diff --git a/src/client/libdistren.h b/src/client/libdistren.h
--- a/src/client/libdistren.h
+++ b/src/client/libdistren.h
@@ -33,3 +33,25 @@ struct distren_job
 {
   char *jobid;
 };
+
+/*
+  functions
+*/
+
+/**
+   Avoid poluting the public namespace until we fix visibility.
+ */
+#define _malloc _distren_malloc
+/**
+   All of libdistren should use this rather than malloc.h's malloc.
+ */
+void *_malloc(distren_t distren, size_t size);
+
+/**
+   Avoid poluting the public namespace until we fix visibility.
+ */
+#define _free _distren_free
+/**
+   All of libdisren should use this instead of malloc.h's free()
+*/
+void _free(distren_t distren, void *tofree);