diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 08998ab9f4..f0c73ce8d9 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 
+2.1-beta-21 | 2012-08-16 11:48:56 -0700
+
+  * Installing a handler for running out of memory in "new". Bro will
+    now print an error message in that case rather than abort with an
+    uncaught exception. (Robin Sommer)
+
 2.1-beta-20 | 2012-08-16 11:43:31 -0700
 
   * Fixed potential problems with ElasticSearch output plugin. (Seth
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index c42c76c8ba..5d7a2a2cce 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.1-beta-20
+2.1-beta-21
diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index 407f67c9af..5999186240 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -337,6 +337,8 @@ void terminate_bro()
 	delete log_mgr;
 	delete thread_mgr;
 	delete reporter;
+
+	reporter = 0;
 	}
 
 void termination_signal()
@@ -380,6 +382,8 @@ static void bro_new_handler()
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 	{
+	std::set_new_handler(bro_new_handler);
+
 	brofiler.ReadStats();
 
 	bro_argc = argc;
diff --git a/src/util.cc b/src/util.cc
index 2d981e952e..3b6fcac76f 100644
--- a/src/util.cc
+++ b/src/util.cc
@@ -1383,7 +1383,13 @@ void safe_close(int fd)
 
 void out_of_memory(const char* where)
 	{
-	reporter->FatalError("out of memory in %s.\n", where);
+	fprintf(stderr, "out of memory in %s.\n", where);
+
+	if ( reporter )
+		// Guess that might fail here if memory is really tight ...
+		reporter->FatalError("out of memory in %s.\n", where);
+
+	abort();
 	}
 
 void get_memory_usage(unsigned int* total, unsigned int* malloced)