diff --git a/exec.cpp b/exec.cpp
index 428978115..c11d36dfe 100644
--- a/exec.cpp
+++ b/exec.cpp
@@ -801,7 +801,7 @@ void exec(parser_t &parser, job_t *j)
 
                 if (p->next)
                 {
-                    io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_create(0));
+                    io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_t::create(0));
                     j->io.push_back(io_buffer);
                 }
 
@@ -818,7 +818,7 @@ void exec(parser_t &parser, job_t *j)
             {
                 if (p->next)
                 {
-                    io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_create(0));
+                    io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_t::create(0));
                     j->io.push_back(io_buffer);
                 }
 
@@ -1409,7 +1409,7 @@ static int exec_subshell_internal(const wcstring &cmd, wcstring_list_t *lst)
 
     is_subshell=1;
 
-    const shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> io_buffer(io_buffer_create(0));
+    const shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> io_buffer(io_buffer_t::create(0));
 
     prev_status = proc_get_last_status();
 
diff --git a/io.cpp b/io.cpp
index 6970a1c9d..4dfd811e2 100644
--- a/io.cpp
+++ b/io.cpp
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ void io_buffer_read(io_buffer_t *d)
 }
 
 
-io_buffer_t *io_buffer_create(bool is_input)
+io_buffer_t *io_buffer_t::create(bool is_input)
 {
     bool success = true;
     io_buffer_t *buffer_redirect = new io_buffer_t(is_input ? 0 : 1);
diff --git a/io.h b/io.h
index cc2a37667..0c39963fc 100644
--- a/io.h
+++ b/io.h
@@ -119,15 +119,15 @@ private:
     /** buffer to save output in */
     shared_ptr<std::vector<char> > out_buffer;
 
-public:
-    virtual void print() const;
-
     io_buffer_t(int f):
         io_data_t(IO_BUFFER, f),
         out_buffer()
     {
     }
 
+public:
+    virtual void print() const;
+
     ~io_buffer_t();
 
     /** Function to create the output buffer */
@@ -162,6 +162,17 @@ public:
         assert(out_buffer.get() != NULL);
         return out_buffer->size();
     }
+
+    /**
+       Create a IO_BUFFER type io redirection, complete with a pipe and a
+       vector<char> for output. The default file descriptor used is 1 for
+       output buffering and 0 for input buffering.
+
+       \param is_input set this parameter to zero if the buffer should be
+       used to buffer the output of a command, or non-zero to buffer the
+       input to a command.
+    */
+    static io_buffer_t *create(bool is_input);
 };
 
 class io_chain_t : public std::vector<shared_ptr<io_data_t> >
@@ -201,17 +212,6 @@ shared_ptr<const io_data_t> io_chain_get(const io_chain_t &src, int fd);
 shared_ptr<io_data_t> io_chain_get(io_chain_t &src, int fd);
 
 
-/**
-   Create a IO_BUFFER type io redirection, complete with a pipe and a
-   vector<char> for output. The default file descriptor used is 1 for
-   output buffering and 0 for input buffering.
-
-   \param is_input set this parameter to zero if the buffer should be
-   used to buffer the output of a command, or non-zero to buffer the
-   input to a command.
-*/
-io_buffer_t *io_buffer_create(bool is_input);
-
 /**
    Close output pipe, and read from input pipe until eof.
 */
diff --git a/reader.cpp b/reader.cpp
index 56e9f8100..477795837 100644
--- a/reader.cpp
+++ b/reader.cpp
@@ -1064,7 +1064,7 @@ static void run_pager(const wcstring &prefix, int is_quoted, const std::vector<c
                                  is_quoted?L"-q":L"",
                                  prefix_esc.c_str());
 
-    shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> in(io_buffer_create(true));
+    shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> in(io_buffer_t::create(true));
     in->fd = 3;
 
     escaped_separator = escape(COMPLETE_SEP_STR, 1);
@@ -1133,7 +1133,7 @@ static void run_pager(const wcstring &prefix, int is_quoted, const std::vector<c
 
     term_donate();
 
-    shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> out(io_buffer_create(false));
+    shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> out(io_buffer_t::create(false));
     out->fd = 4;
 
     parser_t &parser = parser_t::principal_parser();