diff --git a/src/bytes/buffer.go b/src/bytes/buffer.go
index 549b077708..0bacbda164 100644
--- a/src/bytes/buffer.go
+++ b/src/bytes/buffer.go
@@ -138,10 +138,8 @@ func (b *Buffer) grow(n int) int {
 	} else if c > maxInt-c-n {
 		panic(ErrTooLarge)
 	} else {
-		// Not enough space anywhere, we need to allocate.
-		buf := makeSlice(2*c + n)
-		copy(buf, b.buf[b.off:])
-		b.buf = buf
+		// Add b.off to account for b.buf[:b.off] being sliced off the front.
+		b.buf = growSlice(b.buf[b.off:], b.off+n)
 	}
 	// Restore b.off and len(b.buf).
 	b.off = 0
@@ -217,16 +215,31 @@ func (b *Buffer) ReadFrom(r io.Reader) (n int64, err error) {
 	}
 }
 
-// makeSlice allocates a slice of size n. If the allocation fails, it panics
-// with ErrTooLarge.
-func makeSlice(n int) []byte {
-	// If the make fails, give a known error.
+// growSlice grows b by n, preserving the original content of b.
+// If the allocation fails, it panics with ErrTooLarge.
+func growSlice(b []byte, n int) []byte {
 	defer func() {
 		if recover() != nil {
 			panic(ErrTooLarge)
 		}
 	}()
-	return make([]byte, n)
+	// TODO(http://golang.org/issue/51462): We should rely on the append-make
+	// pattern so that the compiler can call runtime.growslice. For example:
+	//	return append(b, make([]byte, n)...)
+	// This avoids unnecessary zero-ing of the first len(b) bytes of the
+	// allocated slice, but this pattern causes b to escape onto the heap.
+	//
+	// Instead use the append-make pattern with a nil slice to ensure that
+	// we allocate buffers rounded up to the closest size class.
+	c := len(b) + n // ensure enough space for n elements
+	if c < 2*cap(b) {
+		// The growth rate has historically always been 2x. In the future,
+		// we could rely purely on append to determine the growth rate.
+		c = 2 * cap(b)
+	}
+	b2 := append([]byte(nil), make([]byte, c)...)
+	copy(b2, b)
+	return b2[:len(b)]
 }
 
 // WriteTo writes data to w until the buffer is drained or an error occurs.
diff --git a/src/bytes/buffer_test.go b/src/bytes/buffer_test.go
index 9c9b7440ff..c0855007c1 100644
--- a/src/bytes/buffer_test.go
+++ b/src/bytes/buffer_test.go
@@ -672,3 +672,18 @@ func BenchmarkBufferFullSmallReads(b *testing.B) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkBufferWriteBlock(b *testing.B) {
+	block := make([]byte, 1024)
+	for _, n := range []int{1 << 12, 1 << 16, 1 << 20} {
+		b.Run(fmt.Sprintf("N%d", n), func(b *testing.B) {
+			b.ReportAllocs()
+			for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+				var bb Buffer
+				for bb.Len() < n {
+					bb.Write(block)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}