diff --git a/buntdb.go b/buntdb.go
index 4c5926d..21f8b7c 100644
--- a/buntdb.go
+++ b/buntdb.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ type Iterator func(key, val string) bool
 type DB struct {
 	mu        sync.RWMutex      // the gatekeeper for all fields
 	file      *os.File          // the underlying file
-	bufw      *bufio.Writer     // only write to this
+	buf       *bytes.Buffer     // a buffer to write to
 	keys      *btree.BTree      // a tree of all item ordered by key
 	exps      *btree.BTree      // a tree of items ordered by expiration
 	idxs      map[string]*index // the index trees.
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ func Open(path string) (*DB, error) {
 	db.keys = btree.New(btreeDegrees, nil)
 	db.exps = btree.New(btreeDegrees, &exctx{db})
 	db.idxs = make(map[string]*index)
+	db.buf = &bytes.Buffer{}
 	db.config = Config{
 		SyncPolicy:           EverySecond,
 		AutoShrinkPercentage: 100,
@@ -149,7 +150,6 @@ func Open(path string) (*DB, error) {
 			_ = db.file.Close()
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		db.bufw = bufio.NewWriter(db.file)
 	}
 	// start the background manager.
 	go db.backgroundManager()
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ func (db *DB) Close() error {
 	}
 	// Let's release all references to nil. This will help both with debugging
 	// late usage panics and it provides a hint to the garbage collector
-	db.keys, db.exps, db.idxs, db.file, db.bufw = nil, nil, nil, nil, nil
+	db.keys, db.exps, db.idxs, db.file = nil, nil, nil, nil
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -275,6 +275,7 @@ func (db *DB) createIndex(
 	if rect != nil {
 		idx.rtr = rtree.New(idx)
 	}
+
 	db.keys.Ascend(func(item btree.Item) bool {
 		dbi := item.(*dbItem)
 		if !wildcardMatch(dbi.key, idx.pattern) {
@@ -565,7 +566,7 @@ func (db *DB) Shrink() error {
 
 	// we are going to read items in as chunks as to not hold up the database
 	// for too long.
-	wr := bufio.NewWriter(f)
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
 	pivot := ""
 	done := false
 	for !done {
@@ -585,14 +586,15 @@ func (db *DB) Shrink() error {
 						done = false
 						return false
 					}
-					dbi.writeSetTo(wr)
+					dbi.writeSetTo(buf)
 					n++
 					return true
 				},
 			)
-			if err := wr.Flush(); err != nil {
+			if _, err := f.Write(buf.Bytes()); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+			buf.Reset()
 			return nil
 		}()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -648,8 +650,6 @@ func (db *DB) Shrink() error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		// reset the bufio writer
-		db.bufw = bufio.NewWriter(db.file)
 		db.lastaofsz = int(pos)
 		return nil
 	}()
@@ -949,17 +949,18 @@ func (tx *Tx) commit() error {
 	var err error
 	if tx.db.persist && len(tx.commits) > 0 {
 		// Each committed record is written to disk
+		tx.db.buf.Reset()
 		for key, item := range tx.commits {
 			if item == nil {
-				(&dbItem{key: key}).writeDeleteTo(tx.db.bufw)
+				(&dbItem{key: key}).writeDeleteTo(tx.db.buf)
 			} else {
-				item.writeSetTo(tx.db.bufw)
+				item.writeSetTo(tx.db.buf)
 			}
 		}
 		// Flushing the buffer only once per transaction.
 		// If this operation fails then the write did failed and we must
 		// rollback.
-		if err = tx.db.bufw.Flush(); err != nil {
+		if _, err = tx.db.file.Write(tx.db.buf.Bytes()); err != nil {
 			tx.rollbackInner()
 		}
 		if tx.db.config.SyncPolicy == Always {
@@ -1009,14 +1010,14 @@ type dbItem struct {
 }
 
 // writeHead writes the resp header part
-func writeHead(wr *bufio.Writer, c byte, n int) {
+func writeHead(wr *bytes.Buffer, c byte, n int) {
 	_ = wr.WriteByte(c)
 	_, _ = wr.WriteString(strconv.FormatInt(int64(n), 10))
 	_, _ = wr.WriteString("\r\n")
 }
 
 // writeMultiBulk writes a resp array
-func writeMultiBulk(wr *bufio.Writer, bulks ...string) {
+func writeMultiBulk(wr *bytes.Buffer, bulks ...string) {
 	writeHead(wr, '*', len(bulks))
 	for _, bulk := range bulks {
 		writeHead(wr, '$', len(bulk))
@@ -1026,7 +1027,7 @@ func writeMultiBulk(wr *bufio.Writer, bulks ...string) {
 }
 
 // writeSetTo writes an item as a single SET record to the a bufio Writer.
-func (dbi *dbItem) writeSetTo(wr *bufio.Writer) {
+func (dbi *dbItem) writeSetTo(wr *bytes.Buffer) {
 	if dbi.opts != nil && dbi.opts.ex {
 		ex := strconv.FormatUint(
 			uint64(dbi.opts.exat.Sub(time.Now())/time.Second),
@@ -1039,7 +1040,7 @@ func (dbi *dbItem) writeSetTo(wr *bufio.Writer) {
 }
 
 // writeSetTo writes an item as a single DEL record to the a bufio Writer.
-func (dbi *dbItem) writeDeleteTo(wr *bufio.Writer) {
+func (dbi *dbItem) writeDeleteTo(wr *bytes.Buffer) {
 	writeMultiBulk(wr, "del", dbi.key)
 }
 
@@ -1171,11 +1172,8 @@ func (tx *Tx) Get(key string) (val string, err error) {
 		return "", ErrTxClosed
 	}
 	item := tx.db.get(key)
-	if item == nil {
-		return "", ErrNotFound
-	}
-	if item.expired() {
-		// The item exists in the tree, but has expired. Let's assume that
+	if item == nil || item.expired() {
+		// The item does not exists or has expired. Let's assume that
 		// the caller is only interested in items that have not expired.
 		return "", ErrNotFound
 	}
diff --git a/buntdb_test.go b/buntdb_test.go
index 1678b2e..4e84692 100644
--- a/buntdb_test.go
+++ b/buntdb_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package buntdb
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -230,7 +229,7 @@ func TestVariousTx(t *testing.T) {
 	if _, err := db.file.Seek(0, 2); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	db.bufw = bufio.NewWriter(db.file)
+	db.buf = &bytes.Buffer{}
 	if err := db.CreateIndex("blank", "*", nil); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}