diff --git a/mx_proc.c b/mx_proc.c
index 4ffbaa70..72330df4 100644
--- a/mx_proc.c
+++ b/mx_proc.c
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@
 #include "mx_proc.h"
 
 static long long int get_rss_anon(pid_t pid) {
-    _mx_cleanup_free_ char *fname;
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&fname, "/proc/%d/status", pid);
+    _mx_cleanup_free_ char *fname = mx_asprintf_forever("/proc/%d/status", pid);
     _mx_cleanup_fclose_ FILE *file = fopen(fname, "r");
     if (file == NULL)
         return -errno;
@@ -131,7 +130,6 @@ int mx_proc_pid_stat(struct mx_proc_pid_stat **pps, pid_t pid)
 
 int mx_proc_pid_stat_read(struct mx_proc_pid_stat *pps, char *fmt, ...)
 {
-    _mx_cleanup_free_ char *fname = NULL;
     _mx_cleanup_free_ char *line = NULL;
     va_list ap;
     int res;
@@ -139,7 +137,7 @@ int mx_proc_pid_stat_read(struct mx_proc_pid_stat *pps, char *fmt, ...)
     assert(pps);
 
     va_start(ap, fmt);
-    mx_vasprintf_forever(&fname, fmt, ap);
+    _mx_cleanup_free_ char *fname = fname = mx_vasprintf_forever(fmt, ap);
     va_end(ap);
 
     res = mx_read_first_line_from_file(fname, &line);
diff --git a/mx_util.c b/mx_util.c
index 6d72f4a0..2d41bf59 100644
--- a/mx_util.c
+++ b/mx_util.c
@@ -580,28 +580,28 @@ char *mx_strdup_forever(char *str)
     return dup;
 }
 
-int mx_vasprintf_forever(char **strp, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
+char *mx_vasprintf_forever(const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
     int len;
+    char *strp;
 
     do {
-        len = vasprintf(strp, fmt, ap);
+        len = vasprintf(&strp, fmt, ap);
     } while (len < 0);
 
-    return len;
+    return strp;
 }
 
 
-int mx_asprintf_forever(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...)
+char *mx_asprintf_forever(const char *fmt, ...)
 {
     va_list ap;
-    int len;
 
     va_start(ap, fmt);
-    len = mx_vasprintf_forever(strp, fmt, ap);
+    char *strp = mx_vasprintf_forever(fmt, ap);
     va_end(ap);
 
-    return len;
+    return strp;
 }
 
 char *mx_hostname(void)
@@ -721,11 +721,10 @@ int mx_setenvf_forever(const char *name, char *fmt, ...)
     assert(fmt);
 
     va_list ap;
-    char *value = NULL;
     int res;
 
     va_start(ap, fmt);
-    mx_vasprintf_forever(&value, fmt, ap);
+    char *value = mx_vasprintf_forever(fmt, ap);
     va_end(ap);
 
     res = mx_setenv_forever(name, value);
@@ -1217,9 +1216,9 @@ char *mx_cpuset_to_str(cpu_set_t* cpuset_ptr)
             }
             cpu_high=cpu-1;
             if (cpu_low==cpu_high) {
-                mx_asprintf_forever(&str,"%d",cpu_low);
+                str = mx_asprintf_forever("%d", cpu_low);
             } else {
-                mx_asprintf_forever(&str,"%d-%d",cpu_low,cpu_high);
+                str = mx_asprintf_forever("%d-%d", cpu_low, cpu_high);
             }
             res=mx_strvec_push_str(&strvec,str);
             if (!res) {
diff --git a/mx_util.h b/mx_util.h
index e7971261..92747f9a 100644
--- a/mx_util.h
+++ b/mx_util.h
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@ int mx_strtoi64(char *str, int64_t *to);
 
 void *mx_malloc_forever(size_t size);
 char *mx_strdup_forever(char *str);
-int mx_vasprintf_forever(char **strp, const char *fmt, va_list ap);
-int mx_asprintf_forever(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...)  __attribute__ ((format(printf, 2, 3)));
+char *mx_vasprintf_forever(const char *fmt, va_list ap);
+char *mx_asprintf_forever(const char *fmt, ...)  __attribute__ ((format(printf, 1, 2)));
 
 char *mx_hostname(void);
 char *mx_dirname(char *path);
diff --git a/mxq_job.c b/mxq_job.c
index 0a02f3d9..ba8a606a 100644
--- a/mxq_job.c
+++ b/mxq_job.c
@@ -426,7 +426,6 @@ int mxq_unassign_jobs_of_server(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_daemon *daemo
 static int mxq_set_job_status_loaded_on_server(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_job *job)
 {
     struct mx_mysql_bind param = {0};
-    char *host_id;
     int res;
     int idx;
 
