diff --git a/pycdfpp/buffers.hpp b/pycdfpp/buffers.hpp
index 186d9f7..33e32ea 100644
--- a/pycdfpp/buffers.hpp
+++ b/pycdfpp/buffers.hpp
@@ -96,9 +96,13 @@ template <CDF_Types data_t>
 [[nodiscard]] py::array make_array(Variable& variable, py::object& obj)
 {
     // static_assert(data_t != CDF_Types::CDF_CHAR and data_t != CDF_Types::CDF_UCHAR);
-    return py::array_t<from_cdf_type_t<data_t>>(shape_ssize_t(variable),
-        strides<from_cdf_type_t<data_t>>(variable), variable.get<from_cdf_type_t<data_t>>().data(),
-        obj);
+    from_cdf_type_t<data_t>* ptr = nullptr;
+    {
+        py::gil_scoped_release release;
+        ptr = variable.get<from_cdf_type_t<data_t>>().data();
+    }
+    return py::array_t<from_cdf_type_t<data_t>>(
+        shape_ssize_t(variable), strides<from_cdf_type_t<data_t>>(variable), ptr, obj);
 }
 
 template <typename T, typename size_type>
@@ -155,9 +159,14 @@ template <CDF_Types T>
 [[nodiscard]] py::buffer_info impl_make_buffer(cdf::Variable& var)
 {
     using U = cdf::from_cdf_type_t<T>;
+    char* ptr = nullptr;
+    {
+        py::gil_scoped_release release;
+        ptr = var.bytes_ptr();
+    }
     if constexpr ((T == CDF_Types::CDF_CHAR) or (T == CDF_Types::CDF_UCHAR))
     {
-        return py::buffer_info(var.bytes_ptr(), /* Pointer to buffer */
+        return py::buffer_info(ptr, /* Pointer to buffer */
             var.shape().back(), /* Size of one scalar */
             fmt::format("{}s", var.shape().back()),
             static_cast<ssize_t>(std::size(var.shape()) - 1), /* Number of dimensions */
@@ -165,7 +174,7 @@ template <CDF_Types T>
     }
     else
     {
-        return py::buffer_info(var.bytes_ptr(), /* Pointer to buffer */
+        return py::buffer_info(ptr, /* Pointer to buffer */
             sizeof(U), /* Size of one scalar */
             py::format_descriptor<U>::format(),
             static_cast<ssize_t>(std::size(var.shape())), /* Number of dimensions */
@@ -177,7 +186,7 @@ template <CDF_Types data_t, bool encode_strings>
 [[nodiscard]] py::object make_str_array(py::object& obj)
 {
     py::module_ np = py::module_::import("numpy");
-    if constexpr(encode_strings)
+    if constexpr (encode_strings)
     {
         return np.attr("char").attr("decode")(py::memoryview(obj));
     }
@@ -185,7 +194,6 @@ template <CDF_Types data_t, bool encode_strings>
     {
         return np.attr("array")(py::memoryview(obj));
     }
-
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/pycdfpp/cdf.hpp b/pycdfpp/cdf.hpp
index 72b4bfd..59bf031 100644
--- a/pycdfpp/cdf.hpp
+++ b/pycdfpp/cdf.hpp
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ void def_cdf_loading_functions(T& mod)
         [](py::bytes& buffer, bool iso_8859_1_to_utf8)
         {
             py::buffer_info info(py::buffer(buffer).request());
+            py::gil_scoped_release release;
             return io::load(static_cast<char*>(info.ptr), static_cast<std::size_t>(info.size),
                 iso_8859_1_to_utf8);
         },
@@ -172,6 +173,7 @@ void def_cdf_loading_functions(T& mod)
             py::buffer_info info(buffer.request());
             if (info.ndim != 1)
                 throw std::runtime_error("Incompatible buffer dimension!");
+            py::gil_scoped_release release;
             return io::load(static_cast<char*>(info.ptr), info.shape[0], iso_8859_1_to_utf8, true);
         },
         py::arg("buffer"), py::arg("iso_8859_1_to_utf8") = false, py::return_value_policy::move,
@@ -180,7 +182,10 @@ void def_cdf_loading_functions(T& mod)
     mod.def(
         "load",
         [](const char* fname, bool iso_8859_1_to_utf8, bool lazy_load)
-        { return io::load(std::string { fname }, iso_8859_1_to_utf8, lazy_load); },
+        {
+            py::gil_scoped_release release;
+            return io::load(std::string { fname }, iso_8859_1_to_utf8, lazy_load);
+        },
         py::arg("fname"), py::arg("iso_8859_1_to_utf8") = false, py::arg("lazy_load") = true,
         py::return_value_policy::move);
 }
@@ -196,14 +201,28 @@ void def_cdf_saving_functions(T& mod)
 
     mod.def(
         "save",
-        [](const CDF& cdf, const char* fname) { return io::save(cdf, std::string { fname }); },
+        [](const CDF& cdf, const char* fname)
+        {
+            py::gil_scoped_release release;
+            return io::save(cdf, std::string { fname });
+        },
         py::arg("cdf"), py::arg("fname"));
 
 
     py::class_<cdf_bytes>(mod, "_cdf_bytes", py::buffer_protocol())
-        .def_buffer([](cdf_bytes& b) -> py::buffer_info
-            { return py::buffer_info(b.data.data(), std::size(b.data), true); });
+        .def_buffer(
+            [](cdf_bytes& b) -> py::buffer_info
+            {
+                py::gil_scoped_release release;
+                return py::buffer_info(b.data.data(), std::size(b.data), true);
+            });
 
     mod.def(
-        "save", [](const CDF& cdf) { return cdf_bytes { io::save(cdf) }; }, py::arg("cdf"));
+        "save",
+        [](const CDF& cdf)
+        {
+            py::gil_scoped_release release;
+            return cdf_bytes { io::save(cdf) };
+        },
+        py::arg("cdf"));
 }