diff --git a/src/common/Makefile.am b/src/common/Makefile.am
--- a/src/common/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/common/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 pkglib_LTLIBRARIES = libdistrencommon.la
 
-libdistrencommon_la_SOURCES = options.c options.h execio.h execio.c remoteio.h libremoteio.h remoteio.c
+libdistrencommon_la_SOURCES = options.c options.h execio.h execio.c remoteio.h libremoteio.h remoteio.c asprintf.h asprintf.c
 #evidently the following should not be LDADD, but LDFLAGS because automake doesn't like the idea of LDADD for libraries for some reason... or I am very confused
 libdistrencommon_la_LIBADD = @DISTLIBS_LIBS@
 libdistrencommon_la_CXXFLAGS = @DISTLIBS_CFLAGS@
diff --git a/src/common/asprintf.c b/src/common/asprintf.c
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/asprintf.c
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2009 Nathan Phillip Brink
+
+  This file is a part of DistRen.
+
+  DistRen is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  DistRen is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+  along with DistRen.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+int _distren_asprintf(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+  va_list ap;
+  size_t needed;
+
+  va_start(ap, fmt);
+  needed = vsnprintf(NULL, 0, fmt, ap); /*< returns the number of bytes to allocate */
+  va_end(ap);
+
+  *strp = malloc(needed);
+  if(!*strp)
+    return -1;
+
+  va_start(ap, fmt);
+  needed = vsnprintf(*strp, needed, fmt, ap);
+  va_end(ap);
+
+  return needed;
+}
diff --git a/src/common/asprintf.h b/src/common/asprintf.h
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/asprintf.h
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2009 Nathan Phillip Brink
+
+  This file is a part of DistRen.
+
+  DistRen is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  DistRen is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+  along with DistRen.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#ifndef _LIBDISTRENCOMMON_ASPRINTF_H
+#define _LIBDISTRENCOMMON_ASPRINTF_H
+
+/**
+   Conforming asprintf replacement.
+ */
+int _distren_asprintf(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...);
+
+#endif