diff --git a/cpp/include/cudf/io/datasource.hpp b/cpp/include/cudf/io/datasource.hpp
index 8fcc045e6d2..ab7a3a6fa9b 100644
--- a/cpp/include/cudf/io/datasource.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/cudf/io/datasource.hpp
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ class datasource {
    * @param[in] offset Bytes from the start
    * @param[in] size Bytes to read
    *
-   * @return The data buffer
+   * @return The data buffer (can be smaller than size)
    */
   virtual std::unique_ptr<datasource::buffer> host_read(size_t offset, size_t size) = 0;
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp b/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp
index 3f2884d5b7d..8f2a5389b4d 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp
@@ -25,32 +25,69 @@
 
 namespace cudf {
 namespace io {
+namespace {
 
 /**
- * @brief Implementation class for reading from a file or memory source using
- * memory mapped access.
- *
- * Unlike Arrow's memory mapped IO class, this implementation allows memory
- * mapping a subset of the file where the starting offset may not be zero.
+ * @brief Base class for file input. Only implements direct device reads.
  */
-class memory_mapped_source : public datasource {
-  class memory_mapped_buffer : public buffer {
-    size_t _size   = 0;
-    uint8_t *_data = nullptr;
+class file_source : public datasource {
+ public:
+  explicit file_source(const char *filepath)
+    : _file(filepath, O_RDONLY), _cufile_in(detail::make_cufile_input(filepath))
+  {
+  }
+
+  virtual ~file_source() = default;
+
+  bool supports_device_read() const override { return _cufile_in != nullptr; }
+
+  bool is_device_read_preferred(size_t size) const
+  {
+    return _cufile_in != nullptr && _cufile_in->is_cufile_io_preferred(size);
+  }
+
+  std::unique_ptr<datasource::buffer> device_read(size_t offset,
+                                                  size_t size,
+                                                  rmm::cuda_stream_view stream) override
+  {
+    CUDF_EXPECTS(supports_device_read(), "Device reads are not supported for this file.");
+
+    auto const read_size = std::min(size, _file.size() - offset);
+    return _cufile_in->read(offset, read_size, stream);
+  }
+
+  size_t device_read(size_t offset,
+                     size_t size,
+                     uint8_t *dst,
+                     rmm::cuda_stream_view stream) override
+  {
+    CUDF_EXPECTS(supports_device_read(), "Device reads are not supported for this file.");
 
-   public:
-    memory_mapped_buffer(uint8_t *data, size_t size) : _size(size), _data(data) {}
-    size_t size() const override { return _size; }
-    const uint8_t *data() const override { return _data; }
-  };
+    auto const read_size = std::min(size, _file.size() - offset);
+    return _cufile_in->read(offset, read_size, dst, stream);
+  }
+
+  size_t size() const override { return _file.size(); }
+
+ protected:
+  detail::file_wrapper _file;
+
+ private:
+  std::unique_ptr<detail::cufile_input_impl> _cufile_in;
+};
 
+/**
+ * @brief Implementation class for reading from a file using memory mapped access.
+ *
+ * Unlike Arrow's memory mapped IO class, this implementation allows memory mapping a subset of the
+ * file where the starting offset may not be zero.
+ */
+class memory_mapped_source : public file_source {
  public:
   explicit memory_mapped_source(const char *filepath, size_t offset, size_t size)
-    : _cufile_in(detail::make_cufile_input(filepath))
+    : file_source(filepath)
   {
-    auto const file = detail::file_wrapper(filepath, O_RDONLY);
-    _file_size      = file.size();
-    if (_file_size != 0) { map(file.desc(), offset, size); }
+    if (_file.size() != 0) map(_file.desc(), offset, size);
   }
 
   virtual ~memory_mapped_source()
@@ -65,7 +102,7 @@ class memory_mapped_source : public datasource {
     // Clamp length to available data in the mapped region
     auto const read_size = std::min(size, _map_size - (offset - _map_offset));
 
