diff --git a/src/prefsparser.cc b/src/prefsparser.cc
index 049d4b5..e489fff 100644
--- a/src/prefsparser.cc
+++ b/src/prefsparser.cc
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ static int parseOption(char *name, char *value,
  */
 void PrefsParser::parse(FILE *fp)
 {
-   char *line, *name, *value, *oldLocale;
+   char *line, *name, *value;
    int st, line_number = 1;
 
    /* Symbol array, sorted alphabetically */
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ void PrefsParser::parse(FILE *fp)
    };
    // changing the LC_NUMERIC locale (temporarily) to C
    // avoids parsing problems with float numbers
-   oldLocale = dStrdup(setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, NULL));
+   std::string oldLocale = setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, NULL);
    setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, "C");
 
    // scan the file line by line
@@ -272,6 +272,5 @@ void PrefsParser::parse(FILE *fp)
    fclose(fp);
 
    // restore the old numeric locale
-   setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, oldLocale);
-   dFree(oldLocale);
+   setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, oldLocale.c_str());
 }