diff --git a/ubb-la/gui.c b/ubb-la/gui.c
index fb15c20..d66d92f 100644
--- a/ubb-la/gui.c
+++ b/ubb-la/gui.c
@@ -10,13 +10,10 @@
  * (at your option) any later version.
  */
 
-#ifndef	_GNU_SOURCE
-#define	_GNU_SOURCE	/* for vasprintf */
-#endif
-
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <alloca.h>
 
 #include "SDL.h"
 #include "SDL_gfxPrimitives.h"
@@ -124,13 +121,14 @@ static void textf(int x, int y, uint32_t color, const char *fmt, ...)
 	va_list ap;
 	char *tmp, *s;
 	uint8_t *p;
-	int ix, iy;
+	int n, ix, iy;
 
 	va_start(ap, fmt);
-	if (vasprintf(&tmp, fmt, ap) < 0) {
-		perror("vasprintf");
-		exit(1);
-	}
+	n = vsnprintf(NULL, 0, fmt, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+	tmp = alloca(n+1);
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	vsnprintf(tmp, n+1, fmt, ap);
 	va_end(ap);
 
 	for (s = tmp; *s; s++) {
@@ -143,7 +141,6 @@ static void textf(int x, int y, uint32_t color, const char *fmt, ...)
 		}
 		x += 8;
 	}
-	free(tmp);
 }