diff --git a/panda/src/downloadertools/pdecompress.cxx b/panda/src/downloadertools/pdecompress.cxx
index 200389fb09..645b8ca569 100644
--- a/panda/src/downloadertools/pdecompress.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/downloadertools/pdecompress.cxx
@@ -11,8 +11,12 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
   Filename source_file = argv[1];
 
+#ifdef TESTING_CODE
+  Decompressor decompressor;
+#else
   PT(Buffer) buffer = new Buffer(1000000);
   Decompressor decompressor(buffer);
+#endif
   if (decompressor.decompress(source_file) == false)
     cerr << "Decompress failed" << endl;