diff --git a/apns.py b/apns.py
index 2a281ce..e41eab0 100644
--- a/apns.py
+++ b/apns.py
@@ -432,20 +432,13 @@ def items(self):
         A generator that yields (token_hex, fail_time) pairs retrieved from
         the APNs feedback server
         """
-        buff = b''
+        buff = bytearray()
         for chunk in self._chunks():
-            buff += chunk
-
-            # Quit if there's no more data to read
-            if not buff:
-                break
-
-            # Sanity check: after a socket read we should always have at least
-            # 6 bytes in the buffer
-            if len(buff) < 6:
+            if not chunk:
                 break
+            buff.extend(chunk)
 
-            while len(buff) > 6:
+            while len(buff) >= 6:
                 token_length = APNs.unpacked_ushort_big_endian(buff[4:6])
                 bytes_to_read = 6 + token_length
                 if len(buff) >= bytes_to_read:
@@ -458,7 +451,7 @@ def items(self):
                     yield (token, fail_time)
 
                     # Remove data for current token from buffer
-                    buff = buff[bytes_to_read:]
+                    del buff[:bytes_to_read]
                 else:
                     # break out of inner while loop - i.e. go and fetch
                     # some more data and append to buffer