diff --git a/src/buffer.cc b/src/buffer.cc
index ae98755b..b9ef6a96 100644
--- a/src/buffer.cc
+++ b/src/buffer.cc
@@ -91,19 +91,13 @@ BufferIterator Buffer::iterator_at(const BufferCoord& coord) const
     return is_end(coord) ? end() : BufferIterator(*this, clamp(coord));
 }
 
-ByteCount Buffer::line_length(LineCount line) const
-{
-    kak_assert(line < line_count());
-    return m_lines[line].length();
-}
-
 BufferCoord Buffer::clamp(BufferCoord coord) const
 {
     if (m_lines.empty())
         return BufferCoord{};
 
     coord.line = Kakoune::clamp(coord.line, 0_line, line_count() - 1);
-    ByteCount max_col = std::max(0_byte, line_length(coord.line) - 1);
+    ByteCount max_col = std::max(0_byte, m_lines[coord.line].length() - 1);
     coord.column = Kakoune::clamp(coord.column, 0_byte, max_col);
     return coord;
 }
diff --git a/src/buffer.hh b/src/buffer.hh
index 7aacb841..4775f44b 100644
--- a/src/buffer.hh
+++ b/src/buffer.hh
@@ -134,8 +134,8 @@ public:
     BufferIterator end() const;
     ByteCount      byte_count() const;
     LineCount      line_count() const;
-    ByteCount      line_length(LineCount line) const;
-    const String&  line_content(LineCount line) const
+
+    const String&  operator[](LineCount line) const
     { return m_lines[line].content; }
 
     // returns an iterator at given coordinates. clamp line_and_column
diff --git a/src/editor.cc b/src/editor.cc
index 7e5c0389..fbd2ae58 100644
--- a/src/editor.cc
+++ b/src/editor.cc
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Editor::Editor(Buffer& buffer)
 static void avoid_eol(const Buffer& buffer, BufferCoord& coord)
 {
     const auto column = coord.column;
-    if (column != 0 and column == buffer.line_length(coord.line) - 1)
+    if (column != 0 and column == buffer[coord.line].length() - 1)
         coord = buffer.char_prev(coord);
 }
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ static BufferCoord prepare_insert(Buffer& buffer, const Selection& sel,
     {
         // special case for end of lines, append to current line instead
         auto pos = std::max(sel.first(), sel.last());
-        if (pos.column == buffer.line_length(pos.line) - 1)
+        if (pos.column == buffer[pos.line].length() - 1)
             return pos;
         else
             return buffer.char_next(pos);
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ void Editor::move_selections(LineCount offset, SelectMode mode)
     {
         CharCount column = m_buffer->char_distance(sel.last().line, sel.last());
         auto line = clamp(sel.last().line + offset, 0_line, m_buffer->line_count()-1);
-        column = std::min(column, m_buffer->line_content(line).char_length()-1);
+        column = std::min(column, (*m_buffer)[line].char_length()-1);
         BufferCoord last = m_buffer->char_advance(line, column);
         sel.first() = mode == SelectMode::Extend ? sel.first() : last;
         sel.last()  = last;
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ void Editor::clear_selections()
     auto& sel = m_selections[m_main_sel];
     auto& pos = sel.last();
 
-    if (pos.column != 0 and pos.column == m_buffer->line_length(pos.line) - 1)
+    if (pos.column != 0 and pos.column == (*m_buffer)[pos.line].length() - 1)
         pos = m_buffer->char_prev(pos);
     sel.first() = pos;
 
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ IncrementalInserter::IncrementalInserter(Editor& editor, InsertMode mode)
             first = sel.min();
             last  = sel.max();
             // special case for end of lines, append to current line instead
-            if (last.column != buffer.line_length(last.line) - 1)
+            if (last.column != buffer[last.line].length() - 1)
                 last = buffer.char_next(last);
             break;
         }
diff --git a/src/file.cc b/src/file.cc
index b4c793ed..d0ed0404 100644
--- a/src/file.cc
+++ b/src/file.cc
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ void write_buffer_to_file(const Buffer& buffer, const String& filename)
     {
         // end of lines are written according to eolformat but always
         // stored as \n
-        memoryview<char> linedata = buffer.line_content(i).data();
+        memoryview<char> linedata = buffer[i].data();
         write(fd, linedata.subrange(0, linedata.size()-1), filename);
         write(fd, eoldata, filename);
     }