diff --git a/tools/binpac/src/pac_regex.cc b/tools/binpac/src/pac_regex.cc
index 6265c02876..1d01556bd6 100644
--- a/tools/binpac/src/pac_regex.cc
+++ b/tools/binpac/src/pac_regex.cc
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const char *RegEx::kMatchPrefix = "MatchPrefix";
 
 string escape_char(const string &s)
 	{
-	char buf[s.length() * 2 + 1];
+	char* buf = new char[s.length() * 2 + 1];
 	int j = 0;
 	for ( int i = 0; i < (int) s.length(); ++i )
 		{
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ string escape_char(const string &s)
 
 	buf[j++] = '\0';
 
-	return string(buf);
+	string rval = buf;
+	delete [] buf;
+	return rval;
 	}
 
 RegEx::RegEx(const string &s)