diff --git a/libjava/ChangeLog b/libjava/ChangeLog
index cadf1aad75a..3100d2fc262 100644
--- a/libjava/ChangeLog
+++ b/libjava/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2003-09-24  Bryce McKinlay  <bryce@mckinlay.net.nz>
+
+	* java/lang/StringBuffer.java (substring): Don't set `shared' on small
+	Strings, even if buffer is already shared.
+
 2003-09-24  Michael Koch  <konqueror@gmx.de>
 
 	* acinclude.m4 (AM_LC_LOCALES): Added check for locale.h.
diff --git a/libjava/java/lang/StringBuffer.java b/libjava/java/lang/StringBuffer.java
index a7c2590f39a..0903b40cc5f 100644
--- a/libjava/java/lang/StringBuffer.java
+++ b/libjava/java/lang/StringBuffer.java
@@ -564,11 +564,12 @@ public final class StringBuffer implements Serializable, CharSequence
       throw new StringIndexOutOfBoundsException();
     if (len == 0)
       return "";
-    // Share unless substring is smaller than 1/4 of the buffer.
-    if ((len << 2) >= value.length)
-      shared = true;
+    // Don't copy unless substring is smaller than 1/4 of the buffer.
+    boolean share_buffer = ((len << 2) >= value.length);
+    if (share_buffer)
+      this.shared = true;
     // Package constructor avoids an array copy.
-    return new String(value, beginIndex, len, shared);
+    return new String(value, beginIndex, len, share_buffer);
   }
 
   /**