diff --git a/include/linux/seq_buf.h b/include/linux/seq_buf.h
index 8483e4b2d0d2ee..5fb1f12c33f902 100644
--- a/include/linux/seq_buf.h
+++ b/include/linux/seq_buf.h
@@ -21,9 +21,18 @@ struct seq_buf {
 	size_t			len;
 };
 
+#define DECLARE_SEQ_BUF(NAME, SIZE)			\
+	char __ ## NAME ## _buffer[SIZE] = "";		\
+	struct seq_buf NAME = {				\
+		.buffer = &__ ## NAME ## _buffer,	\
+		.size = SIZE,				\
+	}
+
 static inline void seq_buf_clear(struct seq_buf *s)
 {
 	s->len = 0;
+	if (s->size)
+		s->buffer[0] = '\0';
 }
 
 static inline void
@@ -69,8 +78,8 @@ static inline unsigned int seq_buf_used(struct seq_buf *s)
 }
 
 /**
- * seq_buf_terminate - Make sure buffer is nul terminated
- * @s: the seq_buf descriptor to terminate.
+ * seq_buf_str - get %NUL-terminated C string from seq_buf
+ * @s: the seq_buf handle
  *
  * This makes sure that the buffer in @s is nul terminated and
  * safe to read as a string.
@@ -81,16 +90,20 @@ static inline unsigned int seq_buf_used(struct seq_buf *s)
  *
  * After this function is called, s->buffer is safe to use
  * in string operations.
+ *
+ * Returns @s->buf after making sure it is terminated.
  */
-static inline void seq_buf_terminate(struct seq_buf *s)
+static inline const char *seq_buf_str(struct seq_buf *s)
 {
 	if (WARN_ON(s->size == 0))
-		return;
+		return "";
 
 	if (seq_buf_buffer_left(s))
 		s->buffer[s->len] = 0;
 	else
 		s->buffer[s->size - 1] = 0;
+
+	return s->buffer;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace.c b/kernel/trace/trace.c
index d629065c238357..2539cfc20a976b 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace.c
@@ -3828,15 +3828,6 @@ static bool trace_safe_str(struct trace_iterator *iter, const char *str,
 	return false;
 }
 
-static const char *show_buffer(struct trace_seq *s)
-{
-	struct seq_buf *seq = &s->seq;
-
-	seq_buf_terminate(seq);
-
-	return seq->buffer;
-}
-
 static DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(trace_no_verify);
 
 static int test_can_verify_check(const char *fmt, ...)
@@ -3976,7 +3967,7 @@ void trace_check_vprintf(struct trace_iterator *iter, const char *fmt,
 		 */
 		if (WARN_ONCE(!trace_safe_str(iter, str, star, len),
 			      "fmt: '%s' current_buffer: '%s'",
-			      fmt, show_buffer(&iter->seq))) {
+			      fmt, seq_buf_str(&iter->seq.seq))) {
 			int ret;
 
 			/* Try to safely read the string */
diff --git a/lib/seq_buf.c b/lib/seq_buf.c
index b7477aefff537c..23518f77ea9c53 100644
--- a/lib/seq_buf.c
+++ b/lib/seq_buf.c
@@ -109,9 +109,7 @@ void seq_buf_do_printk(struct seq_buf *s, const char *lvl)
 	if (s->size == 0 || s->len == 0)
 		return;
 
-	seq_buf_terminate(s);
-
-	start = s->buffer;
+	start = seq_buf_str(s);
 	while ((lf = strchr(start, '\n'))) {
 		int len = lf - start + 1;