diff --git a/bufpool/bufpool.go b/bufpool/bufpool.go
index 261af90038..e827ef7119 100644
--- a/bufpool/bufpool.go
+++ b/bufpool/bufpool.go
@@ -2,28 +2,39 @@ package bufpool
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"io"
 	"sync"
 )
 
 type Pool struct {
-	p sync.Pool
+	p *sync.Pool
 }
 
 func New() *Pool {
+	syncPool := sync.Pool{}
+	syncPool.New = func() interface{} {
+		return &closingBuffer{
+			pool: &syncPool,
+		}
+	}
+
 	return &Pool{
-		p: sync.Pool{
-			New: func() interface{} {
-				return new(bytes.Buffer)
-			},
-		},
+		p: &syncPool,
 	}
 }
 
-func (p *Pool) Get() *bytes.Buffer {
-	return p.p.Get().(*bytes.Buffer)
+func (p *Pool) Get() *closingBuffer {
+	return p.p.Get().(*closingBuffer)
+}
+
+type closingBuffer struct {
+	bytes.Buffer
+	io.Closer
+	pool *sync.Pool
 }
 
-func (p *Pool) Put(b *bytes.Buffer) {
-	b.Reset()
-	p.p.Put(b)
+func (cb *closingBuffer) Close() error {
+	cb.Reset()
+	cb.pool.Put(cb)
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/http_post.go b/http_post.go
index 0a5f018a98..92883e2250 100644
--- a/http_post.go
+++ b/http_post.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package kapacitor
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -10,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
+	"context"
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/bufpool"
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/edge"
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/keyvalue"
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ type HTTPPostNode struct {
 	mu       sync.RWMutex
 	bp       *bufpool.Pool
 	timeout  time.Duration
+	hc       *http.Client
 }
 
 // Create a new  HTTPPostNode which submits received items via POST to an HTTP endpoint
@@ -164,7 +165,6 @@ func (n *HTTPPostNode) doPost(row *models.Row) int {
 
 func (n *HTTPPostNode) postRow(row *models.Row) (*http.Response, error) {
 	body := n.bp.Get()
-	defer n.bp.Put(body)
 
 	var contentType string
 	if n.endpoint.RowTemplate() != nil {
diff --git a/services/alert/handlers.go b/services/alert/handlers.go
index dc5ed92a7b..fe57c5871f 100644
--- a/services/alert/handlers.go
+++ b/services/alert/handlers.go
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func NewExecHandler(c ExecHandlerConfig, d HandlerDiagnostic) alert.Handler {
 
 func (h *execHandler) Handle(event alert.Event) {
 	buf := h.bp.Get()
-	defer h.bp.Put(buf)
+	defer buf.Close()
 	ad := event.AlertData()
 
 	err := json.NewEncoder(buf).Encode(ad)
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ func NewTCPHandler(c TCPHandlerConfig, d HandlerDiagnostic) alert.Handler {
 
 func (h *tcpHandler) Handle(event alert.Event) {
 	buf := h.bp.Get()
-	defer h.bp.Put(buf)
+	defer buf.Close()
 	ad := event.AlertData()
 
 	err := json.NewEncoder(buf).Encode(ad)
diff --git a/services/httppost/service.go b/services/httppost/service.go
index 57060dbea1..db80f6403d 100644
--- a/services/httppost/service.go
+++ b/services/httppost/service.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package httppost
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 	"time"
 
+	"context"
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/alert"
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/bufpool"
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/keyvalue"
@@ -253,6 +253,8 @@ type handler struct {
 	diag Diagnostic
 
 	timeout time.Duration
+
+	hc *http.Client
 }
 
 func (s *Service) Handler(c HandlerConfig, ctx ...keyvalue.T) alert.Handler {
@@ -289,7 +291,6 @@ func (h *handler) Handle(event alert.Event) {
 
 	// Construct the body of the HTTP request
 	body := h.bp.Get()
-	defer h.bp.Put(body)
 	ad := event.AlertData()
 
 	var contentType string