diff --git a/src/frontend/inpcom.c b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
index eaf71c15b..ee7d457a7 100644
--- a/src/frontend/inpcom.c
+++ b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
@@ -2199,13 +2199,11 @@ static char*
 inp_remove_ws(char *s)
 {
     char *x = s;
-    char *big_buff;
+    char *big_buff = TMALLOC(char, strlen(s) + 2);
     int  big_buff_index = 0;
     char *buffer;
     bool is_expression = FALSE;
 
-    big_buff = TMALLOC(char, strlen(s) + 2);
-
     while (*s != '\0') {
         if (*s == '{')
             is_expression = TRUE;