diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Common/ring_buffer_helper.h b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Common/ring_buffer_helper.h
index 05914b54ae..bc4afbd2b6 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Common/ring_buffer_helper.h
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Common/ring_buffer_helper.h
@@ -142,11 +142,6 @@ public:
 		m_get_pos = value;
 	}
 
-	virtual bool is_critical() const
-	{
-		return m_min_guard_size >= m_size;
-	}
-
 	void reset_allocation_stats()
 	{
 		m_get_pos = get_current_put_pos_minus_one();
diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.cpp b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.cpp
index e577b01c61..109cb57bc9 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.cpp
@@ -54,19 +54,6 @@ namespace vk::data_heap_manager
 		}
 	}
 
-	bool any_critical()
-	{
-		for (auto& heap : g_managed_heaps)
-		{
-			if (heap->is_critical())
-			{
-				return true;
-			}
-		}
-
-		return false;
-	}
-
 	void reset()
 	{
 		for (auto& heap : g_managed_heaps)
diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.h b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.h
index 54a7adf422..14a140fefb 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.h
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDataHeapManager.h
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@ namespace vk
 		// Reset all managed heap allocations
 		void reset_heap_allocations();
 
-		// Check if any managed heap is in critical state
-		bool any_critical();
-
 		// Cleanup
 		void reset();
 	}
diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDraw.cpp b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDraw.cpp
index 6a505eff64..9b382318a8 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDraw.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKDraw.cpp
@@ -270,7 +270,6 @@ void VKGSRender::load_texture_env()
 		{
 			if (tex.enabled())
 			{
-				check_heap_status(m_texture_upload_buffer_ring_info);
 				*sampler_state = m_texture_cache.upload_texture(*m_current_command_buffer, tex, m_rtts);
 			}
 			else
@@ -429,7 +428,6 @@ void VKGSRender::load_texture_env()
 		{
 			if (rsx::method_registers.vertex_textures[i].enabled())
 			{
-				check_heap_status(m_texture_upload_buffer_ring_info);
 				*sampler_state = m_texture_cache.upload_texture(*m_current_command_buffer, tex, m_rtts);
 			}
 			else
@@ -1140,10 +1138,6 @@ void VKGSRender::end()
 	m_texture_cache.release_uncached_temporary_subresources();
 	m_frame_stats.textures_upload_time += m_profiler.duration();
 
-	// Final heap check...
-	vk::data_heap* vertex_storage_heaps[] = { &m_attrib_ring_info, &m_index_buffer_ring_info, &m_draw_indirect_count_ring_info };
-	check_heap_status(vertex_storage_heaps);
-
 	u32 sub_index = 0;               // RSX subdraw ID
 	m_current_draw.subdraw_id = 0;   // Host subdraw ID. Invalid RSX subdraws do not increment this value
 
diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.cpp b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.cpp
index 2a7030802f..f59663f856 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.cpp
@@ -1149,63 +1149,6 @@ void VKGSRender::notify_tile_unbound(u32 tile)
 	}
 }
 
-bool VKGSRender::check_heap_status(const vk::data_heap& heap)
-{
-	if (!heap.heap || !heap.is_critical()) [[ likely ]]
-	{
-		return false;
-	}
-
-	handle_heap_critical();
-	return true;
-}
-
-bool VKGSRender::check_heap_status(const std::span<vk::data_heap*>& heaps)
-{
-	for (const auto& heap : heaps)
-	{
-		if (!heap->heap || !heap->is_critical()) [[ likely ]]
-		{
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		handle_heap_critical();
-		return true;
-	}
-
-	return false;
-}
-
-void VKGSRender::handle_heap_critical()
-{
-	m_profiler.start();
-
-	vk::frame_context_t *target_frame = nullptr;
-	if (!m_queued_frames.empty())
-	{
-		if (m_current_frame != &m_aux_frame_context)
-		{
-			target_frame = m_queued_frames.front();
-		}
-	}
-
-	if (target_frame == nullptr)
-	{
-		flush_command_queue(true);
-		m_vertex_cache->purge();
-
-		vk::data_heap_manager::reset_heap_allocations();
-		m_last_heap_sync_time = rsx::get_shared_tag();
-	}
-	else
-	{
-		// Flush the frame context
-		frame_context_cleanup(target_frame);
-	}
-
-	m_frame_stats.flip_time += m_profiler.duration();
-}
-
 void VKGSRender::check_present_status()
 {
 	while (!m_queued_frames.empty())
@@ -2009,8 +1952,6 @@ void VKGSRender::load_program_env()
 
 	if (update_vertex_env)
 	{
-		check_heap_status(m_vertex_env_ring_info);
-
 		// Vertex state
 		const auto mem = m_vertex_env_ring_info.static_alloc<256>();
 		auto buf = static_cast<u8*>(m_vertex_env_ring_info.map(mem, 148));
@@ -2076,8 +2017,6 @@ void VKGSRender::load_program_env()
 
 	if (update_fragment_constants && !m_shader_interpreter.is_interpreter(m_program))
 	{
-		check_heap_status(m_fragment_constants_ring_info);
-
 		// Fragment constants
 		if (fragment_constants_size)
 		{
@@ -2098,8 +2037,6 @@ void VKGSRender::load_program_env()
 
 	if (update_fragment_env)
 	{
-		check_heap_status(m_fragment_env_ring_info);
-
 		auto mem = m_fragment_env_ring_info.static_alloc<256>();
 		auto buf = m_fragment_env_ring_info.map(mem, 32);
 
