diff --git a/findutils/xargs.c b/findutils/xargs.c
index 01aa5be69..48adae90a 100644
--- a/findutils/xargs.c
+++ b/findutils/xargs.c
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ int xargs_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	/* Store the command to be executed (taken from the command line) */
 	if (argc == 1) {
 		/* default behavior is to echo all the filenames */
-		cmd_to_be_executed = strdup("/bin/echo ");
+		cmd_to_be_executed = xstrdup("/bin/echo ");
 	} else {
 		/* concatenate all the arguments passed to xargs together */
 		int i;
diff --git a/xargs.c b/xargs.c
index 01aa5be69..48adae90a 100644
--- a/xargs.c
+++ b/xargs.c
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ int xargs_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	/* Store the command to be executed (taken from the command line) */
 	if (argc == 1) {
 		/* default behavior is to echo all the filenames */
-		cmd_to_be_executed = strdup("/bin/echo ");
+		cmd_to_be_executed = xstrdup("/bin/echo ");
 	} else {
 		/* concatenate all the arguments passed to xargs together */
 		int i;