diff --git a/buffer-init.c b/buffer-init.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..18ad21ea49ffc3c20ca0222c58c5a5dc830d764f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buffer-init.c
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/* buffer-init.c
+ *
+ */
+
+/* nettle, low-level cryptographics library
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2002 Niels Möller
+ *  
+ * The nettle library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your
+ * option) any later version.
+ * 
+ * The nettle library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
+ * or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with the nettle library; see the file COPYING.LIB.  If not, write to
+ * the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston,
+ * MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#include "buffer.h"
+#include "realloc.h"
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+/* This is in a separate file so that we don't link in realloc in
+ * programs that don't need it. */
+
+void
+nettle_buffer_init(struct nettle_buffer *buffer)
+{
+  buffer->contents = NULL;
+  buffer->alloc = 0;
+  buffer->realloc = nettle_realloc;
+  buffer->realloc_ctx = NULL;
+  buffer->size = 0;
+}