diff --git a/src/xterm.c b/src/xterm.c
index 582eb2fd5fb..868c8688e42 100644
--- a/src/xterm.c
+++ b/src/xterm.c
@@ -6474,10 +6474,12 @@ x_list_fonts (f, pattern, size, maxnames)
 	    {
 	      char *name = (char *) XGetAtomName (dpy, (Atom) value);
 	      int len = strlen (name);
+	      char *tmp;
 
 	      num_fonts = 1;
 	      names = alloca (sizeof (char *));
-	      names[0] = alloca (len + 1);
+	      /* Some systems only allow alloca assigned to a simple var.  */
+	      tmp = alloca (len + 1);  names[0] = tmp;
 	      bcopy (name, names[0], len + 1);
 	      XFree (name);
 	    }