diff --git a/src/forward.rs b/src/forward.rs
index e9cdce4..1d4ed25 100644
--- a/src/forward.rs
+++ b/src/forward.rs
@@ -89,9 +89,11 @@ pub(crate) async fn forward_tcp(
 
     let mut stream = timeout(timeout_duration, TcpStream::connect(upstream)).await??;
 
-    // Write length-prefixed message
-    stream.write_all(&(msg.len() as u16).to_be_bytes()).await?;
-    stream.write_all(msg).await?;
+    // Single write: Microsoft/Azure DNS servers close TCP connections on split segments
+    let mut outbuf = Vec::with_capacity(2 + msg.len());
+    outbuf.extend_from_slice(&(msg.len() as u16).to_be_bytes());
+    outbuf.extend_from_slice(msg);
+    stream.write_all(&outbuf).await?;
 
     // Read length-prefixed response
     let mut len_buf = [0u8; 2];
diff --git a/src/recursive.rs b/src/recursive.rs
index 4a24dda..6f3a71e 100644
--- a/src/recursive.rs
+++ b/src/recursive.rs
@@ -868,10 +868,10 @@ mod tests {
                         return;
                     }
                     let resp_bytes = resp_buf.filled();
-                    let _ = stream
-                        .write_all(&(resp_bytes.len() as u16).to_be_bytes())
-                        .await;
-                    let _ = stream.write_all(resp_bytes).await;
+                    let mut out = Vec::with_capacity(2 + resp_bytes.len());
+                    out.extend_from_slice(&(resp_bytes.len() as u16).to_be_bytes());
+                    out.extend_from_slice(resp_bytes);
+                    let _ = stream.write_all(&out).await;
                 });
             }
         });
@@ -994,4 +994,102 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!UDP_DISABLED.load(Ordering::Relaxed));
         assert_eq!(UDP_FAILURES.load(Ordering::Relaxed), 0);
     }
+
+    /// Test forward_tcp directly — verifies the length-prefixed wire format.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn forward_tcp_wire_format() {
+        let server_addr = spawn_tcp_dns_server(|query| {
+            let mut resp = DnsPacket::response_from(query, ResultCode::NOERROR);
+            resp.header.authoritative_answer = true;
+            if let Some(q) = query.questions.first() {
+                resp.answers.push(DnsRecord::A {
+                    domain: q.name.clone(),
+                    addr: Ipv4Addr::new(1, 2, 3, 4),
+                    ttl: 60,
+                });
+            }
+            resp
+        })
+        .await;
+
+        let mut query = DnsPacket::new();
+        query.header.id = 0xBEEF;
+        query
+            .questions
+            .push(DnsQuestion::new("test.com".to_string(), QueryType::A));
+
+        let resp = crate::forward::forward_tcp(&query, server_addr, Duration::from_secs(2))
+            .await
+            .expect("forward_tcp should succeed");
+
+        assert_eq!(resp.header.id, 0xBEEF);
+        assert_eq!(resp.header.rescode, ResultCode::NOERROR);
+        assert!(!resp.answers.is_empty());
+    }
+
+    /// Strict server: reads with a single read() call, rejecting split writes.
+    /// Simulates Microsoft Azure DNS behavior that caused the early-eof bug.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn forward_tcp_single_segment_write() {
+        let listener = TcpListener::bind("127.0.0.1:0").await.unwrap();
+        let addr = listener.local_addr().unwrap();
+
+        tokio::spawn(async move {
+            let (mut stream, _) = listener.accept().await.unwrap();
+
+            // Single read — if length prefix arrives separately, this gets
+            // only 2 bytes and the parse fails (simulating the Microsoft bug).
+            let mut buf = vec![0u8; 4096];
+            let n = tokio::io::AsyncReadExt::read(&mut stream, &mut buf)
+                .await
+                .unwrap();
+
+            assert!(
+                n >= 2 + 12, // length prefix + DNS header minimum
+                "got only {} bytes in first read — split write bug",
+                n
+            );
+
+            let msg_len = u16::from_be_bytes([buf[0], buf[1]]) as usize;
+            assert_eq!(msg_len, n - 2, "length prefix doesn't match payload");
+
+            // Parse and respond
+            let mut pkt_buf = BytePacketBuffer::from_bytes(&buf[2..n]);
+            let query = DnsPacket::from_buffer(&mut pkt_buf).unwrap();
+
+            let mut resp = DnsPacket::response_from(&query, ResultCode::NOERROR);
+            resp.answers.push(DnsRecord::A {
+                domain: query.questions[0].name.clone(),
+                addr: Ipv4Addr::new(5, 6, 7, 8),
+                ttl: 60,
+            });
+
+            let mut resp_buf = BytePacketBuffer::new();
+            resp.write(&mut resp_buf).unwrap();
+            let resp_bytes = resp_buf.filled();
+
+            let mut out = Vec::with_capacity(2 + resp_bytes.len());
+            out.extend_from_slice(&(resp_bytes.len() as u16).to_be_bytes());
+            out.extend_from_slice(resp_bytes);
+            tokio::io::AsyncWriteExt::write_all(&mut stream, &out)
+                .await
+                .unwrap();
+        });
+
+        let mut query = DnsPacket::new();
+        query.header.id = 0xCAFE;
+        query
+            .questions
+            .push(DnsQuestion::new("strict.test".to_string(), QueryType::A));
+
+        let resp = crate::forward::forward_tcp(&query, addr, Duration::from_secs(2))
+            .await
+            .expect("forward_tcp must send length+message in single segment");
+
+        assert_eq!(resp.header.id, 0xCAFE);
+        match &resp.answers[0] {
+            DnsRecord::A { addr, .. } => assert_eq!(*addr, Ipv4Addr::new(5, 6, 7, 8)),
+            other => panic!("expected A, got {:?}", other),
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration.sh b/tests/integration.sh
index 8d0152c..c83dd61 100755
--- a/tests/integration.sh
+++ b/tests/integration.sh
@@ -202,6 +202,24 @@ check "EDNS DO bit echoed" \
     "flags: do" \
     "$($DIG cloudflare.com A +dnssec 2>&1 | grep 'EDNS:')"
 
+echo ""
+echo "=== TCP wire format (real servers) ==="
+
+# Microsoft's Azure DNS servers require length+message in a single TCP segment.
+# This test catches the split-write bug that caused early-eof SERVFAILs.
+check "Microsoft domain (update.code.visualstudio.com)" \
+    "NOERROR" \
+    "$($DIG update.code.visualstudio.com A 2>&1 | grep status:)"
+
+check "Office domain (ecs.office.com)" \
+    "NOERROR" \
+    "$($DIG ecs.office.com A 2>&1 | grep status:)"
+
+# Azure Application Insights — another strict TCP server
+check "Azure telemetry (eastus2-3.in.applicationinsights.azure.com)" \
+    "." \
+    "$($DIG eastus2-3.in.applicationinsights.azure.com A +short 2>/dev/null || echo 'timeout')"
+
 kill "$NUMA_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
 wait "$NUMA_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
 sleep 1