diff --git a/src/fmt/fmt_test.go b/src/fmt/fmt_test.go
index aaeac3875a..d2fa81a7b3 100644
--- a/src/fmt/fmt_test.go
+++ b/src/fmt/fmt_test.go
@@ -1429,11 +1429,16 @@ var mallocTest = []struct {
 }{
 	{0, `Sprintf("")`, func() { Sprintf("") }},
 	{1, `Sprintf("xxx")`, func() { Sprintf("xxx") }},
-	{2, `Sprintf("%x")`, func() { Sprintf("%x", 7) }},
-	{2, `Sprintf("%s")`, func() { Sprintf("%s", "hello") }},
-	{3, `Sprintf("%x %x")`, func() { Sprintf("%x %x", 7, 112) }},
-	{2, `Sprintf("%g")`, func() { Sprintf("%g", float32(3.14159)) }}, // TODO: Can this be 1?
-	{1, `Fprintf(buf, "%s")`, func() { mallocBuf.Reset(); Fprintf(&mallocBuf, "%s", "hello") }},
+	{0, `Sprintf("%x")`, func() { Sprintf("%x", 7) }},
+	{1, `Sprintf("%x")`, func() { Sprintf("%x", 1<<16) }},
+	{3, `Sprintf("%80000s")`, func() { Sprintf("%80000s", "hello") }}, // large buffer (>64KB)
+	{1, `Sprintf("%s")`, func() { Sprintf("%s", "hello") }},
+	{1, `Sprintf("%x %x")`, func() { Sprintf("%x %x", 7, 112) }},
+	{1, `Sprintf("%g")`, func() { Sprintf("%g", float32(3.14159)) }},
+	{0, `Fprintf(buf, "%s")`, func() { mallocBuf.Reset(); Fprintf(&mallocBuf, "%s", "hello") }},
+	{0, `Fprintf(buf, "%x")`, func() { mallocBuf.Reset(); Fprintf(&mallocBuf, "%x", 7) }},
+	{0, `Fprintf(buf, "%x")`, func() { mallocBuf.Reset(); Fprintf(&mallocBuf, "%x", 1<<16) }},
+	{2, `Fprintf(buf, "%80000s")`, func() { mallocBuf.Reset(); Fprintf(&mallocBuf, "%80000s", "hello") }}, // large buffer (>64KB)
 	// If the interface value doesn't need to allocate, amortized allocation overhead should be zero.
 	{0, `Fprintf(buf, "%x %x %x")`, func() {
 		mallocBuf.Reset()
diff --git a/src/fmt/print.go b/src/fmt/print.go
index 85f70439f3..8082d13874 100644
--- a/src/fmt/print.go
+++ b/src/fmt/print.go
@@ -172,15 +172,17 @@ func newPrinter() *pp {
 func (p *pp) free() {
 	// Proper usage of a sync.Pool requires each entry to have approximately
 	// the same memory cost. To obtain this property when the stored type
-	// contains a variably-sized buffer, we add a hard limit on the maximum buffer
-	// to place back in the pool.
+	// contains a variably-sized buffer, we add a hard limit on the maximum
+	// buffer to place back in the pool. If the buffer is larger than the
+	// limit, we drop the buffer and recycle just the printer.
 	//
-	// See https://golang.org/issue/23199
-	if cap(p.buf) > 64<<10 {
-		return
+	// See https://golang.org/issue/23199.
+	if cap(p.buf) > 64*1024 {
+		p.buf = nil
+	} else {
+		p.buf = p.buf[:0]
 	}
 
-	p.buf = p.buf[:0]
 	p.arg = nil
 	p.value = reflect.Value{}
 	p.wrappedErr = nil