diff --git a/src/decoder_allocators.cpp b/src/decoder_allocators.cpp
index 78eac47d..6fcdfb71 100644
--- a/src/decoder_allocators.cpp
+++ b/src/decoder_allocators.cpp
@@ -108,17 +108,21 @@ void zmq::shared_message_memory_allocator::deallocate ()
     if (buf && !c->sub (1)) {
         std::free (buf);
     }
-    release ();
+    clear ();
 }
 
 unsigned char *zmq::shared_message_memory_allocator::release ()
 {
     unsigned char *b = buf;
+    clear ();
+    return b;
+}
+
+void zmq::shared_message_memory_allocator::clear ()
+{
     buf = NULL;
     bufsize = 0;
     msg_content = NULL;
-
-    return b;
 }
 
 void zmq::shared_message_memory_allocator::inc_ref ()
diff --git a/src/decoder_allocators.hpp b/src/decoder_allocators.hpp
index a47ac358..ab6398b5 100644
--- a/src/decoder_allocators.hpp
+++ b/src/decoder_allocators.hpp
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ class shared_message_memory_allocator
     void advance_content () { msg_content++; }
 
   private:
+    void clear ();
+
     unsigned char *buf;
     std::size_t bufsize;
     const std::size_t max_size;