diff --git a/include/common/chunk.h b/include/common/chunk.h
index 18f41af54..8225d96f1 100644
--- a/include/common/chunk.h
+++ b/include/common/chunk.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ int chunk_asciiencode(struct chunk *dst, struct chunk *src, char qc);
 int chunk_strcmp(const struct chunk *chk, const char *str);
 int chunk_strcasecmp(const struct chunk *chk, const char *str);
 int alloc_trash_buffers(int bufsize);
+void free_trash_buffers(void);
 struct chunk *get_trash_chunk(void);
 
 static inline void chunk_reset(struct chunk *chk)
diff --git a/src/chunk.c b/src/chunk.c
index 3c1cfdffc..1359adc0c 100644
--- a/src/chunk.c
+++ b/src/chunk.c
@@ -65,6 +65,17 @@ int alloc_trash_buffers(int bufsize)
 	return trash_buf1 && trash_buf2;
 }
 
+/*
+ * free the trash buffers
+ */
+void free_trash_buffers(void)
+{
+	free(trash_buf2);
+	free(trash_buf1);
+	trash_buf2 = NULL;
+	trash_buf1 = NULL;
+}
+
 /*
  * Does an snprintf() at the beginning of chunk <chk>, respecting the limit of
  * at most chk->size chars. If the chk->len is over, nothing is added. Returns