diff --git a/share/man/man5/tarfs.5 b/share/man/man5/tarfs.5
--- a/share/man/man5/tarfs.5
+++ b/share/man/man5/tarfs.5
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
 .\" SUCH DAMAGE.
 .\"
-.Dd February 2, 2023
+.Dd February 14, 2023
 .Dt TARFS 5
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@
 .It 0x40 Ta Decompression
 .It 0x80 Ta Decompression index
 .It 0x100 Ta Sparse file mapping
+.It 0x200 Ta Bounce buffer usage
 .El
 .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr tar 1 ,
diff --git a/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_dbg.h b/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_dbg.h
--- a/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_dbg.h
+++ b/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_dbg.h
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 #define	TARFS_DEBUG_ZIO		0x40
 #define	TARFS_DEBUG_ZIDX	0x80
 #define	TARFS_DEBUG_MAP		0x100
+#define	TARFS_DEBUG_BOUNCE	0x200
 
 #define	TARFS_DPF(category, fmt, ...)					\
 	do {								\
diff --git a/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_io.c b/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_io.c
--- a/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_io.c
+++ b/sys/fs/tarfs/tarfs_io.c
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@
 	if (uiop->uio_segflg == UIO_SYSSPACE) {
 		zob.dst = uiop->uio_iov->iov_base;
 	} else {
-		TARFS_DPF(ALLOC, "%s: allocating %zu-byte bounce buffer\n",
+		TARFS_DPF(BOUNCE, "%s: allocating %zu-byte bounce buffer\n",
 		    __func__, len);
 		zob.dst = obuf = malloc(len, M_TEMP, M_WAITOK);
 	}
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@
 		if (uiop->uio_segflg == UIO_SYSSPACE) {
 			uiop->uio_resid = resid;
 		} else if (len > resid) {
-			TARFS_DPF(ALLOC, "%s: bounced %zu bytes\n", __func__,
+			TARFS_DPF(BOUNCE, "%s: bounced %zu bytes\n", __func__,
 			    len - resid);
 			error = uiomove(obuf, len - resid, uiop);
 #ifdef TARFS_DEBUG
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@
 		}
 	}
 	if (obuf != NULL) {
-		TARFS_DPF(ALLOC, "%s: freeing bounce buffer\n", __func__);
+		TARFS_DPF(BOUNCE, "%s: freeing bounce buffer\n", __func__);
 		free(obuf, M_TEMP);
 	}
 	if (rl != NULL)