diff --git a/include/common/buffer.h b/include/common/buffer.h
index 2c992c7..5ea8fab 100644
--- a/include/common/buffer.h
+++ b/include/common/buffer.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 };
 
 extern struct pool_head *pool2_buffer;
+extern struct buffer buf_empty;
 
 int init_buffer();
 int buffer_replace2(struct buffer *b, char *pos, char *end, const char *str, int len);
@@ -409,13 +410,27 @@
 	return *buf;
 }
 
-/* Releases buffer *buf.
- */
-static inline void b_free(struct buffer **buf)
+/* Releases buffer *buf (no check of emptiness) */
+static inline void __b_drop(struct buffer **buf)
 {
 	pool_free2(pool2_buffer, *buf);
 }
 
+/* Releases buffer *buf if allocated. */
+static inline void b_drop(struct buffer **buf)
+{
+	if (!(*buf)->size)
+		return;
+	__b_drop(buf);
+}
+
+/* Releases buffer *buf if allocated, and replaces it with &buf_empty. */
+static inline void b_free(struct buffer **buf)
+{
+	b_drop(buf);
+	*buf = &buf_empty;
+}
+
 #endif /* _COMMON_BUFFER_H */
 
 /*
diff --git a/include/proto/channel.h b/include/proto/channel.h
index cf7b413..1c175e9 100644
--- a/include/proto/channel.h
+++ b/include/proto/channel.h
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 /* Initialize all fields in the channel. */
 static inline void channel_init(struct channel *chn)
 {
+	chn->buf = &buf_empty;
 	chn->to_forward = 0;
 	chn->last_read = now_ms;
 	chn->xfer_small = chn->xfer_large = 0;
diff --git a/src/buffer.c b/src/buffer.c
index 9037dd3..7691026 100644
--- a/src/buffer.c
+++ b/src/buffer.c
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@
 
 struct pool_head *pool2_buffer;
 
+/* this buffer is used to have a valid pointer to an empty buffer in channels
+ * which convey no more data.
+ */
+struct buffer buf_empty  = { .p = buf_empty.data };
 
 /* perform minimal intializations, report 0 in case of error, 1 if OK. */
 int init_buffer()