diff --git a/extra/io/buffers/buffers.factor b/extra/io/buffers/buffers.factor
index 042e3953f1..a65717fb86 100755
--- a/extra/io/buffers/buffers.factor
+++ b/extra/io/buffers/buffers.factor
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ HINTS: byte>buffer fixnum buffer ;
         over buffer-read
         swap buffer-pop
     ] [
-        buffer>> f
+        [ buffer-length ] keep
+        buffer-read f
     ] if* ;
 
 : buffer-until ( separators buffer -- byte-array separator )