diff --git a/alsaaudio.c b/alsaaudio.c
index c0051ae..2c587b7 100644
--- a/alsaaudio.c
+++ b/alsaaudio.c
@@ -1051,7 +1051,7 @@ alsapcm_read(alsapcm_t *self, PyObject *args)
 {
 	int res;
 	int size = self->framesize * self->periodsize;
-	int sizeout;
+	int sizeout = 0;
 	PyObject *buffer_obj, *tuple_obj, *res_obj;
 	char *buffer;
 
@@ -1106,12 +1106,11 @@ alsapcm_read(alsapcm_t *self, PyObject *args)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (res <= 0) {
-		sizeout = 0;
-	} else {
+	if (res > 0 ) {
 		sizeout = res * self->framesize;
 	}
 	
+	if (size != sizeout) {
 #if PY_MAJOR_VERSION < 3
 		/* If the following fails, it will free the object */
 		if (_PyString_Resize(&buffer_obj, sizeout))
@@ -1121,7 +1120,8 @@ alsapcm_read(alsapcm_t *self, PyObject *args)
 		if (_PyBytes_Resize(&buffer_obj, sizeout))
 			return NULL;
 #endif
-
+	}
+	
 	res_obj = PyLong_FromLong(res);
 	if (!res_obj) {
 		Py_DECREF(buffer_obj);