-    return std::make_unique<memory_mapped_buffer>(
+    return std::make_unique<non_owning_buffer>(
       static_cast<uint8_t *>(_map_addr) + (offset - _map_offset), read_size);
   }
 
@@ -81,49 +118,15 @@ class memory_mapped_source : public datasource {
     return read_size;
   }
 
-  bool supports_device_read() const override { return _cufile_in != nullptr; }
-
-  bool is_device_read_preferred(size_t size) const
-  {
-    return _cufile_in != nullptr && _cufile_in->is_cufile_io_preferred(size);
-  }
-
-  std::unique_ptr<datasource::buffer> device_read(size_t offset,
-                                                  size_t size,
-                                                  rmm::cuda_stream_view stream) override
-  {
-    if (!supports_device_read()) CUDF_FAIL("Device reads are not supported for this file.");
-
-    auto const read_size = std::min(size, _map_size - (offset - _map_offset));
-    return _cufile_in->read(offset, read_size, stream);
-  }
-
-  size_t device_read(size_t offset,
-                     size_t size,
-                     uint8_t *dst,
-                     rmm::cuda_stream_view stream) override
-  {
-    if (!supports_device_read()) CUDF_FAIL("Device reads are not supported for this file.");
-    auto const read_size = std::min(size, _map_size - (offset - _map_offset));
-    return _cufile_in->read(offset, read_size, dst, stream);
-  }
-
-  size_t size() const override { return _file_size; }
-
  private:
   void map(int fd, size_t offset, size_t size)
   {
-    CUDF_EXPECTS(offset < _file_size, "Offset is past end of file");
+    CUDF_EXPECTS(offset < _file.size(), "Offset is past end of file");
 
     // Offset for `mmap()` must be page aligned
     _map_offset = offset & ~(sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE) - 1);
 
-    // Clamp length to available data in the file
-    if (size == 0) {
-      size = _file_size - offset;
-    } else {
-      if ((offset + size) > _file_size) { size = _file_size - offset; }
-    }
+    if (size == 0 || (offset + size) > _file.size()) { size = _file.size() - offset; }
 
     // Size for `mmap()` needs to include the page padding
     _map_size = size + (offset - _map_offset);
@@ -134,11 +137,44 @@ class memory_mapped_source : public datasource {
   }
 
  private:
-  size_t _file_size  = 0;
-  void *_map_addr    = nullptr;
   size_t _map_size   = 0;
   size_t _map_offset = 0;
-  std::unique_ptr<detail::cufile_input_impl> _cufile_in;
+  void *_map_addr    = nullptr;
+};
+
+/**
+ * @brief Implementation class for reading from a file using `read` calls
+ *
+ * Potentially faster than `memory_mapped_source` when only a small portion of the file is read
+ * through the host.
+ */
+class direct_read_source : public file_source {
+ public:
+  explicit direct_read_source(const char *filepath) : file_source(filepath) {}
+
+  std::unique_ptr<buffer> host_read(size_t offset, size_t size) override
+  {
+    lseek(_file.desc(), offset, SEEK_SET);
+
+    // Clamp length to available data
+    ssize_t const read_size = std::min(size, _file.size() - offset);
+
+    std::vector<uint8_t> v(read_size);
+    CUDF_EXPECTS(read(_file.desc(), v.data(), read_size) == read_size, "read failed");
+    return buffer::create(std::move(v));
+  }
+
+  size_t host_read(size_t offset, size_t size, uint8_t *dst) override
+  {
+    lseek(_file.desc(), offset, SEEK_SET);
+
+    // Clamp length to available data
+    auto const read_size = std::min(size, _file.size() - offset);
+
+    CUDF_EXPECTS(read(_file.desc(), dst, read_size) == static_cast<ssize_t>(read_size),
+                 "read failed");
+    return read_size;
+  }
 };
 
 /**
@@ -185,10 +221,18 @@ class user_datasource_wrapper : public datasource {
   datasource *const source;  ///< A non-owning pointer to the user-implemented datasource
 };
 
