diff --git a/src/ne_basic.c b/src/ne_basic.c
index 1dc9842b..cf5adf97 100644
--- a/src/ne_basic.c
+++ b/src/ne_basic.c
@@ -142,6 +142,50 @@ int ne_putbuf(ne_session *sess, const char *path,
     return ret;
 }
 
+int ne_getbuf(ne_session *sess, const char *path,
+              char *buf, size_t *buflen)
+{
+    ne_request *req = ne_request_create(sess, "GET", path);
+    int ret;
+    char *ptr;
+
+    do {
+        size_t remain = *buflen;
+        ssize_t rlen = -1;
+
+        ptr = buf;
+
+        ret = ne_begin_request(req);
+        if (ret != NE_OK) break;
+
+        while (remain > 0
+               && (rlen = ne_read_response_block(req, ptr, remain)) > 0) {
+            remain -= rlen;
+            ptr += rlen;
+        }
+
+        if (rlen < 0) {
+            ret = NE_ERROR;
+        }
+        else if (rlen > 0) {
+            ne_set_error(sess, N_("Response buffer size too small"));
+            ret = NE_FAILED;
+        }
+
+        if (ret == NE_OK) ret = ne_end_request(req);
+    } while (ret == NE_RETRY);
+
+    if (ret == NE_OK)
+        *buflen = ptr - buf;
+
+    if (ret != NE_OK)
+        ne_close_connection(sess);
+
+    ne_request_destroy(req);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
 /* Dispatch a GET request REQ, writing the response body to FD fd.  If
  * RANGE is non-NULL, then it is the value of the Range request
  * header, e.g. "bytes=1-5".  Returns an NE_* error code. */
diff --git a/src/ne_basic.h b/src/ne_basic.h
index 22f442e8..001de49d 100644
--- a/src/ne_basic.h
+++ b/src/ne_basic.h
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ int ne_put(ne_session *sess, const char *path, int fd);
 int ne_putbuf(ne_session *sess, const char *path,
               const char *buf, size_t buflen);
 
+/* Perform a GET request on resource at 'path', writing the entity
+ * body which is returned to 'buffer', of maximum length *buflen.  On
+ * return, *buflen is updated to reflect the number of bytes
+ * received. If the response content length exceeds the maximum,
+ * NE_FAILED is returned. */
+int ne_getbuf(ne_session *sess, const char *path,
+              char *buf, size_t *buflen);
+
 #define NE_DEPTH_ZERO (0)
 #define NE_DEPTH_ONE (1)
 #define NE_DEPTH_INFINITE (2)
diff --git a/src/neon.vers b/src/neon.vers
index 38b1339f..d60126f9 100644
--- a/src/neon.vers
+++ b/src/neon.vers
@@ -38,4 +38,5 @@ NEON_0_32 {
 NEON_0_33 {
     ne_add_interim_handler;
     ne_putbuf;
+    ne_getbuf;
 };
diff --git a/test/basic.c b/test/basic.c
index 6b6bd0cc..19924dd7 100644
--- a/test/basic.c
+++ b/test/basic.c
@@ -267,6 +267,61 @@ static int get(void)
     return destroy_and_wait(sess);
 }
 
+
+#define CHUNK(len, data) #len "\r\n" data "\r\n"
+
+#define ABCDE_CHUNKS CHUNK(1, "a") CHUNK(1, "b") \
+ CHUNK(1, "c") CHUNK(1, "d") \
+ CHUNK(1, "e") CHUNK(0, "")
+
+static int getbuf(void)
+{
+    ne_session *sess;
+    char buffer[16];
+    size_t buflen = sizeof buffer;
+
+    CALL(make_session(&sess, single_serve_string,
+                      "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n" "Server: neon-test-server\r\n"
+                      "Transfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n"
+                      "\r\n"
+                      ABCDE_CHUNKS));
+
+    ONREQ(ne_getbuf(sess, "/", buffer, &buflen));
+
+    ONV(buflen != 5, ("unexpected buffer length %" NE_FMT_SIZE_T, buflen));
+
+    ONCMPN("abcde", buffer, "ne_getbuf", "chunked response");
+
+    return destroy_and_wait(sess);
+}
+
+static int getbuf2(void)
+{
+    ne_session *sess;
+    char buf;
+    size_t buflen = sizeof buf;
+    int ret;
+
+    CALL(make_session(&sess, single_serve_string,
+                      "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n" "Server: neon-test-server\r\n"
+                      "Content-Length: 5\r\n"
+                      "\r\n"
+                      "abcde"
+                      "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n" "Server: neon-test-server\r\n"
+                      "Content-Length: 5\r\n"
+                      "\r\n"
+                      "abcde"));
+
+    ret = ne_getbuf(sess, "/", &buf, &buflen);
+    ONV(ret != NE_FAILED, ("overflow case gave %d not FAILED", ret));
+    ONV(buflen != 1, ("buffer length returned as %" NE_FMT_SIZE_T, buflen));
+
+    ret = any_request(sess, "/closeme");
+    ONN("failed to close connection", ret != NE_CONNECT);
+
+    return destroy_and_wait(sess);
+}
+
 #define CLASS_12 (NE_CAP_DAV_CLASS1 | NE_CAP_DAV_CLASS2)
 
 static int options2(void)
@@ -335,6 +390,8 @@ ne_test tests[] = {
     T(fail_range_unsatify),
     T(dav_capabilities),
     T(get),
+    T(getbuf),
+    T(getbuf2),
     T(options2),
     T(put),
     T(NULL) 
diff --git a/test/common/child.c b/test/common/child.c
index 94c0c3e6..e4ab610e 100644
--- a/test/common/child.c
+++ b/test/common/child.c
@@ -415,7 +415,12 @@ int new_spawn_server2(int count, server_fn fn, void *userdata,
                 exit(FAIL);
             }
 
-            NE_DEBUG(NE_DBG_HTTP, "child got connection, invoking server\n");
+            NE_DEBUG(NE_DBG_HTTP, "child: got connection, invoking server\n");
+            if (iter == count) {
+                close(ls);
+                NE_DEBUG(NE_DBG_HTTP, "child: closed listening socket.\n");
+            }
+
             ret = fn(sock, userdata);
             NE_DEBUG(NE_DBG_HTTP, "child iteration #%d returns %d\n",
                      iter, ret);