diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/sorts/multi_level_merge.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/sorts/multi_level_merge.rs
index 2e0d668a29559..fabc47edf63d5 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/sorts/multi_level_merge.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/sorts/multi_level_merge.rs
@@ -259,9 +259,10 @@ impl MultiLevelMergeBuilder {
                 // as we are not holding the memory for them
                 let mut sorted_streams = mem::take(&mut self.sorted_streams);
 
-                let (sorted_spill_files, buffer_size) = self
+                let (sorted_spill_files, _) = self
                     .get_sorted_spill_files_to_merge(
-                        2,
+                        // No read-ahead buffering needed, reserve memory for 1 batch per file
+                        1,
                         // we must have at least 2 streams to merge
                         2_usize.saturating_sub(sorted_streams.len()),
                         &mut memory_reservation,
@@ -273,7 +274,6 @@ impl MultiLevelMergeBuilder {
                     let stream = self
                         .spill_manager
                         .clone()
-                        .with_batch_read_buffer_capacity(buffer_size)
                         .read_spill_as_stream(
                             spill.file,
                             Some(spill.max_record_batch_memory),
diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_manager.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_manager.rs
index 89b0276206774..7bd42e8290cdf 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_manager.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_manager.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use super::{SpillReaderStream, in_progress_spill_file::InProgressSpillFile};
 use crate::coop::cooperative;
-use crate::{common::spawn_buffered, metrics::SpillMetrics};
+use crate::metrics::SpillMetrics;
 
 /// The `SpillManager` is responsible for the following tasks:
 /// - Reading and writing `RecordBatch`es to raw files based on the provided configurations.
@@ -41,8 +41,6 @@ pub struct SpillManager {
     env: Arc<RuntimeEnv>,
     pub(crate) metrics: SpillMetrics,
     schema: SchemaRef,
-    /// Number of batches to buffer in memory during disk reads
-    batch_read_buffer_capacity: usize,
     /// general-purpose compression options
     pub(crate) compression: SpillCompression,
 }
@@ -53,18 +51,10 @@ impl SpillManager {
             env,
             metrics,
             schema,
-            batch_read_buffer_capacity: 2,
             compression: SpillCompression::default(),
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn with_batch_read_buffer_capacity(
-        mut self,
-        batch_read_buffer_capacity: usize,
-    ) -> Self {
-        self.batch_read_buffer_capacity = batch_read_buffer_capacity;
-        self
-    }
 
     pub fn with_compression_type(mut self, spill_compression: SpillCompression) -> Self {
         self.compression = spill_compression;
@@ -186,7 +176,7 @@ impl SpillManager {
             max_record_batch_memory,
         )));
 
-        Ok(spawn_buffered(stream, self.batch_read_buffer_capacity))
+        Ok(stream)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_pool.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_pool.rs
index 8f7f5212f6c91..09a85a3db360f 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_pool.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/spill/spill_pool.rs
@@ -1435,4 +1435,44 @@ mod tests {
 
         Ok(())
     }
+    
+    #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 1)]
+    async fn test_concurrent_writer_reader_race_condition() -> Result<()> {
+        // stress testing the concurncy in the reader and the reader to make sure there is now race condtion
+        // going for 100 iterations with a 5 batches per iteration 
+        const NUM_BATCHES: usize = 5;
+        const ITERATIONS: usize = 100;
+
+        for iteration in 0..ITERATIONS {
+            let (writer, mut reader) = create_spill_channel(1024 * 1024);
+    
+            let writer_handle = SpawnedTask::spawn(async move {
+                for i in 0..NUM_BATCHES {
+                    let batch = create_test_batch(i as i32 * 10, 10);
+                    writer.push_batch(&batch).unwrap();
+                    tokio::task::yield_now().await;
+                }
+            });
+    
+            let reader_handle = SpawnedTask::spawn(async move {
+                let mut batches_read = 0;
+                while let Some(result) = reader.next().await {
+                    let _batch = result.unwrap();
+                    batches_read += 1;
+                    tokio::task::yield_now().await;
+                }
+                batches_read
+            });
+    
+            writer_handle.join().await.unwrap();
+            let batches_read = reader_handle.join().await.unwrap();
+
+            assert_eq!(
+                batches_read, NUM_BATCHES,
+                "Iteration {iteration}: Expected {NUM_BATCHES} got {batches_read}."
+            );
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
 }