diff --git a/include/grpc/byte_buffer.h b/include/grpc/byte_buffer.h
index a62054ac19a5dfea549e90f5d4d593af8313debf..913e2a7697fbb8921f75e5362c53487f57752f65 100644
--- a/include/grpc/byte_buffer.h
+++ b/include/grpc/byte_buffer.h
@@ -102,6 +102,10 @@ void grpc_byte_buffer_reader_destroy(grpc_byte_buffer_reader *reader);
 int grpc_byte_buffer_reader_next(grpc_byte_buffer_reader *reader,
                                  gpr_slice *slice);
 
+/** Returns a RAW byte buffer instance from the output of \a reader. */
+grpc_byte_buffer *grpc_raw_byte_buffer_from_reader(
+    grpc_byte_buffer_reader *reader);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/core/surface/byte_buffer.c b/src/core/surface/byte_buffer.c
index 4817e004549ce02e6250e77c29277232c1b28c97..a930949f2d4690fea58ee987205659cc66c7e1f7 100644
--- a/src/core/surface/byte_buffer.c
+++ b/src/core/surface/byte_buffer.c
@@ -55,6 +55,20 @@ grpc_byte_buffer *grpc_raw_compressed_byte_buffer_create(
   return bb;
 }
 
+grpc_byte_buffer *grpc_raw_byte_buffer_from_reader(
+    grpc_byte_buffer_reader *reader) {
+  grpc_byte_buffer *bb = malloc(sizeof(grpc_byte_buffer));
+  gpr_slice slice;
+  bb->type = GRPC_BB_RAW;
+  bb->data.raw.compression = GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE;
+  gpr_slice_buffer_init(&bb->data.raw.slice_buffer);
+
+  while (grpc_byte_buffer_reader_next(reader, &slice)) {
+    gpr_slice_buffer_add(&bb->data.raw.slice_buffer, slice);
+  }
+  return bb;
+}
+
 grpc_byte_buffer *grpc_byte_buffer_copy(grpc_byte_buffer *bb) {
   switch (bb->type) {
     case GRPC_BB_RAW:
diff --git a/src/ruby/ext/grpc/extconf.rb b/src/ruby/ext/grpc/extconf.rb
index 0ff8bb9aa7a7b09d2be6f66b1715ebfca092f6cb..6dd023448928e8f80ad349babf014000d270ec4f 100644
--- a/src/ruby/ext/grpc/extconf.rb
+++ b/src/ruby/ext/grpc/extconf.rb
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ $CFLAGS << ' -Wno-return-type '
 $CFLAGS << ' -Wall '
 $CFLAGS << ' -pedantic '
 
-$LDFLAGS << ' -lgrpc -lgpr -ldl'
+$LDFLAGS << ' -lgrpc -lgpr -lz -ldl'
 
 crash('need grpc lib') unless have_library('grpc', 'grpc_channel_destroy')
 have_library('grpc', 'grpc_channel_destroy')
diff --git a/test/core/surface/byte_buffer_reader_test.c b/test/core/surface/byte_buffer_reader_test.c
index 7c2cb9484a4fea3459e6ce24123684126bfc340d..d9c60e421224fd6bbd3db83b0c26dd5c6acfffc6 100644
--- a/test/core/surface/byte_buffer_reader_test.c
+++ b/test/core/surface/byte_buffer_reader_test.c
@@ -160,6 +160,30 @@ static void test_read_deflate_compressed_slice(void) {
   read_compressed_slice(GRPC_COMPRESS_DEFLATE, INPUT_SIZE);
 }
 
+static void test_byte_buffer_from_reader(void) {
+  gpr_slice slice;
+  grpc_byte_buffer *buffer, *buffer_from_reader;
+  grpc_byte_buffer_reader reader;
+
+  LOG_TEST("test_byte_buffer_from_reader");
+  slice = gpr_slice_malloc(4);
+  memcpy(GPR_SLICE_START_PTR(slice), "test", 4);
+  buffer = grpc_raw_byte_buffer_create(&slice, 1);
+  gpr_slice_unref(slice);
+  grpc_byte_buffer_reader_init(&reader, buffer);
+
+  buffer_from_reader = grpc_raw_byte_buffer_from_reader(&reader);
+  GPR_ASSERT(buffer->type == buffer_from_reader->type);
+  GPR_ASSERT(buffer_from_reader->data.raw.compression == GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE);
+  GPR_ASSERT(buffer_from_reader->data.raw.slice_buffer.count == 1);
+  GPR_ASSERT(memcmp(GPR_SLICE_START_PTR(
+                        buffer_from_reader->data.raw.slice_buffer.slices[0]),
+                    "test", 4) == 0);
+
+  grpc_byte_buffer_destroy(buffer);
+  grpc_byte_buffer_destroy(buffer_from_reader);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
   grpc_test_init(argc, argv);
   test_read_one_slice();
@@ -167,6 +191,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
   test_read_none_compressed_slice();
   test_read_gzip_compressed_slice();
   test_read_deflate_compressed_slice();
+  test_byte_buffer_from_reader();
 
   return 0;
 }