diff --git a/includes/kore.h b/includes/kore.h
index 9805165..2d78462 100644
--- a/includes/kore.h
+++ b/includes/kore.h
@@ -621,9 +621,11 @@ void		net_send_stream(struct connection *, void *,
 
 void		kore_buf_free(struct kore_buf *);
 struct kore_buf	*kore_buf_create(size_t);
+void		kore_buf_init(struct kore_buf *, size_t);
 void		kore_buf_append(struct kore_buf *, const void *, size_t);
 u_int8_t	*kore_buf_release(struct kore_buf *, size_t *);
 void		kore_buf_reset(struct kore_buf *);
+void		kore_buf_destroy(struct kore_buf *);
 
 char	*kore_buf_stringify(struct kore_buf *, size_t *);
 void	kore_buf_appendf(struct kore_buf *, const char *, ...);
diff --git a/src/buf.c b/src/buf.c
index 6920486..e46fec7 100644
--- a/src/buf.c
+++ b/src/buf.c
@@ -27,11 +27,17 @@ kore_buf_create(size_t initial)
 	struct kore_buf		*buf;
 
 	buf = kore_malloc(sizeof(*buf));
+	kore_buf_init(buf, initial);
+
+	return (buf);
+}
+
+void
+kore_buf_init(struct kore_buf *buf, size_t initial)
+{
 	buf->data = kore_malloc(initial);
 	buf->length = initial;
 	buf->offset = 0;
-
-	return (buf);
 }
 
 void
@@ -126,6 +132,16 @@ kore_buf_free(struct kore_buf *buf)
 	kore_mem_free(buf);
 }
 
+void
+kore_buf_destroy(struct kore_buf *buf)
+{
+	if (buf->data)
+		kore_mem_free(buf->data);
+	buf->data = NULL;
+	buf->offset = 0;
+	buf->length = 0;
+}
+
 void
 kore_buf_replace_string(struct kore_buf *b, char *src, void *dst, size_t len)
 {