diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index a9f6da2d8..f4ff34fb4 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+Changes in version 0.2.0.4-alpha - 2007-??-??
+  o Minor features (performance):
+    - Be even more aggressive about releasing RAM from small
+      empty buffers. Thanks to our free-list code, this shouldn't be too
+      performance-intensive.
+
+
 Changes in version 0.2.0.3-alpha - 2007-07-29
   o Major features:
     - The first pieces of our "bridge" design for blocking-resistance
diff --git a/src/or/buffers.c b/src/or/buffers.c
index c5d8b1c7d..30f98bd58 100644
--- a/src/or/buffers.c
+++ b/src/or/buffers.c
@@ -486,7 +486,13 @@ buf_remove_from_front(buf_t *buf, size_t n)
   if (buf->datalen) {
     buf->cur = _wrap_ptr(buf, buf->cur+n);
   } else {
-    buf->cur = buf->mem;
+    if (IS_FREELIST_SIZE(buf->len)) {
+      buf->highwater = 0;
+      if (add_buf_mem_to_freelist(buf))
+        return;
+    } else {
+      buf->cur = buf->mem;
+    }
   }
   check();
 }