diff --git a/libr/anal/op.c b/libr/anal/op.c
index 5b1fab4ca7214..4b142f183a366 100644
--- a/libr/anal/op.c
+++ b/libr/anal/op.c
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ R_API RAnalOp *r_anal_op_copy(RAnalOp *op) {
 	nop->src[2] = r_anal_value_copy (op->src[2]);
 	nop->dst = r_anal_value_copy (op->dst);
 	r_strbuf_init (&nop->esil);
-	r_strbuf_set (&nop->esil, r_strbuf_get (&op->esil));
+	r_strbuf_copy (&nop->esil, &op->esil);
 	return nop;
 }
 
diff --git a/libr/include/r_util/r_strbuf.h b/libr/include/r_util/r_strbuf.h
index f9d60d25c5116..ac2bf7d91267a 100644
--- a/libr/include/r_util/r_strbuf.h
+++ b/libr/include/r_util/r_strbuf.h
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ R_API int r_strbuf_length(RStrBuf *sb);
 R_API void r_strbuf_free(RStrBuf *sb);
 R_API void r_strbuf_fini(RStrBuf *sb);
 R_API void r_strbuf_init(RStrBuf *sb);
+R_API bool r_strbuf_copy(RStrBuf *dst, RStrBuf *src);
 R_API bool r_strbuf_equals(RStrBuf *sa, RStrBuf *sb);
 R_API bool r_strbuf_reserve(RStrBuf *sb, int len);
 
diff --git a/libr/util/strbuf.c b/libr/util/strbuf.c
index 497a8a3bb82c8..dd92ebdca1af9 100644
--- a/libr/util/strbuf.c
+++ b/libr/util/strbuf.c
@@ -30,6 +30,25 @@ R_API void r_strbuf_init(RStrBuf *sb) {
 	memset (sb, 0, sizeof (RStrBuf));
 }
 
+R_API bool r_strbuf_copy(RStrBuf *dst, RStrBuf *src) {
+	r_return_val_if_fail (dst && src, false);
+	if (src->ptr) {
+		char *p = malloc (src->ptrlen);
+		if (!p) {
+			return false;
+		}
+		memcpy (p, src->ptr, src->ptrlen);
+		free (dst->ptr);
+		dst->ptr = p;
+		dst->ptrlen = src->ptrlen;
+	} else {
+		R_FREE (dst->ptr);
+		memcpy (dst->buf, src->buf, sizeof (dst->buf));
+	}
+	dst->len = src->len;
+	return true;
+}
+
 R_API bool r_strbuf_reserve(RStrBuf *sb, int len) {
 	r_return_val_if_fail (sb && len > 0, false);