diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index e5588963df4c4b..9b43882e574d50 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ function Buffer(subject, encoding) {
       var prevLen = this.length;
       this.length = len;
       truncate(this, this.length);
-      poolOffset -= (prevLen - len);
+      // Only need to readjust the poolOffset if the allocation is a slice.
+      if (this.parent != undefined)
+        poolOffset -= (prevLen - len);
     }
 
   } else if (util.isBuffer(subject)) {