1 files changed, 4 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/src/libutil/serialise.cc b/src/libutil/serialise.cc
index 969f638ef408..c0e1c17af066 100644
--- a/src/libutil/serialise.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/serialise.cc
@@ -85,10 +85,11 @@ unsigned int readInt(Source & source)
 string readString(Source & source)
 {
     unsigned int len = readInt(source);
-    char buf[len];
-    source((unsigned char *) buf, len);
+    unsigned char * buf = new unsigned char[len];
+    AutoDeleteArray<unsigned char> d(buf);
+    source(buf, len);
     readPadding(len, source);
-    return string(buf, len);
+    return string((char *) buf, len);
 }