diff --git a/src/openvpn/buffer.c b/src/openvpn/buffer.c
index 7395ab29..4226a808 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/buffer.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/buffer.c
@@ -179,14 +179,6 @@ buf_assign(struct buffer *dest, const struct buffer *src)
     return buf_write(dest, BPTR(src), BLEN(src));
 }
 
-struct buffer
-clear_buf(void)
-{
-    struct buffer buf;
-    CLEAR(buf);
-    return buf;
-}
-
 void
 free_buf(struct buffer *buf)
 {
diff --git a/src/openvpn/buffer.h b/src/openvpn/buffer.h
index a754fc14..a088e181 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/buffer.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/buffer.h
@@ -131,8 +131,6 @@ struct gc_arena
 
 void buf_clear(struct buffer *buf);
 
-struct buffer clear_buf(void);
-
 void free_buf(struct buffer *buf);
 
 bool buf_assign(struct buffer *dest, const struct buffer *src);
@@ -213,6 +211,13 @@ gc_freeaddrinfo_callback(void *addr)
     freeaddrinfo((struct addrinfo *) addr);
 }
 
+/** Return an empty struct buffer */
+static inline struct buffer
+clear_buf(void)
+{
+    return (struct buffer) { 0 };
+}
+
 static inline bool
 buf_defined(const struct buffer *buf)
 {