diff --git a/xmalloc.h b/xmalloc.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40820135
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xmalloc.h
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#ifndef _XMALLOC_H
+#define _XMALLOC_H 1
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+__attribute__ ((noreturn, unused)) static void out_of_memory() {
+    fprintf(stderr,"out of memory\n");
+    abort();
+}
+
+__attribute__ ((unused)) static void *xmalloc(size_t size) {
+    void *ptr = malloc(size);
+    if (__builtin_expect(ptr == NULL, 0))
+        out_of_memory();
+    return(ptr);
+}
+
+__attribute__ ((unused)) static char *xstrndup(const char *s, size_t n) {
+    char *ptr = strndup(s, n);
+    if (__builtin_expect(ptr == NULL, 0))
+        out_of_memory();
+    return(ptr);
+}
+
+#endif