diff --git a/periphery/i2c.py b/periphery/i2c.py
index c30734e..92e0310 100644
--- a/periphery/i2c.py
+++ b/periphery/i2c.py
@@ -100,30 +100,30 @@ def transfer(self, address, messages):
 
         Raises:
             I2CError: if an I/O or OS error occurs.
-            TypeError: if `messages` type is not list.
+            TypeError: if `messages` type is not a sequence.
             ValueError: if `messages` length is zero, or if message data is not valid bytes.
 
         """
-        if not isinstance(messages, list):
-            raise TypeError("Invalid messages type, should be list of I2C.Message.")
-        elif len(messages) == 0:
-            raise ValueError("Invalid messages data, should be non-zero length.")
+        try:
+            if len(messages) == 0:
+                raise ValueError("Invalid messages data, should be non-zero length.")
+        except TypeError:
+            raise TypeError("Invalid messages type, should be a sequence of I2C.Message.")
 
         # Convert I2C.Message messages to _CI2CMessage messages
+        convert_reads = []
         cmessages = (_CI2CMessage * len(messages))()
-        for i in range(len(messages)):
-            # Convert I2C.Message data to bytes
-            if isinstance(messages[i].data, bytes):
-                data = messages[i].data
-            elif isinstance(messages[i].data, bytearray):
-                data = bytes(messages[i].data)
-            elif isinstance(messages[i].data, list):
-                data = bytes(bytearray(messages[i].data))
-
-            cmessages[i].addr = address
-            cmessages[i].flags = messages[i].flags | (I2C._I2C_M_RD if messages[i].read else 0)
-            cmessages[i].len = len(data)
-            cmessages[i].buf = ctypes.cast(ctypes.create_string_buffer(data, len(data)), ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_ubyte))
+        for message, cmessage in zip(messages, cmessages):
+            data = message.data
+            if not isinstance(data, bytearray):
+                data = bytearray(data)
+                if message.read:
+                    convert_reads.append((message, data))
+
+            cmessage.addr = address
+            cmessage.flags = message.flags | (I2C._I2C_M_RD if message.read else 0)
+            cmessage.len = n = len(data)
+            cmessage.buf = (ctypes.c_ubyte * n).from_buffer(data)
 
         # Prepare transfer structure
         i2c_xfer = _CI2CIocTransfer()
@@ -137,16 +137,12 @@ def transfer(self, address, messages):
             raise I2CError(e.errno, "I2C transfer: " + e.strerror)
 
         # Update any read I2C.Message messages
-        for i in range(len(messages)):
-            if messages[i].read:
-                data = [cmessages[i].buf[j] for j in range(cmessages[i].len)]
-                # Convert read data to type used in I2C.Message messages
-                if isinstance(messages[i].data, list):
-                    messages[i].data = data
-                elif isinstance(messages[i].data, bytearray):
-                    messages[i].data = bytearray(data)
-                elif isinstance(messages[i].data, bytes):
-                    messages[i].data = bytes(bytearray(data))
+        for message, data in convert_reads:
+            # Convert read data to type used in I2C.Message messages
+            if isinstance(message.data, list):
+                message.data[:] = data
+            else:
+                message.data = bytes(data)
 
     def close(self):
         """Close the i2c-dev I2C device.
@@ -193,10 +189,13 @@ def __init__(self, data, read=False, flags=0):
             """Instantiate an I2C Message object.
 
             Args:
-                data (bytes, bytearray, list): a byte array or list of 8-bit
-                             integers to write.
+                data (bytes, bytearray, list, positive integer):
+                             a sequence of 8-bit integers to write;
+                             a number of 0x00 to write;
+                             or a number of bytes to read (result type is bytes)
                 read (bool): specify this as a read message, where `data`
-                             serves as placeholder bytes for the read.
+                             serves as placeholder bytes for the read;
+                             if type is mutable, data is modified in-place
                 flags (int): additional i2c-dev flags for this message.
 
             Returns:
@@ -206,8 +205,8 @@ def __init__(self, data, read=False, flags=0):
                 TypeError: if `data`, `read`, or `flags` types are invalid.
 
             """
-            if not isinstance(data, (bytes, bytearray, list)):
-                raise TypeError("Invalid data type, should be bytes, bytearray, or list.")
+            if not isinstance(data, (bytes, bytearray, list, int)):
+                raise TypeError("Invalid data type, should be bytes, bytearray, list or integer.")
             if not isinstance(read, bool):
                 raise TypeError("Invalid read type, should be boolean.")
             if not isinstance(flags, int):
diff --git a/periphery/i2c.pyi b/periphery/i2c.pyi
index 05efe5c..716e264 100644
--- a/periphery/i2c.pyi
+++ b/periphery/i2c.pyi
@@ -1,19 +1,22 @@
+from collections.abc import Sequence
 from types import TracebackType
 
+type MessageData = bytes | bytearray | list[int] | int
+
 class I2CError(IOError): ...
 
 class I2C:
     class Message:
-        data: bytes | bytearray | list[int]
+        data: MessageData
         read: bool
         flags: int
-        def __init__(self, data: bytes | bytearray | list[int], read: bool = ..., flags: int = ...) -> None: ...
+        def __init__(self, data: MessageData, read: bool = ..., flags: int = ...) -> None: ...
 
     def __init__(self, devpath: str) -> None: ...
     def __del__(self) -> None: ...
     def __enter__(self) -> I2C: ...  # noqa: Y034
     def __exit__(self, t: type[BaseException] | None, value: BaseException | None, traceback: TracebackType | None) -> None: ...
-    def transfer(self, address: int, messages: list[Message]) -> None: ...
+    def transfer(self, address: int, messages: Sequence[Message]) -> None: ...
     def close(self) -> None: ...
     @property
     def fd(self) -> int: ...