diff --git a/src/dgif.hh b/src/dgif.hh
index 06b5e73..cebfdf4 100644
--- a/src/dgif.hh
+++ b/src/dgif.hh
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ extern "C" {
 #include "url.hh"
 #include "image.hh"
 
+struct DilloGif;
 
-void *a_Gif_new(DilloImage *Image, DilloUrl *url, int version);
+DilloGif *a_Gif_new(DilloImage *Image, DilloUrl *url, int version);
 void a_Gif_callback(int Op, void *data);
 
 
diff --git a/src/gif.cc b/src/gif.cc
index b9c25cc..0789ff3 100644
--- a/src/gif.cc
+++ b/src/gif.cc
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@
 #define        MAX_LWZ_BITS            12
 
 
-typedef struct {
+struct DilloGif {
+   ~DilloGif();
+
    DilloImage *Image;
    DilloUrl *url;
    int version;
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@ typedef struct {
    int num_spill_lines_max;
    int length[(1 << MAX_LWZ_BITS) + 1];
    int code_and_byte[(1 << MAX_LWZ_BITS) + 1];
-} DilloGif;
+};
 
 /* Some invariants:
  *
@@ -153,9 +155,9 @@ static size_t Gif_process_bytes(DilloGif *gif, const uchar_t *buf,
 /**
  * Create a new gif structure for decoding a gif into a RGB buffer
  */
-void *a_Gif_new(DilloImage *Image, DilloUrl *url, int version)
+DilloGif *a_Gif_new(DilloImage *Image, DilloUrl *url, int version)
 {
-   DilloGif *gif = reinterpret_cast< DilloGif * >( dMalloc(sizeof(DilloGif)) );
+   DilloGif *gif = new DilloGif{};
    _MSG("a_Gif_new: gif=%p\n", gif);
 
    gif->Image = Image;
@@ -180,8 +182,9 @@ void *a_Gif_new(DilloImage *Image, DilloUrl *url, int version)
 /**
  * Free the gif-decoding data structure.
  */
-static void Gif_free(DilloGif *gif)
+DilloGif::~DilloGif()
 {
+   DilloGif *gif= this;
    int i;
 
    _MSG("Gif_free: gif=%p\n", gif);
@@ -192,7 +195,6 @@ static void Gif_free(DilloGif *gif)
          dFree(gif->spill_lines[i]);
       dFree(gif->spill_lines);
    }
-   dFree(gif);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -208,7 +210,7 @@ void a_Gif_callback(int Op, void *data)
       CacheClient_t *Client = reinterpret_cast< CacheClient_t * >( data );
       Gif_close(reinterpret_cast< DilloGif * >( Client->CbData ), Client);
    } else if (Op == CA_Abort) {
-      Gif_free(reinterpret_cast< DilloGif * >( data ));
+      delete reinterpret_cast< DilloGif * >( data );
    }
 }
 
@@ -246,7 +248,7 @@ static void Gif_close(DilloGif *gif, CacheClient_t *Client)
 {
    _MSG("Gif_close: destroy gif %p\n", gif);
    a_Dicache_close(gif->url, gif->version, Client);
-   Gif_free(gif);
+   delete gif;
 }
 
 
@@ -1023,7 +1025,7 @@ static size_t Gif_process_bytes(DilloGif *gif, const uchar_t *ibuf,
 
 #else /* ENABLE_GIF */
 
-void *a_Gif_new() { return 0; }
+DilloGif *a_Gif_new() { return 0; }
 void a_Gif_callback() { return; }
 
 #endif /* ENABLE_GIF */