diff --git a/TODO.FACTOR.txt b/TODO.FACTOR.txt
index a893eae6c2..b50f4d59a0 100644
--- a/TODO.FACTOR.txt
+++ b/TODO.FACTOR.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 - if external factor is down, don't add tons of random shit to the       
   dictionary
-- plugin: type "re" in edit word dialog --> hang
 - word preview for parsing words
 
 + ui:
diff --git a/factor/ExternalFactor.java b/factor/ExternalFactor.java
index 2cf9de7fa9..17a70e73a3 100644
--- a/factor/ExternalFactor.java
+++ b/factor/ExternalFactor.java
@@ -133,8 +133,17 @@ public class ExternalFactor extends VocabularyLookup
 	
 			int responseLength = in.readInt();
 			byte[] response = new byte[responseLength];
-			in.readFully(response);
 			
+			int n = 0;
+			while (n < response.length)
+			{
+				int count = in.read(response,n,response.length - n);
+				if (count < 0)
+					throw new EOFException();
+				System.err.println(new String(response,n,count));
+				n += count;
+			}
+
 			String responseStr = new String(response,"ASCII");
 			return responseStr;
 		}
diff --git a/library/io/buffer.factor b/library/io/buffer.factor
index cc1b674d48..eb54cd9a09 100644
--- a/library/io/buffer.factor
+++ b/library/io/buffer.factor
@@ -6,27 +6,30 @@ strings ;
 
 TUPLE: buffer size ptr fill pos ;
 
-: imalloc ( size -- address )
-    "int" "libc" "malloc" [ "ulong" ] alien-invoke ;
+: malloc ( size -- address )
+    "ulong" "libc" "malloc" [ "ulong" ] alien-invoke ;
 
-: ifree ( address -- )
+: free ( address -- )
     "void" "libc" "free" [ "ulong" ] alien-invoke ;
 
-: irealloc ( address size -- address )
-    "int" "libc" "realloc" [ "ulong" "ulong" ] alien-invoke ;
+: realloc ( address size -- address )
+    "ulong" "libc" "realloc" [ "ulong" "ulong" ] alien-invoke ;
 
-: imemcpy ( dst src size -- )
+: memcpy ( dst src size -- )
     "void" "libc" "memcpy" [ "ulong" "ulong" "ulong" ] alien-invoke ;
 
+: check-ptr ( ptr -- ptr )
+    dup 0 = [ "Out of memory" throw ] when ;
+
 C: buffer ( size -- buffer )
     2dup set-buffer-size
-    swap imalloc swap [ set-buffer-ptr ] keep
+    swap malloc check-ptr swap [ set-buffer-ptr ] keep
     0 swap [ set-buffer-fill ] keep
     0 swap [ set-buffer-pos ] keep ;
 
 : buffer-free ( buffer -- )
     #! Frees the C memory associated with the buffer.
-    dup buffer-ptr ifree  0 swap set-buffer-ptr ;
+    dup buffer-ptr free  0 swap set-buffer-ptr ;
 
 : buffer-contents ( buffer -- string )
     #! Returns the current contents of the buffer.
@@ -67,22 +70,29 @@ C: buffer ( size -- buffer )
     #! Returns the amount of data that may be added to the buffer.
     dup buffer-size swap buffer-fill - ;
 
+: eof? ( buffer -- ? ) buffer-fill 0 = ;
+
+: buffer-extend ( length buffer -- )
+    #! Increases the size of the buffer by length.
+    2dup buffer-ptr swap realloc check-ptr
+    over set-buffer-ptr set-buffer-size ;
+
 : check-overflow ( string buffer -- )
-    buffer-capacity swap length < [
-        "Buffer overflow" throw
-    ] when ;
+    over length over buffer-capacity > [
+        dup eof? [
+            >r length r> buffer-extend
+        ] [
+            "Buffer overflow" throw
+        ] ifte
+    ] [
+        2drop
+    ] ifte ;
 
 : >buffer ( string buffer -- )
     2dup check-overflow
     [ dup buffer-ptr swap buffer-fill + string>memory ] 2keep
     [ buffer-fill swap length + ] keep set-buffer-fill ;
 
-: buffer-extend ( length buffer -- )
-    #! Increases the size of the buffer by length.
-    [ buffer-size + dup ] keep [ buffer-ptr swap ] keep
-    >r irealloc r>
-    [ set-buffer-ptr ] keep set-buffer-size ;
-
 : n>buffer ( count buffer -- )
     #! Increases the fill pointer by count.
     [ buffer-fill + ] keep set-buffer-fill ;
@@ -97,7 +107,7 @@ C: buffer ( size -- buffer )
 
 : buffer-append ( buffer buffer -- )
     #! Append first buffer to second buffer.
-    2dup buffer-end over buffer-ptr rot buffer-fill imemcpy
+    2dup buffer-end over buffer-ptr rot buffer-fill memcpy
     >r buffer-fill r> n>buffer ;
 
 : buffer-set ( string buffer -- )
diff --git a/library/test/io/io.factor b/library/test/io/io.factor
index a39d168fb9..9166e62423 100644
--- a/library/test/io/io.factor
+++ b/library/test/io/io.factor
@@ -1,10 +1,5 @@
 IN: temporary
-USE: namespaces
-USE: parser
-USE: streams
-USE: test
-USE: stdio
-USE: math
+USING: math parser stdio streams strings test ;
 
 [ 4 ] [ "/library/test/io/no-trailing-eol.factor" run-resource ] unit-test
 
@@ -52,3 +47,5 @@ USE: math
 [ -1 read ] unit-test-fails
 
 [ "" ] [ 0 read ] unit-test
+
+[ ] [ "123" write 9000 CHAR: x fill write flush ] unit-test
diff --git a/library/unix/io.factor b/library/unix/io.factor
index bc7e411945..f2da188ab0 100644
--- a/library/unix/io.factor
+++ b/library/unix/io.factor
@@ -185,8 +185,6 @@ C: reader ( handle -- reader )
         drop
     ] ifte ;
 
-: eof? ( buffer -- ? ) buffer-fill 0 = ;
-
 TUPLE: read-line-task ;
 
 C: read-line-task ( port -- task )
@@ -295,8 +293,8 @@ C: writer ( fd -- writer )
     #! If the buffer is empty and the string is too long,
     #! extend the buffer.
     dup pending-error
-    dup eof? >r 2dup buffer-capacity > r> and [
-        buffer-extend t
+    dup eof? [
+        2drop t
     ] [
         [ buffer-fill + ] keep buffer-capacity <=
     ] ifte ;