diff --git a/src/osdc/Striper.cc b/src/osdc/Striper.cc
index 4395106eceef1..9cd4697830778 100644
--- a/src/osdc/Striper.cc
+++ b/src/osdc/Striper.cc
@@ -369,7 +369,9 @@ void Striper::StripedReadResult::assemble_result(CephContext *cct,
     size_t len = p->second.first.length();
     if (len < p->second.second) {
       if (zero_tail || bl.length()) {
-	bl.append_zero(p->second.second - len);
+        bufferptr bp(p->second.second - len);
+        bp.zero();
+        bl.push_front(std::move(bp));
 	bl.claim_prepend(p->second.first);
       } else {
 	bl.claim_prepend(p->second.first);