diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/TcpConnectionSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/TcpConnectionSpec.scala
index e898131926..188a441d78 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/TcpConnectionSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/TcpConnectionSpec.scala
@@ -164,8 +164,9 @@ class TcpConnectionSpec extends AkkaSpec("akka.io.tcp.register-timeout = 500ms")
       serverSideChannel.read(buffer) must be(0)
       writer.send(connectionActor, ackedWrite)
       writer.expectMsg(Ack)
-      serverSideChannel.read(buffer) must be(8)
+      pullFromServerSide(remaining = 8, into = buffer)
       buffer.flip()
+      buffer.limit must be(8)
 
       // not reply to write commander for writes without Ack
       val unackedWrite = Write(ByteString("morestuff!"))
@@ -173,8 +174,9 @@ class TcpConnectionSpec extends AkkaSpec("akka.io.tcp.register-timeout = 500ms")
       serverSideChannel.read(buffer) must be(0)
       writer.send(connectionActor, unackedWrite)
       writer.expectNoMsg(500.millis)
-      serverSideChannel.read(buffer) must be(10)
+      pullFromServerSide(remaining = 10, into = buffer)
       buffer.flip()
+      buffer.limit must be(10)
       ByteString(buffer).take(10).decodeString("ASCII") must be("morestuff!")
     }
 
@@ -752,13 +754,13 @@ class TcpConnectionSpec extends AkkaSpec("akka.io.tcp.register-timeout = 500ms")
       (sel, key)
     }
 
-    val buffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(TestSize)
+    val defaultbuffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(TestSize)
 
     /**
      * Tries to simultaneously act on client and server side to read from the server
      * all pending data from the client.
      */
-    @tailrec final def pullFromServerSide(remaining: Int, remainingTries: Int = 1000): Unit =
+    @tailrec final def pullFromServerSide(remaining: Int, remainingTries: Int = 1000, into: ByteBuffer = defaultbuffer): Unit =
       if (remainingTries <= 0)
         throw new AssertionError("Pulling took too many loops,  remaining data: " + remaining)
       else if (remaining > 0) {
@@ -775,25 +777,20 @@ class TcpConnectionSpec extends AkkaSpec("akka.io.tcp.register-timeout = 500ms")
         }
 
         val read =
-          if (nioSelector.selectedKeys().contains(serverSelectionKey)) tryReading()
-          else 0
+          if (nioSelector.selectedKeys().contains(serverSelectionKey)) {
+            if (into eq defaultbuffer) into.clear()
+            serverSideChannel.read(into) match {
+              case -1    ⇒ throw new IllegalStateException("Connection was closed unexpectedly with remaining bytes " + remaining)
+              case 0     ⇒ throw new IllegalStateException("Made no progress")
+              case other ⇒ other
+            }
+          } else 0
 
         nioSelector.selectedKeys().clear()
 
-        pullFromServerSide(remaining - read, remainingTries - 1)
+        pullFromServerSide(remaining - read, remainingTries - 1, into)
       }
 
-    private def tryReading(): Int = {
-      buffer.clear()
-      val read = serverSideChannel.read(buffer)
-
-      if (read == 0)
-        throw new IllegalStateException("Made no progress")
-      else if (read == -1)
-        throw new IllegalStateException("Connection was closed unexpectedly with remaining bytes " + remaining)
-      else read
-    }
-
     @tailrec final def expectReceivedString(data: String): Unit = {
       data.length must be > 0