diff --git a/lib/kaminari/helpers/tags.rb b/lib/kaminari/helpers/tags.rb
index 8a58259..6fdb13a 100644
--- a/lib/kaminari/helpers/tags.rb
+++ b/lib/kaminari/helpers/tags.rb
@@ -73,13 +73,17 @@ module Kaminari
       def initialize(template, window_options) #:nodoc:
         @template, @options = template, window_options.reverse_merge(template.options)
         # so that this instance can actually "render". Black magic?
-        @output_buffer = @template.output_buffer || ActionView::OutputBuffer.new
+        @output_buffer = @template.output_buffer
+        if @output_buffer.nil?
+          @output_buffer, @return_buffer = ActionView::OutputBuffer.new, true
+        end
       end
 
       # render given block as a view template
       def render(&block)
         instance_eval &block if @options[:num_pages] > 1
-        nil
+        # return the output text only if the output_buffer was created inside this instance
+        @return_buffer ? @output_buffer : nil
       end
 
       # enumerate each page providing PageProxy object as the block parameter