diff --git a/hydrant.go b/hydrant.go
index 3906d0d..1a6c642 100644
--- a/hydrant.go
+++ b/hydrant.go
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func fromNode(in *osm.Node) (*hydrant, error) {
 	}
 
 	if !validFireHydrant {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Did not find required 'emergency=fire_hydrant' tag.")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("did not find required 'emergency=fire_hydrant' tag")
 	}
 
 	return out, nil
diff --git a/osm/osm.go b/osm/osm.go
index 35752e9..febb3fc 100644
--- a/osm/osm.go
+++ b/osm/osm.go
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@ func (c *Client) doPlain(method, path string, body io.Reader) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func (c *Client) do(method, path string, body io.Reader) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
-	var reqBodyBuffer *bytes.Buffer = nil
+	var reqBodyBuffer *bytes.Buffer
 	if body != nil {
-		reqBodyBuffer = bytes.NewBufferString("")
+		reqBodyBuffer = new(bytes.Buffer)
 		io.Copy(reqBodyBuffer, body)
 
 		body = bytes.NewBuffer(reqBodyBuffer.Bytes())