@@ -2110,8 +2047,6 @@ void VKGSRender::load_program_env()
 
 	if (update_fragment_texture_env)
 	{
-		check_heap_status(m_fragment_texture_params_ring_info);
-
 		auto mem = m_fragment_texture_params_ring_info.static_alloc<256, 768>();
 		auto buf = m_fragment_texture_params_ring_info.map(mem, 768);
 
@@ -2122,8 +2057,6 @@ void VKGSRender::load_program_env()
 
 	if (update_raster_env)
 	{
-		check_heap_status(m_raster_env_ring_info);
-
 		auto mem = m_raster_env_ring_info.static_alloc<256>();
 		auto buf = m_raster_env_ring_info.map(mem, 128);
 
@@ -2240,11 +2173,6 @@ void VKGSRender::upload_transform_constants(const rsx::io_buffer& buffer)
 
 	if (transform_constants_size)
 	{
-		auto& data_source = (current_vertex_program.ctrl & RSX_SHADER_CONTROL_INSTANCED_CONSTANTS)
-		? m_instancing_buffer_ring_info
-		: m_transform_constants_ring_info;
-		check_heap_status(data_source);
-
 		buffer.reserve(transform_constants_size);
 		auto buf = buffer.data();
 
@@ -2732,9 +2660,6 @@ bool VKGSRender::scaled_image_from_memory(const rsx::blit_src_info& src, const r
 	if (swapchain_unavailable)
 		return false;
 
-	// Verify enough memory exists before attempting to handle data transfer
-	check_heap_status(m_texture_upload_buffer_ring_info);
-
 	if (m_texture_cache.blit(src, dst, interpolate, m_rtts, *m_current_command_buffer))
 	{
 		m_samplers_dirty.store(true);
diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.h b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.h
index 0fc1e54950..600a7b306d 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.h
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/VKGSRender.h
@@ -218,10 +218,6 @@ private:
 	VkRenderPass get_render_pass();
 
 	void update_draw_state();
-
-	void handle_heap_critical();
-	bool check_heap_status(const vk::data_heap& heap);
-	bool check_heap_status(const std::span<vk::data_heap*>& heaps);
 	void check_present_status();
 
 	VkDescriptorSet allocate_descriptor_set();
diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.cpp b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.cpp
index 826b7a268c..1d7fab0cab 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.cpp
@@ -51,13 +51,6 @@ namespace vk
 
 	bool data_heap::grow(usz size)
 	{
-		if (shadow)
-		{
-			// Shadowed. Growing this can be messy as it requires double allocation (macOS only)
-			rsx_log.error("[%s] Auto-grow of shadowed heaps is not currently supported. This error should typically only be seen on MacOS.", m_name);
-			return false;
-		}
-
 		// Create new heap. All sizes are aligned up by 64M, upto 1GiB
 		const usz size_limit = 1024 * 0x100000;
 		usz aligned_new_size = utils::align(m_size + size, 64 * 0x100000);
@@ -88,7 +81,19 @@ namespace vk
 		::data_heap::init(aligned_new_size, m_name, m_min_guard_size);
 
 		// Discard old heap and create a new one. Old heap will be garbage collected when no longer needed
-		get_resource_manager()->dispose(heap);
+		auto gc = get_resource_manager();
+		if (shadow)
+		{
+			rsx_log.warning("Buffer usage %u is not heap-compatible using this driver, explicit staging buffer in use", usage);
+
+			gc->dispose(shadow);
+			shadow = std::make_unique<buffer>(*g_render_device, aligned_new_size, memory_index, memory_flags, VK_BUFFER_USAGE_TRANSFER_SRC_BIT, 0, VMM_ALLOCATION_POOL_SYSTEM);
+			usage |= VK_BUFFER_USAGE_TRANSFER_DST_BIT;
+			memory_flags = VK_MEMORY_PROPERTY_DEVICE_LOCAL_BIT;
+			memory_index = memory_map.device_local;
+		}
+
+		gc->dispose(heap);
 		heap = std::make_unique<buffer>(*g_render_device, aligned_new_size, memory_index, memory_flags, usage, 0, VMM_ALLOCATION_POOL_SYSTEM);
 
 		if (notify_on_grow)
@@ -154,20 +159,6 @@ namespace vk
 		return !dirty_ranges.empty();
 	}
 
-	bool data_heap::is_critical() const
-	{
-		if (!::data_heap::is_critical())
-			return false;
-
-		// By default, allow the size to grow upto 8x larger
-		// This value is arbitrary, theoretically it is possible to allow infinite stretching to improve performance
-		const usz soft_limit = initial_size * 8;
-		if ((m_size + m_min_guard_size) < soft_limit)
-			return false;
-
-		return true;
-	}
-
 	data_heap* get_upload_heap()
 	{
 		if (!g_upload_heap.heap)
diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.h b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.h
index 6941733cdf..d849cf65d2 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.h
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/VK/vkutils/data_heap.h
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ namespace vk
 
 		// Properties
 		bool is_dirty() const;
-		bool is_critical() const override;
 	};
 
 	extern data_heap* get_upload_heap();