diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java
index 5394ba9199..47ba75468a 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/DataBufferUtils.java
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ public abstract class DataBufferUtils {
 									bufferSize);
 					return Flux.generate(generator);
 				},
-				DataBufferUtils::closeChannel
-		);
+				DataBufferUtils::closeChannel)
+				.doOnDiscard(PooledDataBuffer.class, DataBufferUtils::release);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -140,14 +140,16 @@ public abstract class DataBufferUtils {
 		DataBuffer dataBuffer = dataBufferFactory.allocateBuffer(bufferSize);
 		ByteBuffer byteBuffer = dataBuffer.asByteBuffer(0, bufferSize);
 
-		return Flux.using(channelSupplier,
+		Flux<DataBuffer> result = Flux.using(channelSupplier,
 				channel -> Flux.create(sink -> {
-							CompletionHandler<Integer, DataBuffer> completionHandler =
-									new AsynchronousFileChannelReadCompletionHandler(channel,
-											sink, position, dataBufferFactory, bufferSize);
-							channel.read(byteBuffer, position, dataBuffer, completionHandler);
-						}),
+					CompletionHandler<Integer, DataBuffer> completionHandler =
+							new AsynchronousFileChannelReadCompletionHandler(channel,
+									sink, position, dataBufferFactory, bufferSize);
+					channel.read(byteBuffer, position, dataBuffer, completionHandler);
+				}),
 				DataBufferUtils::closeChannel);
+
+		return result.doOnDiscard(PooledDataBuffer.class, DataBufferUtils::release);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -391,12 +393,19 @@ public abstract class DataBufferUtils {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Release the given data buffer, if it is a {@link PooledDataBuffer}.
+	 * Release the given data buffer, if it is a {@link PooledDataBuffer} and
+	 * has been {@linkplain PooledDataBuffer#isAllocated() allocated}.
 	 * @param dataBuffer the data buffer to release
 	 * @return {@code true} if the buffer was released; {@code false} otherwise.
 	 */
 	public static boolean release(@Nullable DataBuffer dataBuffer) {
-		return (dataBuffer instanceof PooledDataBuffer && ((PooledDataBuffer) dataBuffer).release());
+		if (dataBuffer instanceof PooledDataBuffer) {
+			PooledDataBuffer pooledDataBuffer = (PooledDataBuffer) dataBuffer;
+			if (pooledDataBuffer.isAllocated()) {
+				return pooledDataBuffer.release();
+			}
+		}
+		return false;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/NettyDataBuffer.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/NettyDataBuffer.java
index 9cbe8c7826..b603b0d347 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/NettyDataBuffer.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/NettyDataBuffer.java
@@ -259,6 +259,11 @@ public class NettyDataBuffer implements PooledDataBuffer {
 		return new ByteBufOutputStream(this.byteBuf);
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public boolean isAllocated() {
+		return this.byteBuf.refCnt() > 0;
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public PooledDataBuffer retain() {
 		return new NettyDataBuffer(this.byteBuf.retain(), this.dataBufferFactory);
diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/PooledDataBuffer.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/PooledDataBuffer.java
index f12c6d0299..4c83ec37f6 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/PooledDataBuffer.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/buffer/PooledDataBuffer.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2018 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ package org.springframework.core.io.buffer;
  */
 public interface PooledDataBuffer extends DataBuffer {
 
+	/**
+	 * Return {@code true} if this buffer is allocated; {@code false} if it has been deallocated.
+	 * @since 5.1
+	 */
+	boolean isAllocated();
+
 	/**
 	 * Increase the reference count for this buffer by one.
 	 * @return this buffer
@@ -32,9 +38,9 @@ public interface PooledDataBuffer extends DataBuffer {
 	PooledDataBuffer retain();
 
 	/**
-	 * Decrease the reference count for this buffer by one, and release it
+	 * Decrease the reference count for this buffer by one, and deallocate it
 	 * once the count reaches zero.
-	 * @return {@code true} if the buffer was released; {@code false} otherwise.
+	 * @return {@code true} if the buffer was deallocated; {@code false} otherwise.
 	 */
 	boolean release();
 
diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/ReactorServerHttpRequest.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/ReactorServerHttpRequest.java
index a0c343da62..fb3a88e3bb 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/ReactorServerHttpRequest.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/ReactorServerHttpRequest.java
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ import reactor.netty.Connection;
 import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServerRequest;
 
 import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.DataBuffer;
+import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.DataBufferUtils;
 import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.NettyDataBufferFactory;
+import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.PooledDataBuffer;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpCookie;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpHeaders;
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
@@ -153,6 +155,7 @@ class ReactorServerHttpRequest extends AbstractServerHttpRequest {
 		return this.request.remoteAddress();
 	}
 
+	@Override
 	@Nullable
 	protected SslInfo initSslInfo() {
 		SslHandler sslHandler = ((Connection) this.request).channel().pipeline().get(SslHandler.class);
@@ -165,7 +168,8 @@ class ReactorServerHttpRequest extends AbstractServerHttpRequest {
 
 	@Override
 	public Flux<DataBuffer> getBody() {
-		return this.request.receive().retain().map(this.bufferFactory::wrap);
+		Flux<DataBuffer> body = this.request.receive().retain().map(this.bufferFactory::wrap);
+		return body.doOnDiscard(PooledDataBuffer.class, DataBufferUtils::release);
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/UndertowServerHttpRequest.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/UndertowServerHttpRequest.java
index 83c2ba483d..da6c061391 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/UndertowServerHttpRequest.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/server/reactive/UndertowServerHttpRequest.java
@@ -119,7 +119,8 @@ class UndertowServerHttpRequest extends AbstractServerHttpRequest {
 
 	@Override
 	public Flux<DataBuffer> getBody() {
-		return Flux.from(this.body);
+		return Flux.from(this.body)
+				.doOnDiscard(PooledDataBuffer.class, DataBufferUtils::release);
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -216,6 +217,11 @@ class UndertowServerHttpRequest extends AbstractServerHttpRequest {
 			this.pooledByteBuffer = pooledByteBuffer;
 		}
 
+		@Override
+		public boolean isAllocated() {
+			return this.pooledByteBuffer.isOpen();
+		}
+
 		@Override
 		public PooledDataBuffer retain() {
 			return this;