diff --git a/cJSON.c b/cJSON.c
index 25977fa9a85333045c275e6bb975cf0f047365e2..a823e60de9f9b077453d029c9295f4fa90082779 100644
--- a/cJSON.c
+++ b/cJSON.c
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ static unsigned char *print_number(const cJSON * const item, printbuffer * const
 
     output_buffer->offset += (size_t)length;
 
-    return output_pointer;
+    return output_buffer->buffer + output_buffer->offset;
 }
 
 /* parse 4 digit hexadecimal number */