diff --git a/src/buffer.c b/src/buffer.c
index bbd24273..8b77cab6 100644
--- a/src/buffer.c
+++ b/src/buffer.c
@@ -47,19 +47,21 @@ void buffer_free(buffer *b) {
 	free(b);
 }
 
-void buffer_reset(buffer *b) {
+__attribute_cold__
+static void buffer_free_ptr(buffer *b) {
 	if (NULL == b) return;
+	free(b->ptr);
+	b->ptr = NULL;
+	b->used = 0;
+	b->size = 0;
+}
 
-	/* limit don't reuse buffer larger than ... bytes */
-	if (b->size > BUFFER_MAX_REUSE_SIZE) {
-		free(b->ptr);
-		b->ptr = NULL;
-		b->size = 0;
-	} else if (b->size > 0) {
-		b->ptr[0] = '\0';
+void buffer_reset(buffer *b) {
+	if (NULL != b && b->size > 0) {
+		b->used = 0;
+		/* release buffer larger than ... bytes */
+		if (b->size > BUFFER_MAX_REUSE_SIZE) buffer_free_ptr(b);
 	}
-
-	b->used = 0;
 }
 
 void buffer_move(buffer *b, buffer *src) {