diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java
index 359cf189c4..cc7a70916f 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java
@@ -532,13 +532,9 @@ public abstract class DataBufferUtils {
 				long pos = this.position.addAndGet(read);
 				dataBuffer.writePosition(read);
 				this.sink.next(dataBuffer);
-				// It's possible for cancellation to happen right before the push into the sink
+				// onNext may have led to onCancel (e.g. downstream takeUntil)
 				if (this.disposed.get()) {
-					// TODO:
-					// This is not ideal since we already passed the buffer into the sink and
-					// releasing may cause something reading to fail. Maybe we won't have to
-					// do this after https://github.com/reactor/reactor-core/issues/1634
-					complete(dataBuffer);
+					complete();
 				}
 				else {
 					DataBuffer newDataBuffer = this.dataBufferFactory.allocateBuffer(this.bufferSize);
@@ -547,12 +543,12 @@ public abstract class DataBufferUtils {
 				}
 			}
 			else {
-				complete(dataBuffer);
+				release(dataBuffer);
+				complete();
 			}
 		}
 
-		private void complete(DataBuffer dataBuffer) {
-			release(dataBuffer);
+		private void complete() {
 			this.sink.complete();
 			closeChannel(this.channel);
 		}
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBuffer.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBuffer.java
index 5c24dc2ac8..a41a99aa69 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBuffer.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBuffer.java
@@ -37,8 +37,6 @@ class LeakAwareDataBuffer implements PooledDataBuffer {
 
 	private final LeakAwareDataBufferFactory dataBufferFactory;
 
-	private int refCount = 1;
-
 
 	LeakAwareDataBuffer(DataBuffer delegate, LeakAwareDataBufferFactory dataBufferFactory) {
 		Assert.notNull(delegate, "Delegate must not be null");
@@ -67,19 +65,24 @@ class LeakAwareDataBuffer implements PooledDataBuffer {
 
 	@Override
 	public boolean isAllocated() {
-		return this.refCount > 0;
+		return this.delegate instanceof PooledDataBuffer &&
+				((PooledDataBuffer) this.delegate).isAllocated();
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public PooledDataBuffer retain() {
-		this.refCount++;
+		if (this.delegate instanceof PooledDataBuffer) {
+			((PooledDataBuffer) this.delegate).retain();
+		}
 		return this;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public boolean release() {
-		this.refCount--;
-		return this.refCount == 0;
+		if (this.delegate instanceof PooledDataBuffer) {
+			((PooledDataBuffer) this.delegate).release();
+		}
+		return isAllocated();
 	}
 
 	// delegation
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBufferFactory.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBufferFactory.java
index e79da10275..62900ad9f5 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBufferFactory.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/LeakAwareDataBufferFactory.java
@@ -99,16 +99,16 @@ public class LeakAwareDataBufferFactory implements DataBufferFactory {
 
 	@Override
 	public DataBuffer allocateBuffer() {
-		return allocateBufferInternal(this.delegate.allocateBuffer());
+		return createLeakAwareDataBuffer(this.delegate.allocateBuffer());
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public DataBuffer allocateBuffer(int initialCapacity) {
-		return allocateBufferInternal(this.delegate.allocateBuffer(initialCapacity));
+		return createLeakAwareDataBuffer(this.delegate.allocateBuffer(initialCapacity));
 	}
 
 	@NotNull
-	private DataBuffer allocateBufferInternal(DataBuffer delegateBuffer) {
+	private DataBuffer createLeakAwareDataBuffer(DataBuffer delegateBuffer) {
 		LeakAwareDataBuffer dataBuffer = new LeakAwareDataBuffer(delegateBuffer, this);
 		this.created.add(dataBuffer);
 		return dataBuffer;