diff --git a/exec.cpp b/exec.cpp
index c11d36dfe..4c6e8bfc1 100644
--- a/exec.cpp
+++ b/exec.cpp
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@ void exec(parser_t &parser, job_t *j)
 
                 io_remove(j->io, io_buffer);
 
-                io_buffer_read(io_buffer.get());
+                io_buffer->read();
 
                 const char *buffer = io_buffer->out_buffer_ptr();
                 size_t count = io_buffer->out_buffer_size();
@@ -1423,7 +1423,7 @@ static int exec_subshell_internal(const wcstring &cmd, wcstring_list_t *lst)
         status = proc_get_last_status();
     }
 
-    io_buffer_read(io_buffer.get());
+    io_buffer->read();
 
     proc_set_last_status(prev_status);
 
diff --git a/io.cpp b/io.cpp
index 4dfd811e2..0020659cf 100644
--- a/io.cpp
+++ b/io.cpp
@@ -81,23 +81,23 @@ void io_buffer_t::print() const
     fprintf(stderr, "buffer %p (size %lu)\n", out_buffer_ptr(), out_buffer_size());
 }
 
-void io_buffer_read(io_buffer_t *d)
+void io_buffer_t::read()
 {
-    exec_close(d->param1.pipe_fd[1]);
+    exec_close(param1.pipe_fd[1]);
 
-    if (d->io_mode == IO_BUFFER)
+    if (io_mode == IO_BUFFER)
     {
-        /*    if( fcntl( d->param1.pipe_fd[0], F_SETFL, 0 ) )
+        /*    if( fcntl( param1.pipe_fd[0], F_SETFL, 0 ) )
             {
               wperror( L"fcntl" );
               return;
               }  */
-        debug(4, L"io_buffer_read: blocking read on fd %d", d->param1.pipe_fd[0]);
+        debug(4, L"io_buffer_t::read: blocking read on fd %d", param1.pipe_fd[0]);
         while (1)
         {
             char b[4096];
             long l;
-            l=read_blocked(d->param1.pipe_fd[0], b, 4096);
+            l=read_blocked(param1.pipe_fd[0], b, 4096);
             if (l==0)
             {
                 break;
@@ -115,15 +115,15 @@ void io_buffer_read(io_buffer_t *d)
                 {
                     debug(1,
                           _(L"An error occured while reading output from code block on file descriptor %d"),
-                          d->param1.pipe_fd[0]);
-                    wperror(L"io_buffer_read");
+                          param1.pipe_fd[0]);
+                    wperror(L"io_buffer_t::read");
                 }
 
                 break;
             }
             else
             {
-                d->out_buffer_append(b, l);
+                out_buffer_append(b, l);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/io.h b/io.h
index 30d0dfe22..62087037c 100644
--- a/io.h
+++ b/io.h
@@ -163,6 +163,11 @@ public:
         return out_buffer->size();
     }
 
+    /**
+       Close output pipe, and read from input pipe until eof.
+    */
+    void read();
+
     /**
        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
@@ -212,11 +217,6 @@ 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);
 
 
-/**
-   Close output pipe, and read from input pipe until eof.
-*/
-void io_buffer_read(io_buffer_t *d);
-
 /** Print debug information about the specified IO redirection chain to stderr. */
 void io_print(const io_chain_t &chain);
 
diff --git a/reader.cpp b/reader.cpp
index 477795837..f90df311f 100644
--- a/reader.cpp
+++ b/reader.cpp
@@ -1143,7 +1143,7 @@ static void run_pager(const wcstring &prefix, int is_quoted, const std::vector<c
     parser.eval(cmd, io_chain, TOP);
     term_steal();
 
-    io_buffer_read(out.get());
+    out->read();
 
     int nil=0;
     out->out_buffer_append((char *)&nil, 1);