diff --git a/src/http.c b/src/http.c
index 3cafd1c4..6ac795bf 100644
--- a/src/http.c
+++ b/src/http.c
@@ -2263,8 +2263,7 @@ check_file_output (struct url *u, struct http_stat *hs,
   hs->temporary = opt.delete_after || opt.spider || !acceptable (hs->local_file);
   if (hs->temporary)
     {
-      char *tmp = NULL;
-      asprintf (&tmp, "%s.tmp", hs->local_file);
+      char *tmp = aprintf ("%s.tmp", hs->local_file);
       xfree (hs->local_file);
       hs->local_file = tmp;
     }