diff --git a/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategy.groovy b/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategy.groovy
index 4ac9e072fe..cb4c9a635d 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategy.groovy
+++ b/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategy.groovy
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
  */
 package nextflow.cloud.azure.batch
 
+import java.math.MathContext
+import java.math.RoundingMode
 import java.nio.file.Path
 
 import groovy.transform.CompileStatic
@@ -41,11 +43,13 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategy extends SimpleFileCopyStrategy {
     private Duration delayBetweenAttempts
     private String sasToken
     private Path remoteBinDir
+    private TaskBean task
 
     protected AzFileCopyStrategy() {}
 
     AzFileCopyStrategy(TaskBean bean, AzBatchExecutor executor) {
         super(bean)
+        this.task = bean
         this.config = executor.config
         this.remoteBinDir = executor.remoteBinDir
         this.sasToken = config.storage().sasToken
@@ -64,6 +68,7 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategy extends SimpleFileCopyStrategy {
         copy.remove('PATH')
         copy.put('PATH', '$PWD/.nextflow-bin:$AZ_BATCH_NODE_SHARED_DIR/bin/:$PATH')
         copy.put('AZCOPY_LOG_LOCATION', '$PWD/.azcopy_log')
+        copy.put('AZCOPY_BUFFER_GB', String.valueOf((task.containerMemory?.toGiga()?: 1) * 0.8))
         copy.put('AZ_SAS', sasToken)
 
         // finally render the environment
@@ -92,7 +97,7 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategy extends SimpleFileCopyStrategy {
 
         result += 'downloads=(true)\n'
         result += super.getStageInputFilesScript(inputFiles) + '\n'
-        result += 'nxf_parallel "${downloads[@]}"\n'
+        result += 'for cmd in "${downloads[@]}"; do\n    $cmd\ndone\n'
         return result
     }
 
@@ -103,8 +108,8 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategy extends SimpleFileCopyStrategy {
     String stageInputFile( Path path, String targetName ) {
         // third param should not be escaped, because it's used in the grep match rule
         def stage_cmd = maxTransferAttempts > 1
-                ? "downloads+=(\"nxf_cp_retry nxf_az_download '${AzHelper.toHttpUrl(path)}' ${Escape.path(targetName)}\")"
-                : "downloads+=(\"nxf_az_download '${AzHelper.toHttpUrl(path)}' ${Escape.path(targetName)}\")"
+                ? "downloads+=(\"nxf_cp_retry nxf_az_download ${AzHelper.toHttpUrl(path)} ${Escape.path(targetName)}\")"
+                : "downloads+=(\"nxf_az_download ${AzHelper.toHttpUrl(path)} ${Escape.path(targetName)}\")"
         return stage_cmd
     }
 
@@ -128,10 +133,12 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategy extends SimpleFileCopyStrategy {
             uploads=()
             IFS=\$'\\n'
             for name in \$(eval "ls -1d ${escape.join(' ')}" | sort | uniq); do
-                uploads+=("nxf_az_upload '\$name' '${AzHelper.toHttpUrl(targetDir)}'")
+                uploads+=("nxf_az_upload '\$name' ${AzHelper.toHttpUrl(targetDir)}")
             done
             unset IFS
-            nxf_parallel "\${uploads[@]}"
+            for cmd in "\${uploads[@]}"; do
+                \$cmd
+            done
             """.stripIndent(true)
     }
 
diff --git a/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategyTest.groovy b/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategyTest.groovy
index 436fcb2ce9..42c75eeb7f 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategyTest.groovy
+++ b/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzFileCopyStrategyTest.groovy
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategyTest extends Specification {
                 # stage input files
                 downloads=(true)
                 
-                nxf_parallel "${downloads[@]}"
+                for cmd in "${downloads[@]}"; do
+                    $cmd
+                done
                 '''.stripIndent()
 
         binding.unstage_controls == '''\
@@ -222,7 +224,9 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategyTest extends Specification {
                 chmod +x $PWD/.nextflow-bin/* || true
                 downloads=(true)
                 
-                nxf_parallel "${downloads[@]}"
+                for cmd in "${downloads[@]}"; do
+                    $cmd
+                done
                 '''.stripIndent()
 
         binding.task_env == '''\
@@ -230,6 +234,7 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategyTest extends Specification {
                     export BAR="any"
                     export PATH="$PWD/.nextflow-bin:$AZ_BATCH_NODE_SHARED_DIR/bin/:$PATH"
                     export AZCOPY_LOG_LOCATION="$PWD/.azcopy_log"
+                    export AZCOPY_BUFFER_GB="0.8"
                     export AZ_SAS="12345"
                     '''.stripIndent()
 
@@ -371,19 +376,23 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategyTest extends Specification {
                 downloads=(true)
                 rm -f file1.txt
                 rm -f file2.txt
-                downloads+=("nxf_az_download 'http://account.blob.core.windows.net/my-data/work/dir/file1.txt' file1.txt")
-                downloads+=("nxf_az_download 'http://account.blob.core.windows.net/my-data/work/dir/file2.txt' file2.txt")
-                nxf_parallel "${downloads[@]}"
+                downloads+=("nxf_az_download http://account.blob.core.windows.net/my-data/work/dir/file1.txt file1.txt")
+                downloads+=("nxf_az_download http://account.blob.core.windows.net/my-data/work/dir/file2.txt file2.txt")
+                for cmd in "${downloads[@]}"; do
+                    $cmd
+                done
                 '''.stripIndent()
 
         binding.unstage_outputs == '''
                     uploads=()
                     IFS=$'\\n'
                     for name in $(eval "ls -1d foo.txt bar.fastq" | sort | uniq); do
-                        uploads+=("nxf_az_upload '$name' 'http://account.blob.core.windows.net/my-data/work/dir'")
+                        uploads+=("nxf_az_upload '$name' http://account.blob.core.windows.net/my-data/work/dir")
                     done
                     unset IFS
-                    nxf_parallel "${uploads[@]}"
+                    for cmd in "${uploads[@]}"; do
+                        $cmd
+                    done
                     '''.stripIndent().leftTrim()
 
         binding.launch_cmd == '/bin/bash .command.run nxf_trace'
@@ -391,6 +400,7 @@ class AzFileCopyStrategyTest extends Specification {
         binding.task_env == '''\
                     export PATH="$PWD/.nextflow-bin:$AZ_BATCH_NODE_SHARED_DIR/bin/:$PATH"
                     export AZCOPY_LOG_LOCATION="$PWD/.azcopy_log"
+                    export AZCOPY_BUFFER_GB="0.8"
                     export AZ_SAS="12345"
                     '''.stripIndent()