diff --git a/weed/filer/filer_conf.go b/weed/filer/filer_conf.go
index 27c32adfa..869b3b93d 100644
--- a/weed/filer/filer_conf.go
+++ b/weed/filer/filer_conf.go
@@ -37,22 +37,29 @@ func ReadFilerConf(filerGrpcAddress pb.ServerAddress, grpcDialOption grpc.DialOp
 
 // ReadFilerConfFromFilers reads filer configuration with multi-filer failover support
 func ReadFilerConfFromFilers(filerGrpcAddresses []pb.ServerAddress, grpcDialOption grpc.DialOption, masterClient *wdclient.MasterClient) (*FilerConf, error) {
-	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	var data []byte
 	if err := pb.WithOneOfGrpcFilerClients(false, filerGrpcAddresses, grpcDialOption, func(client filer_pb.SeaweedFilerClient) error {
 		if masterClient != nil {
-			return ReadEntry(masterClient, client, DirectoryEtcSeaweedFS, FilerConfName, &buf)
-		} else {
-			content, err := ReadInsideFiler(client, DirectoryEtcSeaweedFS, FilerConfName)
-			buf = *bytes.NewBuffer(content)
+			var buf bytes.Buffer
+			if err := ReadEntry(masterClient, client, DirectoryEtcSeaweedFS, FilerConfName, &buf); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			data = buf.Bytes()
+			return nil
+		}
+		content, err := ReadInsideFiler(client, DirectoryEtcSeaweedFS, FilerConfName)
+		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		data = content
+		return nil
 	}); err != nil && err != filer_pb.ErrNotFound {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read %s/%s: %v", DirectoryEtcSeaweedFS, FilerConfName, err)
 	}
 
 	fc := NewFilerConf()
-	if buf.Len() > 0 {
-		if err := fc.LoadFromBytes(buf.Bytes()); err != nil {
+	if len(data) > 0 {
+		if err := fc.LoadFromBytes(data); err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("parse %s/%s: %v", DirectoryEtcSeaweedFS, FilerConfName, err)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go b/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go
index 7e6b0b07a..465c2b3ac 100644
--- a/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go
+++ b/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go
@@ -391,8 +391,9 @@ func isRetryableGrpcError(err error) bool {
 
 // shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler checks if we should skip a filer based on recent failures
 // Circuit breaker pattern: skip filers with multiple recent consecutive failures
-func (fc *FilerClient) shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler(index int32) bool {
-	health := fc.filerHealth[index]
+// shouldSkipUnhealthyFilerWithHealth checks if a filer should be skipped based on health
+// Uses atomic operations only - safe to call without locks
+func (fc *FilerClient) shouldSkipUnhealthyFilerWithHealth(health *filerHealth) bool {
 	failureCount := atomic.LoadInt32(&health.failureCount)
 
 	// Check if failure count exceeds threshold
@@ -413,19 +414,34 @@ func (fc *FilerClient) shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler(index int32) bool {
 	return true // Skip this unhealthy filer
 }
 
-// recordFilerSuccess resets failure tracking for a successful filer
-func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerSuccess(index int32) {
+// Deprecated: Use shouldSkipUnhealthyFilerWithHealth instead
+// This function is kept for backward compatibility but requires array access
+func (fc *FilerClient) shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler(index int32) bool {
 	health := fc.filerHealth[index]
+	return fc.shouldSkipUnhealthyFilerWithHealth(health)
+}
+
+// recordFilerSuccessWithHealth resets failure tracking for a successful filer
+func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerSuccessWithHealth(health *filerHealth) {
 	atomic.StoreInt32(&health.failureCount, 0)
 }
 
-// recordFilerFailure increments failure count for an unhealthy filer
-func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerFailure(index int32) {
-	health := fc.filerHealth[index]
+// recordFilerSuccess resets failure tracking for a successful filer
+func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerSuccess(index int32) {
+	fc.recordFilerSuccessWithHealth(fc.filerHealth[index])
+}
+
+// recordFilerFailureWithHealth increments failure count for an unhealthy filer
+func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerFailureWithHealth(health *filerHealth) {
 	atomic.AddInt32(&health.failureCount, 1)
 	atomic.StoreInt64(&health.lastFailureTimeNs, time.Now().UnixNano())
 }
 
+// recordFilerFailure increments failure count for an unhealthy filer
+func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerFailure(index int32) {
+	fc.recordFilerFailureWithHealth(fc.filerHealth[index])
+}
+
 // LookupVolumeIds queries the filer for volume locations with automatic failover
 // Tries all configured filer addresses until one succeeds (high availability)
 // Retries transient gRPC errors (Unavailable, DeadlineExceeded, etc.) with exponential backoff
@@ -459,11 +475,15 @@ func (p *filerVolumeProvider) LookupVolumeIds(ctx context.Context, volumeIds []s
 				i = 0
 			}
 			
-			// Circuit breaker: skip unhealthy filers
-			if fc.shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler(i) {
+			// Get health pointer while holding lock
+			health := fc.filerHealth[i]
+			filerAddress := fc.filerAddresses[i]
+			fc.filerAddressesMu.RUnlock()
+			
+			// Circuit breaker: skip unhealthy filers (no lock needed - uses atomics)
+			if fc.shouldSkipUnhealthyFilerWithHealth(health) {
 				glog.V(2).Infof("FilerClient: skipping unhealthy filer %s (consecutive failures: %d)",
-					fc.filerAddresses[i], atomic.LoadInt32(&fc.filerHealth[i].failureCount))
-				fc.filerAddressesMu.RUnlock()
+					filerAddress, atomic.LoadInt32(&health.failureCount))
 				i++
 				if i >= n {
 					i = 0
@@ -471,9 +491,6 @@ func (p *filerVolumeProvider) LookupVolumeIds(ctx context.Context, volumeIds []s
 				continue
 			}
 
-			filerAddress := fc.filerAddresses[i]
-			fc.filerAddressesMu.RUnlock()
-
 			// Use anonymous function to ensure defer cancel() is called per iteration, not accumulated
 			err := func() error {
 				// Create a fresh timeout context for each filer attempt
@@ -526,7 +543,7 @@ func (p *filerVolumeProvider) LookupVolumeIds(ctx context.Context, volumeIds []s
 
 			if err != nil {
 				glog.V(1).Infof("FilerClient: filer %s lookup failed (attempt %d/%d, retry %d/%d): %v", filerAddress, x+1, n, retry+1, maxRetries, err)
-				fc.recordFilerFailure(i)
+				fc.recordFilerFailureWithHealth(health)
 				lastErr = err
 				i++
 				if i >= n {
@@ -537,7 +554,7 @@ func (p *filerVolumeProvider) LookupVolumeIds(ctx context.Context, volumeIds []s
 
 			// Success - update the preferred filer index and reset health tracking
 			atomic.StoreInt32(&fc.filerIndex, i)
-			fc.recordFilerSuccess(i)
+			fc.recordFilerSuccessWithHealth(health)
 			glog.V(3).Infof("FilerClient: looked up %d volumes on %s, found %d", len(volumeIds), filerAddress, len(result))
 			return result, nil
 		}