@@ -435,7 +434,7 @@ static int mxq_set_job_status_loaded_on_server(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mx
     assert(job->job_id);
     assert(job->daemon_id);
 
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&host_id, "%u", job->daemon_id);
+    char *host_id = mx_asprintf_forever("%u", job->daemon_id);
 
     char *query =
             "UPDATE"
@@ -655,7 +654,7 @@ int mxq_job_set_tmpfilenames(struct mxq_group *g, struct mxq_job *j)
 
         dir = mx_dirname_forever(j->job_stdout);
 
-        mx_asprintf_forever(&j->tmp_stdout, "%s/mxq.%u.%lu.%lu.%s.%s.%d.stdout.tmp",
+        j->tmp_stdout = mx_asprintf_forever("%s/mxq.%u.%lu.%lu.%s.%s.%d.stdout.tmp",
             dir, g->user_uid, g->group_id, j->job_id, j->host_hostname,
             j->daemon_name, j->host_pid);
     }
@@ -669,7 +668,7 @@ int mxq_job_set_tmpfilenames(struct mxq_group *g, struct mxq_job *j)
         }
         dir = mx_dirname_forever(j->job_stderr);
 
-        mx_asprintf_forever(&j->tmp_stderr, "%s/mxq.%u.%lu.%lu.%s.%s.%d.stderr.tmp",
+        j->tmp_stderr = mx_asprintf_forever("%s/mxq.%u.%lu.%lu.%s.%s.%d.stderr.tmp",
             dir, g->user_uid, g->group_id, j->job_id, j->host_hostname,
             j->daemon_name, j->host_pid);
     }
diff --git a/mxqd.c b/mxqd.c
index 008a447f..379489bc 100644
--- a/mxqd.c
+++ b/mxqd.c
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ static int server_init(struct mxq_server *server, int argc, char *argv[])
         return -EX_UNAVAILABLE;
     }
 
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&server->finished_jobsdir,"%s/%s",MXQ_FINISHED_JOBSDIR,server->daemon_name);
+    server->finished_jobsdir = mx_asprintf_forever("%s/%s", MXQ_FINISHED_JOBSDIR, server->daemon_name);
     res=mx_mkdir_p(server->finished_jobsdir,0700);
     if (res<0) {
         mx_log_err("MAIN: mkdir %s failed: %m. Exiting.",MXQ_FINISHED_JOBSDIR);
@@ -746,7 +746,7 @@ static int server_init(struct mxq_server *server, int argc, char *argv[])
     server->starttime = pps->starttime;
     mx_proc_pid_stat_free_content(pps);
 
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&server->host_id, "%s-%llx-%x", server->boot_id, server->starttime, getpid());
+    server->host_id = mx_asprintf_forever("%s-%llx-%x", server->boot_id, server->starttime, getpid());
     mx_setenv_forever("MXQ_HOSTID", server->host_id);
 
     server->slots = arg_threads_total;
@@ -895,17 +895,14 @@ static int init_child_process(struct mxq_group_list *glist, struct mxq_job *job)
     if (group->job_tmpdir_size == 0) {
         mx_setenv_forever("TMPDIR", server->initial_tmpdir);
     } else {
-        char *mxq_job_tmpdir;
-        mx_asprintf_forever(&mxq_job_tmpdir, "%s/%lu", MXQ_JOB_TMPDIR_MNTDIR, job->job_id);
+        char *mxq_job_tmpdir = mx_asprintf_forever("%s/%lu", MXQ_JOB_TMPDIR_MNTDIR, job->job_id);
         mx_setenv_forever("MXQ_JOB_TMPDIR", mxq_job_tmpdir);
         mx_setenv_forever("TMPDIR", mxq_job_tmpdir);
         free(mxq_job_tmpdir);
     }
     if (group->job_gpu) {
-        char *pid;
-        char *uid;
-        mx_asprintf_forever(&pid, "%d", job->host_pid);
-        mx_asprintf_forever(&uid, "%u", group->user_uid);
+        char *pid = mx_asprintf_forever("%d", job->host_pid);
+        char *uid = mx_asprintf_forever("%u", group->user_uid);
         char *gpu_uuid = mx_call_external(gpu_setup_script, "job-init", pid, uid, NULL);
         if (!gpu_uuid) {
             mx_log_err("gpu-setup job-init: %m");
@@ -1231,8 +1228,8 @@ static int reaper_process(struct mxq_server *server,struct mxq_group_list *glist
         return(res);
     }
 
