diff --git a/src/connections.rs b/src/connections.rs
index 22e3e346..a07f6d5e 100644
--- a/src/connections.rs
+++ b/src/connections.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 use super::{
     api::Message,
     error::{Error, Result},
-    wire_msg::WireMsg,
+    wire_msg::{MsgHeader, WireMsg, HEADER_LEN},
 };
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use futures::{lock::Mutex, stream::StreamExt};
@@ -233,13 +233,15 @@ impl SendStream {
 
 // Helper to read the message's bytes from the provided stream
 async fn read_bytes(recv: &mut quinn::RecvStream) -> Result<Bytes> {
-    let mut data_len: [u8; 8] = [0; 8];
-    recv.read_exact(&mut data_len).await?;
-    let data_len = usize::from_le_bytes(data_len);
-    let mut data: Vec<u8> = vec![0; data_len];
+    let mut header_bytes = [0; HEADER_LEN];
+    recv.read_exact(&mut header_bytes).await?;
+
+    let msg_header = MsgHeader::from_bytes(header_bytes);
+    let mut data: Vec<u8> = vec![0; msg_header.data_len()];
+
     recv.read_exact(&mut data).await?;
     trace!("Got new message with {} bytes.", data.len());
-    match WireMsg::from_raw(data)? {
+    match WireMsg::from_raw(data, msg_header.usr_msg_flag())? {
         WireMsg::UserMsg(msg_bytes) => Ok(Bytes::copy_from_slice(&msg_bytes)),
         WireMsg::EndpointEchoReq | WireMsg::EndpointEchoResp(_) => {
             // TODO: handle the echo request/response message
@@ -253,20 +255,17 @@ async fn send_msg(send_stream: &mut quinn::SendStream, msg: Bytes) -> Result<()>
     // Let's generate the message bytes
     let wire_msg = WireMsg::UserMsg(msg);
     let (msg_bytes, msg_flag) = wire_msg.into();
+    trace!("Sending message to remote peer ({} bytes)", msg_bytes.len());
 
-    trace!("Sending message to remote peer ({} bytes)", msg_bytes.len(),);
+    let msg_header = MsgHeader::new(&msg_bytes, msg_flag)?;
+    let header_bytes = msg_header.to_bytes();
 
-    // Send the length of the message + 1 (for the flag)
-    send_stream
-        .write_all(&(msg_bytes.len() + 1).to_le_bytes())
-        .await?;
+    // Send the message header
+    send_stream.write_all(&header_bytes).await?;
 
     // Send message bytes over QUIC
     send_stream.write_all(&msg_bytes[..]).await?;
 
-    // Then send message flag over QUIC
-    send_stream.write_all(&[msg_flag]).await?;
-
     trace!("Message was sent to remote peer");
 
     Ok(())
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 3453ce01..6da42fa8 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ pub enum Error {
     EmptyResponse,
     #[error(display = "Type of the message received was not the expected one")]
     UnexpectedMessageType,
+    #[error(display = "Maximum data length exceeded")]
+    MaxLengthExceeded,
     #[error(display = "Unexpected: {}", 0)]
     Unexpected(String),
 }
diff --git a/src/wire_msg.rs b/src/wire_msg.rs
index e4806405..390c1839 100644
--- a/src/wire_msg.rs
+++ b/src/wire_msg.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,73 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::{fmt, net::SocketAddr};
 use unwrap::unwrap;
 
+pub(crate) const HEADER_LEN: usize = 9;
+pub(crate) const VERSION: i16 = 0;
+pub(crate) const MAX_DATA_LEN: usize = usize::from_be_bytes([0, 0, 0, 0, 255, 255, 255, 255]);
+
+/// Message Header that is sent over the wire
+/// Format of the message header is as follows
+/// | version | message length | usr_msg_flag | reserved |
+/// | 2 bytes |     4 bytes    |    1 byte    | 2 bytes  |
+pub(crate) struct MsgHeader {
+    version: i16,
+    data_len: usize,
+    usr_msg_flag: u8,
+    #[allow(unused)]
+    reserved: [u8; 2],
+}
+
+impl MsgHeader {
+    pub fn new(msg: &Bytes, usr_msg_flag: u8) -> Result<Self> {
+        let data_len = msg.len();
+        if data_len > MAX_DATA_LEN {
+            return Err(Error::MaxLengthExceeded);
+        }
+        Ok(Self {
+            version: VERSION,
+            data_len,
+            usr_msg_flag,
+            reserved: [0, 0],
+        })
+    }
+
+    pub fn data_len(&self) -> usize {
+        self.data_len
+    }
+
+    pub fn usr_msg_flag(&self) -> u8 {
+        self.usr_msg_flag
+    }
+
+    pub fn to_bytes(&self) -> [u8; HEADER_LEN] {
+        let version = self.version.to_be_bytes();
+        let data_len = self.data_len.to_be_bytes();
+        [
+            version[0],
+            version[1],
+            data_len[4],
+            data_len[5],
+            data_len[6],
+            data_len[7],
+            self.usr_msg_flag,
+            0,
+            0,
+        ]
+    }
+
+    pub fn from_bytes(bytes: [u8; HEADER_LEN]) -> Self {
+        let version = i16::from_be_bytes([bytes[0], bytes[1]]);
+        let data_len = usize::from_be_bytes([0, 0, 0, 0, bytes[2], bytes[3], bytes[4], bytes[5]]);
+        let usr_msg_flag = bytes[6];
+        Self {
+            version,
+            data_len,
+            usr_msg_flag,
+            reserved: [0, 0],
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Final type serialised and sent on the wire by QuicP2p
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone)]
 pub enum WireMsg {
@@ -39,16 +106,15 @@ impl Into<(Bytes, u8)> for WireMsg {
 }
 
 impl WireMsg {
-    pub fn from_raw(mut raw: Vec<u8>) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn from_raw(raw: Vec<u8>, msg_flag: u8) -> Result<Self> {
         if raw.is_empty() {
             Err(Error::EmptyResponse)
+        } else if msg_flag == USER_MSG_FLAG {
+            Ok(WireMsg::UserMsg(From::from(raw)))
+        } else if msg_flag == !USER_MSG_FLAG {
+            Ok(bincode::deserialize(&raw)?)
         } else {
-            let msg_flag = raw.pop();
-            match msg_flag {
-                Some(flag) if flag == USER_MSG_FLAG => Ok(WireMsg::UserMsg(From::from(raw))),
-                Some(flag) if flag == !USER_MSG_FLAG => Ok(bincode::deserialize(&raw)?),
-                _ => Err(Error::InvalidWireMsgFlag),
-            }
+            Err(Error::InvalidWireMsgFlag)
         }
     }
 }