diff --git a/src/hb-buffer-private.hh b/src/hb-buffer-private.hh
index 68e6fc6b7..069f92558 100644
--- a/src/hb-buffer-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-buffer-private.hh
@@ -48,15 +48,13 @@ struct hb_buffer_t {
   ASSERT_POD ();
 
   /* Information about how the text in the buffer should be treated */
-
   hb_unicode_funcs_t *unicode; /* Unicode functions */
-  hb_segment_properties_t props; /* Script, language, direction */
   hb_buffer_flags_t flags; /* BOT / EOT / etc. */
   hb_codepoint_t replacement; /* U+FFFD or something else. */
 
   /* Buffer contents */
-
   hb_buffer_content_type_t content_type;
+  hb_segment_properties_t props; /* Script, language, direction */
 
   bool in_error; /* Allocation failed */
   bool have_output; /* Whether we have an output buffer going on */
diff --git a/src/hb-buffer.cc b/src/hb-buffer.cc
index 2377ba40d..74ae273ee 100644
--- a/src/hb-buffer.cc
+++ b/src/hb-buffer.cc
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ hb_buffer_t::reset (void)
 
   hb_unicode_funcs_destroy (unicode);
   unicode = hb_unicode_funcs_get_default ();
+  flags = HB_BUFFER_FLAG_DEFAULT;
   replacement = HB_BUFFER_REPLACEMENT_CODEPOINT_DEFAULT;
 
   clear ();
@@ -191,7 +192,6 @@ hb_buffer_t::clear (void)
 
   hb_segment_properties_t default_props = HB_SEGMENT_PROPERTIES_DEFAULT;
   props = default_props;
-  flags = HB_BUFFER_FLAG_DEFAULT;
 
   content_type = HB_BUFFER_CONTENT_TYPE_INVALID;
   in_error = false;
@@ -702,11 +702,11 @@ hb_buffer_get_empty (void)
     HB_OBJECT_HEADER_STATIC,
 
     const_cast<hb_unicode_funcs_t *> (&_hb_unicode_funcs_nil),
-    HB_SEGMENT_PROPERTIES_DEFAULT,
     HB_BUFFER_FLAG_DEFAULT,
     HB_BUFFER_REPLACEMENT_CODEPOINT_DEFAULT,
 
     HB_BUFFER_CONTENT_TYPE_INVALID,
+    HB_SEGMENT_PROPERTIES_DEFAULT,
     true, /* in_error */
     true, /* have_output */
     true  /* have_positions */
diff --git a/test/api/test-buffer.c b/test/api/test-buffer.c
index af73c3f18..17607f1ed 100644
--- a/test/api/test-buffer.c
+++ b/test/api/test-buffer.c
@@ -110,7 +110,6 @@ test_buffer_properties (fixture_t *fixture, gconstpointer user_data)
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_direction (b) == HB_DIRECTION_INVALID);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_script (b) == HB_SCRIPT_INVALID);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_language (b) == NULL);
-  g_assert (hb_buffer_get_flags (b) == HB_BUFFER_FLAG_DEFAULT);
 
 
   /* test property changes are retained */
@@ -131,9 +130,11 @@ test_buffer_properties (fixture_t *fixture, gconstpointer user_data)
   hb_buffer_set_flags (b, HB_BUFFER_FLAG_BOT);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_flags (b) == HB_BUFFER_FLAG_BOT);
 
+  hb_buffer_set_replacement_codepoint (b, (unsigned int) -1);
+  g_assert (hb_buffer_get_replacement_codepoint (b) == (unsigned int) -1);
 
 
-  /* test clear clears all properties but unicode_funcs */
+  /* test clear_contents clears all these properties: */
 
   hb_buffer_clear_contents (b);
 
@@ -141,7 +142,11 @@ test_buffer_properties (fixture_t *fixture, gconstpointer user_data)
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_direction (b) == HB_DIRECTION_INVALID);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_script (b) == HB_SCRIPT_INVALID);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_language (b) == NULL);
-  g_assert (hb_buffer_get_flags (b) == HB_BUFFER_FLAGS_DEFAULT);
+
+  /* but not these: */
+
+  g_assert (hb_buffer_get_flags (b) != HB_BUFFER_FLAGS_DEFAULT);
+  g_assert (hb_buffer_get_replacement_codepoint (b) != HB_BUFFER_REPLACEMENT_CODEPOINT_DEFAULT);
 
 
   /* test reset clears all properties */
@@ -158,6 +163,9 @@ test_buffer_properties (fixture_t *fixture, gconstpointer user_data)
   hb_buffer_set_flags (b, HB_BUFFER_FLAG_BOT);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_flags (b) == HB_BUFFER_FLAG_BOT);
 
+  hb_buffer_set_replacement_codepoint (b, (unsigned int) -1);
+  g_assert (hb_buffer_get_replacement_codepoint (b) == (unsigned int) -1);
+
   hb_buffer_reset (b);
 
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_unicode_funcs (b) == hb_unicode_funcs_get_default ());
@@ -165,6 +173,7 @@ test_buffer_properties (fixture_t *fixture, gconstpointer user_data)
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_script (b) == HB_SCRIPT_INVALID);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_language (b) == NULL);
   g_assert (hb_buffer_get_flags (b) == HB_BUFFER_FLAGS_DEFAULT);
+  g_assert (hb_buffer_get_replacement_codepoint (b) == HB_BUFFER_REPLACEMENT_CODEPOINT_DEFAULT);
 }
 
 static void