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&finished_job_filename, "%s/%lu.stat", server->finished_jobsdir, job->job_id);
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&finished_job_tmpfilename, "%s.tmp", finished_job_filename);
+    finished_job_filename = mx_asprintf_forever("%s/%lu.stat", server->finished_jobsdir, job->job_id);
+    finished_job_tmpfilename = mx_asprintf_forever("%s.tmp", finished_job_filename);
 
     out=fopen(finished_job_tmpfilename,"w");
     if (!out) {
@@ -1312,9 +1309,9 @@ static unsigned long start_job(struct mxq_group_list *glist)
             char *envp[4];
             argv[0] = create_job_tmpdir_script,
             argv[1] = NULL;
-            mx_asprintf_forever(&envp[0], "MXQ_JOBID=%lu", job->job_id);
-            mx_asprintf_forever(&envp[1], "MXQ_SIZE=%u", group->job_tmpdir_size);
-            mx_asprintf_forever(&envp[2], "MXQ_UID=%d", group->user_uid);
+            envp[0] = mx_asprintf_forever("MXQ_JOBID=%lu", job->job_id);
+            envp[1] = mx_asprintf_forever("MXQ_SIZE=%u", group->job_tmpdir_size);
+            envp[2] = mx_asprintf_forever("MXQ_UID=%d", group->user_uid);
             envp[3] = NULL;
             execve(create_job_tmpdir_script,argv,envp);
             mx_log_fatal("exec %s : %m",create_job_tmpdir_script);
@@ -2022,9 +2019,7 @@ static void rename_outfiles(struct mxq_server *server, struct mxq_group *group,
 }
 
 static char *job_tmpdir_path(unsigned long job_id) {
-    char *pathname;
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&pathname, "%s/%lu", MXQ_JOB_TMPDIR_MNTDIR, job_id);
-    return pathname;
+    return mx_asprintf_forever("%s/%lu", MXQ_JOB_TMPDIR_MNTDIR, job_id);
 }
 
 static int unmount_and_remove(char *pathname) {
@@ -2050,8 +2045,7 @@ static void unmount_job_tmpdir(unsigned long job_id) {
 
 static void release_gpu(struct mxq_server *server, struct mxq_group *group, struct mxq_job *job) {
     if (group->job_gpu) {
-        char *pid;
-        mx_asprintf_forever(&pid, "%d", job->host_pid);
+        char *pid = mx_asprintf_forever("%d", job->host_pid);
         char *gpu_uuid = mx_call_external(gpu_setup_script, "job-release", pid, NULL);
         free(pid);
         if (!gpu_uuid) {
@@ -2111,9 +2105,7 @@ static int job_is_lost(struct mxq_server *server,struct mxq_group *group, struct
 
 static char *fspool_get_filename (struct mxq_server *server,long unsigned int job_id)
 {
-    char *fspool_filename;
-    mx_asprintf_forever(&fspool_filename,"%s/%lu.stat",server->finished_jobsdir,job_id);
-    return fspool_filename;
+    return mx_asprintf_forever("%s/%lu.stat", server->finished_jobsdir, job_id);
 }
 
 static int fspool_process_file(struct mxq_server *server,char *filename, uint64_t job_id) {
@@ -2244,7 +2236,7 @@ static int fspool_scan(struct mxq_server *server) {
     }
 
     for (i=0;i<entries;i++) {
-        mx_asprintf_forever(&filename,"%s/%s",server->finished_jobsdir,namelist[i]->d_name);
+        filename = mx_asprintf_forever("%s/%s", server->finished_jobsdir, namelist[i]->d_name);
         if (fspool_is_valid_name_parse(namelist[i]->d_name,&job_id)) {
             res=fspool_process_file(server,filename,job_id);
             if (res>0) {