+}  // namespace
+
 std::unique_ptr<datasource> datasource::create(const std::string &filepath,
                                                size_t offset,
                                                size_t size)
 {
+#ifdef CUFILE_FOUND
+  if (detail::cufile_config::instance()->is_required()) {
+    // avoid mmap as GDS is expected to be used for most reads
+    return std::make_unique<direct_read_source>(filepath.c_str());
+  }
+#endif
   // Use our own memory mapping implementation for direct file reads
   return std::make_unique<memory_mapped_source>(filepath.c_str(), offset, size);
 }
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp b/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp
index 22ff057cbc1..322296715fc 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-#include <cudf_test/file_utilities.hpp>
 #include <io/utilities/file_io_utilities.hpp>
 
 #include <rmm/device_buffer.hpp>
@@ -26,93 +25,67 @@ namespace cudf {
 namespace io {
 namespace detail {
 
+size_t get_file_size(int file_descriptor)
+{
+  struct stat st;
+  CUDF_EXPECTS(fstat(file_descriptor, &st) != -1, "Cannot query file size");
+  return static_cast<size_t>(st.st_size);
+}
+
 file_wrapper::file_wrapper(std::string const &filepath, int flags)
-  : fd(open(filepath.c_str(), flags))
+  : fd(open(filepath.c_str(), flags)), _size{get_file_size(fd)}
 {
   CUDF_EXPECTS(fd != -1, "Cannot open file " + filepath);
 }
 
 file_wrapper::file_wrapper(std::string const &filepath, int flags, mode_t mode)
-  : fd(open(filepath.c_str(), flags, mode))
+  : fd(open(filepath.c_str(), flags, mode)), _size{get_file_size(fd)}
 {
   CUDF_EXPECTS(fd != -1, "Cannot open file " + filepath);
 }
 
 file_wrapper::~file_wrapper() { close(fd); }
 
-long file_wrapper::size() const
+std::string getenv_or(std::string const &env_var_name, std::string const &default_val)
 {
-  if (_size < 0) {
-    struct stat st;
-    CUDF_EXPECTS(fstat(fd, &st) != -1, "Cannot query file size");
-    _size = static_cast<size_t>(st.st_size);
-  }
-  return _size;
+  auto const env_val = std::getenv(env_var_name.c_str());
+  return (env_val == nullptr) ? default_val : std::string(env_val);
 }
 
