diff --git a/include/maxscale/buffer.h b/include/maxscale/buffer.h
index b5d75dc67..02a208e19 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/buffer.h
+++ b/include/maxscale/buffer.h
@@ -368,16 +368,13 @@ extern char *gwbuf_get_property(GWBUF *buf, char *name);
 /**
  * Convert a chain of GWBUF structures into a single GWBUF structure
  *
- * @param orig  The chain to convert
+ * @param orig  The chain to convert, must not be used after the function call
  *
- * @return NULL if @c buf is NULL or if a memory allocation fails,
- *         @c buf if @c buf already is contiguous, and otherwise
- *         a contigious copy of @c buf.
+ * @return A contiguous version of @c buf.
  *
- * @attention If a non-NULL value is returned, the @c buf should no
- *            longer be used as it may have been freed.
+ * @attention Never returns NULL, memory allocation failures abort the process
  */
-extern GWBUF *gwbuf_make_contiguous(GWBUF *buf);
+extern GWBUF* gwbuf_make_contiguous(GWBUF *buf);
 
 /**
  * Add a buffer object to GWBUF buffer.
diff --git a/server/core/buffer.cc b/server/core/buffer.cc
index f870c838d..a938c1f67 100644
--- a/server/core/buffer.cc
+++ b/server/core/buffer.cc
@@ -786,13 +786,8 @@ gwbuf_get_property(GWBUF *buf, char *name)
     return NULL;
 }
 
-GWBUF *
-gwbuf_make_contiguous(GWBUF *orig)
+GWBUF* gwbuf_make_contiguous(GWBUF *orig)
 {
-    GWBUF   *newbuf;
-    uint8_t *ptr;
-    int     len;
-
     if (orig == NULL)
     {
         ss_info_dassert(!true, "gwbuf_make_contiguous: NULL buffer");
@@ -803,20 +798,21 @@ gwbuf_make_contiguous(GWBUF *orig)
         return orig;
     }
 
-    if ((newbuf = gwbuf_alloc(gwbuf_length(orig))) != NULL)
-    {
-        newbuf->gwbuf_type = orig->gwbuf_type;
-        newbuf->hint = hint_dup(orig->hint);
-        ptr = GWBUF_DATA(newbuf);
+    GWBUF* newbuf = gwbuf_alloc(gwbuf_length(orig));
+    MXS_ABORT_IF_NULL(newbuf);
 
-        while (orig)
-        {
-            len = GWBUF_LENGTH(orig);
-            memcpy(ptr, GWBUF_DATA(orig), len);
-            ptr += len;
-            orig = gwbuf_consume(orig, len);
-        }
+    newbuf->gwbuf_type = orig->gwbuf_type;
+    newbuf->hint = hint_dup(orig->hint);
+    uint8_t* ptr = GWBUF_DATA(newbuf);
+
+    while (orig)
+    {
+        int len = GWBUF_LENGTH(orig);
+        memcpy(ptr, GWBUF_DATA(orig), len);
+        ptr += len;
+        orig = gwbuf_consume(orig, len);
     }
+
     return newbuf;
 }