--- source/lib/util_str.c.orig	Sat Dec 20 01:02:29 2003
+++ source/lib/util_str.c	Sat Dec 20 01:25:33 2003
@@ -1873,7 +1873,12 @@
 	size_t out_cnt = 0;
 	size_t len = data.length;
 	size_t output_len = data.length * 2;
-	char *result = malloc(output_len); /* get us plenty of space */
+	char *result;
+
+	if (len == 0)
+		return NULL;
+
+	result = (char *) malloc(output_len); /* get us plenty of space */
 
 	while (len-- && out_cnt < (data.length * 2) - 5) {
 		int c = (unsigned char) *(data.data++);