diff --git a/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMF.cpp b/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMF.cpp
index 52efe827460..912be0b9b99 100644
--- a/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMF.cpp
+++ b/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMF.cpp
@@ -2202,7 +2202,7 @@ void VisMF::CloseStream(const std::string &fileName, bool forceClose)
     pifs.pstr = nullptr;
     pifs.isOpen = false;
   }
-  pifs.ioBuffer.clear();
+  VisMFBuffer::ClearBuffer(pifs.ioBuffer);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMFBuffer.H b/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMFBuffer.H
index 843e5713f34..f095dbbebf2 100644
--- a/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMFBuffer.H
+++ b/Src/Base/AMReX_VisMFBuffer.H
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ public:
         ioBufferSize = iobuffersize;
     }
 
+    static void ClearBuffer (IO_Buffer& buf) {
+        IO_Buffer().swap(buf);
+    }
+
 protected:
 
     static AMREX_EXPORT Long ioBufferSize;   //!< ---- the settable buffer size