diff --git a/disco/gateway/client.py b/disco/gateway/client.py
index 03a9681..1d996c0 100644
--- a/disco/gateway/client.py
+++ b/disco/gateway/client.py
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ ZLIB_SUFFIX = 0xffff
 class GatewayClient(LoggingClass):
     GATEWAY_VERSION = 6
 
-    def __init__(self, client, max_reconnects=5, encoder='json', zlib_enabled=True, ipc=None):
+    def __init__(self, client, max_reconnects=5, encoder='json', zlib_stream_enabled=True, ipc=None):
         super(GatewayClient, self).__init__()
         self.client = client
         self.max_reconnects = max_reconnects
         self.encoder = ENCODERS[encoder]
-        self.zlib_enabled = zlib_enabled
+        self.zlib_stream_enabled = zlib_stream_enabled
 
         self.events = client.events
         self.packets = client.packets
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class GatewayClient(LoggingClass):
         self.ws = None
         self.ws_event = gevent.event.Event()
         self._zlib = zlib.decompressobj()
-        self._buffer = array.array('c')
+        self._buffer = None
 
         # State
         self.seq = 0
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ class GatewayClient(LoggingClass):
 
         gateway_url += '?v={}&encoding={}'.format(self.GATEWAY_VERSION, self.encoder.TYPE)
 
-        if self.zlib_enabled:
+        if self.zlib_stream_enabled:
             gateway_url += '&compress=zlib-stream'
 
         self.log.info('Opening websocket connection to URL `%s`', gateway_url)
@@ -141,16 +141,21 @@ class GatewayClient(LoggingClass):
         self.ws.run_forever(sslopt={"cert_reqs": ssl.CERT_NONE})
 
     def on_message(self, msg):
-        if self.zlib_enabled:
+        if self.zlib_stream_enabled:
+            if not self._buffer:
+                self._buffer = array.array('c' if six.PY2 else 'b')
+
             self._buffer.extend(msg)
 
-            if len(msg) >= 4:
-                suffix = struct.unpack('>I', msg[-4:])[0]
-                if suffix == ZLIB_SUFFIX:
-                    msg = self._zlib.decompress(self._buffer.tostring()).decode('utf-8')
-                    self._buffer = array.array('c')
-            else:
+            if len(msg) < 4:
+                return
+
+            suffix = struct.unpack('>I', msg[-4:])[0]
+            if suffix != ZLIB_SUFFIX:
                 return
+
+            msg = self._zlib.decompress(self._buffer.tostring()).decode('utf-8')
+            self._buffer = None
         else:
             # Detect zlib and decompress
             is_erlpack = ((six.PY2 and ord(msg[0]) == 131) or (six.PY3 and msg[0] == 131))