 #ifdef CUFILE_FOUND
 
-/**
- * @brief Class that manages cuFile configuration.
- */
-class cufile_config {
-  std::string const default_policy    = "OFF";
-  std::string const json_path_env_var = "CUFILE_ENV_PATH_JSON";
-
-  std::string const policy = default_policy;
-  temp_directory tmp_config_dir{"cudf_cufile_config"};
-
-  std::string getenv_or(std::string const &env_var_name, std::string const &default_val)
-  {
-    auto const env_val = std::getenv(env_var_name.c_str());
-    return (env_val == nullptr) ? default_val : std::string(env_val);
-  }
-
-  cufile_config() : policy{getenv_or("LIBCUDF_CUFILE_POLICY", default_policy)}
-  {
-    if (is_enabled()) {
-      // Modify the config file based on the policy
-      auto const config_file_path = getenv_or(json_path_env_var, "/etc/cufile.json");
-      std::ifstream user_config_file(config_file_path);
-      // Modified config file is stored in a temporary directory
-      auto const cudf_config_path = tmp_config_dir.path() + "/cufile.json";
-      std::ofstream cudf_config_file(cudf_config_path);
-
-      std::string line;
-      while (std::getline(user_config_file, line)) {
-        std::string const tag = "\"allow_compat_mode\"";
-        if (line.find(tag) != std::string::npos) {
-          // TODO: only replace the true/false value
-          // Enable compatiblity mode when cuDF does not fall back to host path
-          cudf_config_file << tag << ": " << (is_required() ? "true" : "false") << ",\n";
-        } else {
-          cudf_config_file << line << '\n';
-        }
-
-        // Point libcufile to the modified config file
-        CUDF_EXPECTS(setenv(json_path_env_var.c_str(), cudf_config_path.c_str(), 0) == 0,
-                     "Failed to set the cuFile config file environment variable.");
+cufile_config::cufile_config() : policy{getenv_or("LIBCUDF_CUFILE_POLICY", default_policy)}
+{
+  if (is_enabled()) {
+    // Modify the config file based on the policy
+    auto const config_file_path = getenv_or(json_path_env_var, "/etc/cufile.json");
+    std::ifstream user_config_file(config_file_path);
+    // Modified config file is stored in a temporary directory
+    auto const cudf_config_path = tmp_config_dir.path() + "/cufile.json";
+    std::ofstream cudf_config_file(cudf_config_path);
+
+    std::string line;
+    while (std::getline(user_config_file, line)) {
+      std::string const tag = "\"allow_compat_mode\"";
+      if (line.find(tag) != std::string::npos) {
+        // TODO: only replace the true/false value
+        // Enable compatiblity mode when cuDF does not fall back to host path
+        cudf_config_file << tag << ": " << (is_required() ? "true" : "false") << ",\n";
+      } else {
+        cudf_config_file << line << '\n';
       }
-    }
-  }
-
- public:
-  /**
-   * @brief Returns true when cuFile use is enabled.
-   */
-  bool is_enabled() const { return policy == "ALWAYS" or policy == "GDS"; }
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Returns true when cuDF should not fall back to host IO.
-   */
-  bool is_required() const { return policy == "ALWAYS"; }
 
-  static cufile_config const *instance()
-  {
-    static cufile_config _instance;
-    return &_instance;
+      // Point libcufile to the modified config file
+      CUDF_EXPECTS(setenv(json_path_env_var.c_str(), cudf_config_path.c_str(), 0) == 0,
+                   "Failed to set the cuFile config file environment variable.");
+    }
   }
-};
+}
+cufile_config const *cufile_config::instance()
+{
+  static cufile_config _instance;
+  return &_instance;
+}
 
 /**
  * @brief Class that dynamically loads the cuFile library and manages the cuFile driver.
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.hpp b/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.hpp
index 85399bdd44d..0119484aee5 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.hpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.hpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 #include <cudf/io/datasource.hpp>
 #include <cudf/utilities/error.hpp>
+#include <cudf_test/file_utilities.hpp>
 
 #include <string>
 
@@ -35,14 +36,14 @@ namespace detail {
  * @brief Class that provides RAII for file handling.
  */
 class file_wrapper {
-  int const fd       = -1;
-  long mutable _size = -1;
+  int fd = -1;
+  size_t _size;
 
  public:
   explicit file_wrapper(std::string const &filepath, int flags);
   explicit file_wrapper(std::string const &filepath, int flags, mode_t mode);
   ~file_wrapper();
-  long size() const;
+  auto size() const { return _size; }
   auto desc() const { return fd; }
 };
 
@@ -128,6 +129,32 @@ class cufile_output : public cufile_io_base {
 
 class cufile_shim;
 
+/**
+ * @brief Class that manages cuFile configuration.
+ */
+class cufile_config {
+  std::string const default_policy    = "OFF";
+  std::string const json_path_env_var = "CUFILE_ENV_PATH_JSON";
+
+  std::string const policy = default_policy;
+  temp_directory tmp_config_dir{"cudf_cufile_config"};
+
+  cufile_config();
+
+ public:
+  /**
+   * @brief Returns true when cuFile use is enabled.
+   */
+  bool is_enabled() const { return policy == "ALWAYS" or policy == "GDS"; }
+
+  /**
+   * @brief Returns true when cuDF should not fall back to host IO.
+   */
+  bool is_required() const { return policy == "ALWAYS"; }
+
+  static cufile_config const *instance();
+};
+
 /**
  * @brief Class that provides RAII for cuFile file registration.
  */