diff --git a/doc/api.markdown b/doc/api.markdown
index e77756f429..e1c405d0f1 100644
--- a/doc/api.markdown
+++ b/doc/api.markdown
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ Allocates a new buffer using an `array` of octets.
 
 Allocates a new buffer containing the given `str`.
 
-### buffer.write(string, encoding, offset)
+### buffer.write(string, offset=0, encoding='utf8')
 
 Writes `string` to the buffer at `offset` using the given encoding. Returns
 number of octets written.  If `buffer` did not contain enough space to fit
@@ -85,11 +85,9 @@ of `'utf8'` encoding, the method will not write partial characters.
 
 Example: write a utf8 string into a buffer, then print it
 
-    var Buffer = require('buffer').Buffer,
-      buf = new Buffer(256),
-      len;
-
-    len = buf.write('\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be', 'utf8', 0);
+    Buffer = require('buffer').Buffer;
+    buf = new Buffer(256);
+    len = buf.write('\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be', 0);
     console.log(len + " bytes: " + buf.toString('utf8', 0, len));
 
     // 12 bytes: ½ + ¼ = ¾
diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index 66401b4460..797d4d67e6 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -38,8 +38,22 @@ Buffer.prototype.toString = function (encoding, start, stop) {
   }
 };
 
-Buffer.prototype.write = function (string, encoding, offset) {
-  encoding = (encoding || 'utf8').toLowerCase();
+Buffer.prototype.write = function (string) {
+  // Support both (string, offset, encoding)
+  // and the legacy (string, encoding, offset)
+  var offset, encoding;
+
+  if (typeof arguments[1] == 'string') {
+    encoding = arguments[1];
+    offset = arguments[2];
+  } else {
+    offset = arguments[1];
+    encoding = arguments[2];
+  }
+
+  offset = offset || 0;
+  encoding = encoding || 'utf8';
+
   switch (encoding) {
     case 'utf8':
     case 'utf-8':