLI_ENABLE_ASSERTS=true",