diff --git a/lib/tls.js b/lib/tls.js
index c12513e118..a39c7a6659 100644
--- a/lib/tls.js
+++ b/lib/tls.js
@@ -313,6 +313,8 @@ CryptoStream.prototype._pull = function() {
       return;
     }
 
+    if (tmp.length == 0) continue;
+
     var rv = this._puller(tmp);
 
     if (this.pair._ssl && this.pair._ssl.error) {
@@ -358,7 +360,7 @@ CleartextStream.prototype._pendingBytes = function() {
 
 
 CleartextStream.prototype._puller = function(b) {
-  debug('writng from clearIn');
+  debug('clearIn ' + b.length + ' bytes');
   return this.pair._ssl.clearIn(b, 0, b.length);
 };