diff --git a/buffer.h b/buffer.h
index 3fff05d..e3dca0b 100644
--- a/buffer.h
+++ b/buffer.h
@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@ int buffer_puts(buffer* b,const char* x);
 int buffer_putsalign(buffer* b,const char* x);
 int buffer_putsflush(buffer* b,const char* x);
 
+#if defined(__GNUC__) && !defined(__LIBOWFAT_INTERNAL)
+/* as a little gcc-specific hack, if somebody calls buffer_puts with a
+ * constant string, where we know its length at compile-time, call
+ * buffer_put with the known length instead */
+#define buffer_puts(b,s) (__builtin_constant_p(s) ? buffer_put(b,s,sizeof(s)-1) : buffer_puts(b,s))
+#define buffer_putsflush(b,s) (__builtin_constant_p(s) ? buffer_putflush(b,s,sizeof(s)-1) : buffer_putsflush(b,s))
+#endif
+
 int buffer_putm_internal(buffer*b,...);
 int buffer_putm_internal_flush(buffer*b,...);
 #define buffer_putm(b,...) buffer_putm_internal(b,__VA_ARGS__,(char*)0)
diff --git a/buffer/buffer_puts.c b/buffer/buffer_puts.c
index e53f675..af66bf1 100644
--- a/buffer/buffer_puts.c
+++ b/buffer/buffer_puts.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#define __LIBOWFAT_INTERNAL
 #include "str.h"
 #include "buffer.h"
 
diff --git a/buffer/buffer_putsflush.c b/buffer/buffer_putsflush.c
index e01762d..704b5c8 100644
--- a/buffer/buffer_putsflush.c
+++ b/buffer/buffer_putsflush.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#define __LIBOWFAT_INTERNAL
 #include "str.h"
 #include "buffer.h"