diff --git a/src/applet.c b/src/applet.c
index 6ab092b76..afd76f205 100644
--- a/src/applet.c
+++ b/src/applet.c
@@ -726,7 +726,7 @@ int appctx_fastfwd(struct stconn *sc, unsigned int count, unsigned int flags)
 }
 
 /* Atomically append a line to applet <ctx>'s output, appending a trailing 'LF'.
- * The line is read from <buf> at offset <ofs> relative to the buffer's head,
+ * The line is read from <buf> at offset <ofs> relative to the buffer's origin,
  * for <len> bytes. It returns the number of bytes consumed from the input
  * buffer on success, -1 if it temporarily cannot (buffer full), -2 if it will
  * never be able to (too large msg). The input buffer is not modified. The
@@ -743,7 +743,7 @@ ssize_t applet_append_line(void *ctx, const struct buffer *buf, size_t ofs, size
 	}
 
 	chunk_reset(&trash);
-	b_getblk(buf, trash.area, len, ofs);
+	b_getblk_ofs(buf, trash.area, len, ofs);
 	trash.data += len;
 	trash.area[trash.data++] = '\n';
 	if (applet_putchk(appctx, &trash) == -1)
diff --git a/src/log.c b/src/log.c
index be44e3c2e..d2c0f80dc 100644
--- a/src/log.c
+++ b/src/log.c
@@ -4347,7 +4347,7 @@ static struct applet syslog_applet = {
 
 /* Atomically append an event to applet >ctx>'s output, prepending it with its
  * size in decimal followed by a space.
- * The line is read from <buf> at offset <ofs> relative to the buffer's head,
+ * The line is read from <buf> at offset <ofs> relative to the buffer's origin,
  * for <len> bytes. It returns the number of bytes consumed from the input
  * buffer on success, -1 if it temporarily cannot (buffer full), -2 if it will
  * never be able to (too large msg). The input buffer is not modified. The
@@ -4372,7 +4372,7 @@ ssize_t syslog_applet_append_event(void *ctx, const struct buffer *buf, size_t o
 		return -2;
 
 	/* try to transfer it or report full */
-	trash.data += b_getblk(buf, trash.area + trash.data, len, ofs);
+	trash.data += b_getblk_ofs(buf, trash.area + trash.data, len, ofs);
 	if (applet_putchk(appctx, &trash) == -1)
 		return -1;
 
diff --git a/src/ring.c b/src/ring.c
index 7c78b3301..c1e748476 100644
--- a/src/ring.c
+++ b/src/ring.c
@@ -343,7 +343,8 @@ int ring_dispatch_messages(struct ring *ring, void *ctx, size_t *ofs_ptr, size_t
 	uint64_t msg_len;
 	ssize_t copied;
 	size_t len, cnt;
-	size_t ofs;
+	size_t ofs; /* absolute offset from the buffer's origin */
+	size_t pos; /* relative position from head (0..data-1) */
 	int ret;
 
 	HA_RWLOCK_RDLOCK(RING_LOCK, &ring->lock);
@@ -362,47 +363,49 @@ int ring_dispatch_messages(struct ring *ring, void *ctx, size_t *ofs_ptr, size_t
 		HA_ATOMIC_INC(b_orig(buf) + *ofs_ptr);
 	}
 
-	/* we were already there, adjust the offset to be relative to
-	 * the buffer's head and remove us from the counter.
-	 */
-	ofs = *ofs_ptr - b_head_ofs(buf);
-	if (*ofs_ptr < b_head_ofs(buf))
-		ofs += b_size(buf);
-
+	ofs = *ofs_ptr;
 	BUG_ON(ofs >= buf->size);
-	HA_ATOMIC_DEC(b_peek(buf, ofs));
+	HA_ATOMIC_DEC(b_orig(buf) + ofs);
 
 	/* in this loop, ofs always points to the counter byte that precedes
 	 * the message so that we can take our reference there if we have to
 	 * stop before the end (ret=0).
 	 */
 	ret = 1;
-	while (ofs + 1 < b_data(buf)) {
+	while (1) {
+		/* relative position in the buffer */
+		pos = b_rel_ofs(buf, ofs);
+
+		if (pos + 1 >= b_data(buf)) {
+			/* no more data */
+			break;
+		}
+
 		cnt = 1;
-		len = b_peek_varint(buf, ofs + cnt, &msg_len);
+		len = b_peek_varint(buf, pos + cnt, &msg_len);
 		if (!len)
 			break;
 		cnt += len;
-		BUG_ON(msg_len + ofs + cnt + 1 > b_data(buf));
+		BUG_ON(msg_len + pos + cnt + 1 > b_data(buf));
 
 		copied = msg_handler(ctx, buf, ofs + cnt, msg_len);
 		if (copied == -2) {
 			/* too large a message to ever fit, let's skip it */
-			ofs += cnt + msg_len;
-			continue;
+			goto skip;
 		}
 		else if (copied == -1) {
 			/* output full */
 			ret = 0;
 			break;
 		}
-		ofs += cnt + msg_len;
+	skip:
+		ofs = b_add_ofs(buf, ofs, cnt + msg_len);
 	}
 
-	HA_ATOMIC_INC(b_peek(buf, ofs));
+	HA_ATOMIC_INC(b_orig(buf) + ofs);
 	if (last_ofs_ptr)
 		*last_ofs_ptr = b_tail_ofs(buf);
-	*ofs_ptr = b_peek_ofs(buf, ofs);
+	*ofs_ptr = ofs;
 	HA_RWLOCK_RDUNLOCK(RING_LOCK, &ring->lock);
 	return ret;
 }