diff --git a/src/harfbuzz-buffer.c b/src/harfbuzz-buffer.c
index 10c086728..bca5002ea 100644
--- a/src/harfbuzz-buffer.c
+++ b/src/harfbuzz-buffer.c
@@ -103,29 +103,64 @@ hb_buffer_duplicate_out_buffer( HB_Buffer buffer )
 }
 
 HB_Error
-hb_buffer_new( HB_Buffer *buffer )
+hb_buffer_new( HB_Buffer *pbuffer )
 {
+  HB_Buffer buffer;
   HB_Error error;
   
-  if ( ALLOC( *buffer, sizeof( HB_BufferRec ) ) )
+  if ( ALLOC( buffer, sizeof( HB_BufferRec ) ) )
     return error;
 
-  (*buffer)->in_length = 0;
-  (*buffer)->out_length = 0;
-  (*buffer)->allocated = 0;
-  (*buffer)->in_pos = 0;
-  (*buffer)->out_pos = 0;
+  /* not these ones */
+  buffer->allocated = 0;
+  buffer->in_string = NULL;
+  buffer->alt_string = NULL;
+  buffer->positions = NULL;
 
-  (*buffer)->separate_out = FALSE;
-  (*buffer)->in_string = NULL;
-  (*buffer)->out_string = NULL;
-  (*buffer)->alt_string = NULL;
-  (*buffer)->positions = NULL;
-  (*buffer)->max_ligID = 0;
+  /* these should be reset when reusing buffer */
+  buffer->in_length = 0;
+  buffer->out_length = 0;
+  buffer->in_pos = 0;
+  buffer->out_pos = 0;
+  buffer->separate_out = FALSE;
+  buffer->out_string = buffer->in_string;
+  buffer->max_ligID = 0;
+
+  *pbuffer = buffer;
 
   return HB_Err_Ok;
 }
 
+void
+hb_buffer_free( HB_Buffer buffer )
+{
+  FREE( buffer->in_string );
+  FREE( buffer->alt_string );
+  buffer->out_string = NULL;
+  FREE( buffer->positions );
+  FREE( buffer );
+}
+
+void
+hb_buffer_clear( HB_Buffer buffer )
+{
+  buffer->in_length = 0;
+  buffer->out_length = 0;
+  buffer->in_pos = 0;
+  buffer->out_pos = 0;
+  buffer->out_string = buffer->in_string;
+  buffer->separate_out = FALSE;
+}
+
+void
+hb_buffer_clear_output( HB_Buffer buffer )
+{
+  buffer->out_length = 0;
+  buffer->out_pos = 0;
+  buffer->out_string = buffer->in_string;
+  buffer->separate_out = FALSE;
+}
+
 HB_Error
 hb_buffer_clear_positions( HB_Buffer buffer )
 {
@@ -142,15 +177,6 @@ hb_buffer_clear_positions( HB_Buffer buffer )
   return HB_Err_Ok;
 }
 
-void
-hb_buffer_clear_output( HB_Buffer buffer )
-{
-  buffer->out_length = 0;
-  buffer->out_pos = 0;
-  buffer->out_string = buffer->in_string;
-  buffer->separate_out = FALSE;
-}
-
 void
 hb_buffer_swap( HB_Buffer buffer )
 {
@@ -175,27 +201,6 @@ hb_buffer_swap( HB_Buffer buffer )
   buffer->out_pos = tmp_pos;
 }
 
-void
-hb_buffer_free( HB_Buffer buffer )
-{
-  FREE( buffer->in_string );
-  FREE( buffer->alt_string );
-  buffer->out_string = NULL;
-  FREE( buffer->positions );
-  FREE( buffer );
-}
-
-void
-hb_buffer_clear( HB_Buffer buffer )
-{
-  buffer->in_length = 0;
-  buffer->out_length = 0;
-  buffer->in_pos = 0;
-  buffer->out_pos = 0;
-  buffer->out_string = buffer->in_string;
-  buffer->separate_out = FALSE;
-}
-
 HB_Error
 hb_buffer_add_glyph( HB_Buffer buffer,
 		      FT_UInt    glyph_index,