diff --git a/lib/zlib.js b/lib/zlib.js
index 840927b770d..155924f4ebf 100644
--- a/lib/zlib.js
+++ b/lib/zlib.js
@@ -122,18 +122,18 @@ function zlibBuffer(engine, buffer, callback) {
   var buffers = [];
   var nread = 0;
 
-  engine.on('error', function(err) {
-    engine.removeListener('end');
-    engine.removeListener('error');
+  function onError(err) {
+    engine.removeListener('end', onEnd);
+    engine.removeListener('error', onError);
     callback(err);
-  });
+  }
 
-  engine.on('data', function(chunk) {
+  function onData(chunk) {
     buffers.push(chunk);
     nread += chunk.length;
-  });
+  }
 
-  engine.on('end', function() {
+  function onEnd() {
     var buffer;
     switch(buffers.length) {
       case 0:
@@ -153,7 +153,11 @@ function zlibBuffer(engine, buffer, callback) {
         break;
     }
     callback(null, buffer);
-  });
+  }
+
+  engine.on('error', onError);
+  engine.on('data', onData);
+  engine.on('end', onEnd);
 
   engine.write(buffer);
   engine.end();
diff --git a/test/simple/test-zlib-invalid-input.js b/test/simple/test-zlib-invalid-input.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4c581e1c33d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/simple/test-zlib-invalid-input.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+// Copyright Joyent, Inc. and other Node contributors.
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+// copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+// "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+// without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+// distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
+// persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the
+// following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+// in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+// OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+// MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN
+// NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
+// DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE
+// USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+// test uncompressing invalid input
+
+var common = require('../common.js'),
+    assert = require('assert'),
+    zlib = require('zlib');
+
+var nonStringInputs = [1, true, {a: 1}, ['a']];
+
+nonStringInputs.forEach(function(input) {
+  // zlib.gunzip should not throw an error when called with bad input.
+  assert.doesNotThrow(function () {
+    zlib.gunzip(input, function (err, buffer) {
+      // zlib.gunzip should pass the error to the callback.
+      assert.ok(err);
+    });
+  });
+});