Soft buffer management is disclosed in which a base station determines a first number of component carriers (CCs) monitored by a user equipment (UE) and determines a second number of CCs for partitioning a soft buffer for storing one or more unsuccessfully decoded data packets, wherein the second number is different than the first number. Various aspects provide for determination of the second number of CCs using clear channel assessment (CCA) clearance information with regard to unlicensed CCs used in the communication system.