diff --git a/lib/_stream_readable.js b/lib/_stream_readable.js
index 825042baa57..333a3a015d8 100644
--- a/lib/_stream_readable.js
+++ b/lib/_stream_readable.js
@@ -137,8 +137,13 @@ function howMuchToRead(n, state) {
   if (state.objectMode)
     return n === 0 ? 0 : 1;
 
-  if (isNaN(n) || n === null)
-    return state.length;
+  if (isNaN(n) || n === null) {
+    // only flow one buffer at a time
+    if (state.flowing && state.buffer.length)
+      return state.buffer[0].length;
+    else
+      return state.length;
+  }
 
   if (n <= 0)
     return 0;