diff --git a/red/util.js b/red/util.js
index 012504e3e..7ca72b0e1 100644
--- a/red/util.js
+++ b/red/util.js
@@ -25,7 +25,19 @@ function ensureString(o) {
     return ""+o;
 }
 
+function ensureBuffer(o) {
+    if (Buffer.isBuffer(o)) {
+        return o;
+    } else if (typeof o === "object") {
+        o = JSON.stringify(o);
+    } else if (typeof o !== "string") {
+        o = ""+o;
+    }
+    return new Buffer(o);
+}
+
 module.exports = {
     ensureString: ensureString,
+    ensureBuffer: ensureBuffer,
 };
 
diff --git a/test/red/util_spec.js b/test/red/util_spec.js
index c42aec01e..5200ef122 100644
--- a/test/red/util_spec.js
+++ b/test/red/util_spec.js
@@ -37,5 +37,34 @@ describe("red/util", function() {
             s.should.equal('123');
         });
     });
+
+    describe('ensureBuffer', function() {
+        it('Buffers are preserved', function() {
+            var b = new Buffer('');
+            util.ensureBuffer(b).should.equal(b);
+        });
+        it('string is converted', function() {
+            var b = util.ensureBuffer('foo');
+            var expected = new Buffer('foo');
+            for (var i = 0; i < expected.length; i++) {
+                b[i].should.equal(expected[i]);
+            }
+            Buffer.isBuffer(b).should.equal(true);
+        });
+        it('Object is converted to JSON', function() {
+            var obj = {foo: "bar"}
+            var b = util.ensureBuffer(obj);
+            Buffer.isBuffer(b).should.equal(true);
+            should.deepEqual(JSON.parse(b), obj);
+        });
+        it('stringifies other things', function() {
+            var b = util.ensureBuffer(123);
+            Buffer.isBuffer(b).should.equal(true);
+            var expected = new Buffer('123');
+            for (var i = 0; i < expected.length; i++) {
+                b[i].should.equal(expected[i]);
+            }
+        });
+    });
 });