diff --git a/spec/operators/buffer-spec.ts b/spec/operators/buffer-spec.ts
index 3cda51c918..1f933d8360 100644
--- a/spec/operators/buffer-spec.ts
+++ b/spec/operators/buffer-spec.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { buffer, mergeMap, take } from 'rxjs/operators';
-import { EMPTY, NEVER, throwError, of } from 'rxjs';
+import { EMPTY, NEVER, throwError, of, Subject } from 'rxjs';
 import { TestScheduler } from 'rxjs/testing';
 import { observableMatcher } from '../helpers/observableMatcher';
+import { expect } from 'chai';
 
 /** @test {buffer} */
 describe('Observable.prototype.buffer', () => {
@@ -266,4 +267,23 @@ describe('Observable.prototype.buffer', () => {
       expectSubscriptions(b.subscriptions).toBe(bsubs);
     });
   });
+
+  it('should emit properly with an observable using itself as a notifier', () => {
+    const results: any[] = [];
+    const subject = new Subject<number>();
+
+    const source = subject.pipe(
+      buffer(subject)
+    ).subscribe({
+      next: value => results.push(value),
+      complete: () => results.push('complete')
+    });
+
+    subject.next(1);
+    expect(results).to.deep.equal([[1]]);
+    subject.next(2);
+    expect(results).to.deep.equal([[1], [2]]);
+    subject.complete();
+    expect(results).to.deep.equal([[1], [2], 'complete']);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/internal/operators/buffer.ts b/src/internal/operators/buffer.ts
index 2e068d6cab..19fe5dfa7e 100644
--- a/src/internal/operators/buffer.ts
+++ b/src/internal/operators/buffer.ts
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ class BufferOperator<T> implements Operator<T, T[]> {
   }
 
   call(subscriber: Subscriber<T[]>, source: any): any {
-    return source.subscribe(new BufferSubscriber(subscriber, this.closingNotifier));
+    const bufferSubscriber = new BufferSubscriber(subscriber);
+    subscriber.add(source.subscribe(bufferSubscriber));
+    subscriber.add(innerSubscribe(this.closingNotifier, new SimpleInnerSubscriber(bufferSubscriber)));
+    return subscriber;
   }
 }
 
@@ -68,9 +71,8 @@ class BufferOperator<T> implements Operator<T, T[]> {
 class BufferSubscriber<T> extends SimpleOuterSubscriber<T, any> {
   private buffer: T[] = [];
 
-  constructor(destination: Subscriber<T[]>, closingNotifier: Observable<any>) {
+  constructor(destination: Subscriber<T[]>) {
     super(destination);
-    this.add(innerSubscribe(closingNotifier, new SimpleInnerSubscriber(this)));
   }
 
   protected _next(value: T) {