In an exemplary embodiment, a streaming client is playing a media stream that is being streamed from a streaming server. The media stream is being played at a certain playback rate. While the media stream is being played, the level of a streaming buffer is monitored. If it is determined that the level of the streaming buffer is below a defined lower limit, then the playback rate is set equal to a value that is less than the intended playback rate for the media stream. The specific value of the playback rate depends on the level of the streaming buffer.