diff --git a/example/truetype/main.go b/example/truetype/main.go
index 6ab93fcc40267255230f7d0a8dc3173c90133828..d188d9b30d8a55476f8b72db00d7860813f376f0 100644
--- a/example/truetype/main.go
+++ b/example/truetype/main.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	i0 := f.Index(c0)
 	hm := f.HMetric(fupe, i0)
-	g := truetype.NewGlyphBuf()
+	g := &truetype.GlyphBuf{}
 	err = g.Load(f, fupe, i0, font.HintingNone)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Println(err)
diff --git a/freetype.go b/freetype.go
index 885de24f454ad4aeb65ced41ba74d785c4de1dbf..a1d4ad155e0cd34dc048c15de6fd0925c5466258 100644
--- a/freetype.go
+++ b/freetype.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func Pt(x, y int) fixed.Point26_6 {
 type Context struct {
 	r        *raster.Rasterizer
 	f        *truetype.Font
-	glyphBuf *truetype.GlyphBuf
+	glyphBuf truetype.GlyphBuf
 	// clip is the clip rectangle for drawing.
 	clip image.Rectangle
 	// dst and src are the destination and source images for drawing.
@@ -334,7 +334,6 @@ func (c *Context) SetClip(clip image.Rectangle) {
 func NewContext() *Context {
 	return &Context{
 		r:        raster.NewRasterizer(0, 0),
-		glyphBuf: truetype.NewGlyphBuf(),
 		fontSize: 12,
 		dpi:      72,
 		scale:    12 << 6,
diff --git a/truetype/glyph.go b/truetype/glyph.go
index 1d549de87e38112bf29afa895ddeaa7acca0fcde..7a4946fe515f01544473ae8e877dd1735243ce4d 100644
--- a/truetype/glyph.go
+++ b/truetype/glyph.go
@@ -515,13 +515,3 @@ func (g *GlyphBuf) addPhantomsAndScale(np0, np1 int, simple, adjust bool) {
 	p = &g.Point[len(g.Point)-1]
 	p.Y = (p.Y + 32) &^ 63
 }
-
-// TODO: is this necessary? The zero-valued GlyphBuf is perfectly usable.
-
-// NewGlyphBuf returns a newly allocated GlyphBuf.
-func NewGlyphBuf() *GlyphBuf {
-	return &GlyphBuf{
-		Point: make([]Point, 0, 256),
-		End:   make([]int, 0, 32),
-	}
-}
diff --git a/truetype/truetype_test.go b/truetype/truetype_test.go
index 0f3253d2af72fe390a1ba28e5aa9fd3c1bd8c5bc..53b81dceb6c384458695cda03d3242ad9aa9f5b2 100644
--- a/truetype/truetype_test.go
+++ b/truetype/truetype_test.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Kern: got %v, want %v", got, want)
 	}
 
-	g := NewGlyphBuf()
+	g := &GlyphBuf{}
 	err = g.Load(f, fupe, i0, font.HintingNone)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Load: %v", err)
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ func testScaling(t *testing.T, h font.Hinting) {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		glyphBuf := NewGlyphBuf()
+		glyphBuf := &GlyphBuf{}
 		for i, want := range wants {
 			if err = glyphBuf.Load(f, fixed.I(tc.size), Index(i), h); err != nil {
 				t.Errorf("%s: glyph #%d: Load: %v", tc.name, i, err)