diff --git a/tools/libtxt/edit.c b/tools/libtxt/edit.c
index 4456bfd..b8b7605 100644
--- a/tools/libtxt/edit.c
+++ b/tools/libtxt/edit.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
+#include "util.h"
 #include "libtxt.h"
 
 
@@ -116,9 +117,7 @@ static char *alloc_string_n(const char *s, size_t len)
 {
 	char *t;
 
-	t = malloc(len+1);
-	if (!t)
-		abort();
+	t = alloc_size(len+1);
 	memcpy(t, s, len);
 	t[len] = 0;
 	return t;
@@ -129,9 +128,7 @@ static void add_string(struct edit ***last, const char *start, size_t len)
 {
 	struct edit *e;
 
-	e = malloc(sizeof(struct edit));
-	if (!e)
-		abort();
+	e = alloc_type(struct edit);
 	e->type = edit_string;
 	e->u.s = alloc_string_n(start, len);
 	**last = e;
@@ -187,9 +184,7 @@ struct edit *text2edit(const char *s)
 		if (*s == '\n' && !have_text)
 			continue;
 
-		e = malloc(sizeof(struct edit));
-		if (!e)
-			abort();
+		e = alloc_type(struct edit);
 		e->type = edit_nl; /* pick something without data */
 		e->next = NULL;
 		*last = e;
diff --git a/tools/libtxt/font.c b/tools/libtxt/font.c
index e8d68ff..69c8fe8 100644
--- a/tools/libtxt/font.c
+++ b/tools/libtxt/font.c
@@ -112,9 +112,7 @@ struct image *load_image(const char *name, const char **error)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	img = malloc(sizeof(struct image));
-	if (!img)
-		abort();
+	img = alloc_type(struct image);
 	err = read_xbm_file(file, img);
 	if (err) {
 		if (error)
diff --git a/tools/libtxt/util.h b/tools/libtxt/util.h
index 8d77b52..0c418b4 100644
--- a/tools/libtxt/util.h
+++ b/tools/libtxt/util.h
@@ -19,7 +19,25 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 
-static const char *alloc_sprintf(const char *fmt, ...)
+static inline void *alloc_size(size_t size)
+{
+	void *tmp = malloc(size);
+
+	if (!tmp)
+		abort();
+	return tmp;
+}
+
+
+#define alloc_type(t) ((t *) alloc_size(sizeof(t)))
+
+
+/*
+ * @@@ __attribute__((used)) is an ugly wait to get rid of the "unused
+ * function" warning. (The "unused" attribute doesn't do the trick.)
+ */
+ 
+static const char * __attribute__((used)) alloc_sprintf(const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list ap;
 	char *tmp, *res;